“No.”
“Is he still waiting?”
Her lip pushed out in a mighty pout. “Yes.”
“So rude,” I teased.
“If he’s trying to make me feral, it’s working.”
“I’m not sure that’s what he’s trying to do, babe. I have a feeling he really means it.” I nudged her shoulder with mine when she let out a beleaguered sigh. “Brutal, huh?”
“The brutal-est.”
“Not a word, but I’ll accept it.” The stacks in the truck dwindled with each trip back and forth, and by the time the driver left, Ness and I had already started unpacking the smaller items we knew had a home in our usual storage closet. As soon as we were alone, I ripped off the denim shirt, ignoring Ness’s approving whistle.
“What about Muriel? You don’t think she ordered all this, do you?”
“And not tell us?” Ness asked, smiling as she unpacked a box of stuffed animals. She held up a fluffy yellow duck with sunglasses sitting on his orange bill. “I’m saving this one for Bandit.”
“Why?”
She gave an airy sniff. “Because it’s the biggest one, and my good boy needs some spoiling.”
“We’re not supposed to have favorites, Ness.”
“Oh bullshit, like you don’t give Scout extra treats. And didn’t I walk in the office last week and he was taking a nap next to your desk?”
I refused to make eye contact, instead focusing on cutting through the packing tape holding a box of puppy formula closed. “He was stressed out. He needed some quiet.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So he’s in love with you, huh? How did that happen? We’ve only had him for, like, forty-eight hours.”
Ness pulled a cat toy out of the box and set it in the pile that needed to go to the feline room. “We bonded on a soul-deep level, that’s how. I got some great footage for social media. Combined with what youfilmed while you were trying to catch him, I think we could get something viral out of it.” She set an extra-strength chew toy aside. “Too bad Archer wasn’t filming when he caught him. God, can you imagine? We’d break the internet with that one.” Her eyes took on a faraway quality. “Especially if he was shirtless. Was he shirtless?”
I was juggling three boxes in my hands when his voice came from behind us.
“I try to keep my shirt on when I’m rescuing dogs.”
I squeaked, and the boxes went flying.
Ness laughed, and I gave her a dirty look, even though the flaming red of my cheeks probably made it a little less intimidating.
Archer leaned against the doorframe, his eyes dragging over all the boxes. My breath snagged in my chest at the flex of his shoulders. “Looks like Christmas came early.”
“A few Christmases, actually.” I swallowed. “What are you doing here?”
After a few more seconds of studying the deliveries, Archer lifted his eyes to me. They never dropped below my face, and my stomach executed a dangerous flip when I realized it.
“I was in the neighborhood.”
Ness was boring holes into the side of my head, and I kicked at her behind the stack of boxes.
“Do you happen to know where this came from?” I asked.
For a moment, Archer stayed quiet, his chest rising and falling on a deep breath. “A store, I’d reckon.”
Ness laughed.