Paws off the Boss - Casey Griffin (best books under 200 pages .TXT) 📗

largest fish tank she’d ever seen in place of an actual wall. The fish swam by, glaring at her like she’d accidentally wandered into their home. There were so many that Piper could only identify half of them off the top of her head.

She could hear Zoe and Addison giggling somewhere deeper inside the house. She followed the sound of their excited chatter through a room with wall-to-wall shelves holding every kind of dog toy, treat, and accessory that Piper could imagine. It was like walking into doggy heaven. Colin paused in front of them, taking mental stock of all the items he would deem his.

At the other end of the house, a door opened onto the back porch where the afternoon sun outlined her friends’ silhouettes. Piper stepped outside to join them and saw the expansion that she’d noticed when she first drove up. A long, narrow building, the same style and color as the house, stood at a right angle to it. It reminded her of a stable, but instead of horses, dogs wandered in and out of private doggy doors to play in an outdoor enclosure. The chain-link fence wrapped around the clearing, following the tree line to take up a huge portion of the property.

Zoe laughed at Toby, who was running off some of his pent-up energy. “Isn’t it amazing?” she asked Piper.

“It is,” Piper agreed, her voice hushed.

Grass swished rhythmically as someone wandered next to the house. Muffled voices grew closer.

“—get you out here, in front of the grand opening banner. Just stand over there so we can get a clear view of the house and play area.” Piper recognized Holly Hart’s voice as she rounded the corner, ordering around her cameraman with nothing more than a snap of her fingers.

And then Piper heard his voice. “Over here?”

The hole inside her ripped wide open, making it hard to breathe. She clutched at her chest. The pain, the panic on hearing his voice, of being so close, made her knees buckle.

What was she going to say to him? What would he say in response? A million possible scenarios flooded her mind, threatening to drown her. But despite the fear and uncertainty, without conscious thought, her legs carried her closer to his voice.

Aiden stood in front of the camera, his back to the house. Sophie rolled in the grass at his feet. He picked her up, brushing the pieces of grass out of her long hair. Piper noticed he wore a pair of khaki shorts, and was that…? Yes, it was. A Hawaiian shirt. She would have laughed if she could breathe.

Colin padded onto the porch to join Piper. She reached down and swept him up into her arms. Breathing in his familiar, comforting scent, she continued to watch.

Holly positioned herself a little too close to Aiden so that she brushed up against his shoulder. Hey You counted down with his fingers, and Holly brought the mic to her lips.

“This is Holly Hart for Channel Five News here at the brand-new San Francisco Dachshund Rescue Center to give this ‘tail’ a happy ending.” She laughed at her own joke. “I’m standing here with Aiden Caldwell, CEO of Caldwell and Son Investments, and he’s really got something to howl about. Aiden, can you tell us more?”

As he shifted his body toward the mic, Colin finally noticed Sophie. Every muscle in his body tensed. He let out a querying bark, almost deafening Piper’s right ear.

Sophie?

Sophie responded immediately. Colin? Is that you?

It must have been the answer he was looking for because he launched himself out of Piper’s arms. He dashed down the porch steps and around the corner, stubby legs propelling him forward as fast as they could go.

Sophie squirmed in Aiden’s arms until he set her down. They raced toward each other, Colin’s tongue lolling out of his mouth, Sophie’s luxurious copper locks flowing in the wind. It looked like a slow-motion scene from a cheesy romance movie.

Upon seeing Colin, Aiden scanned the house, the windows, the porch. His eyes finally rested on Piper, and she found herself unprepared for what she saw.

His expression was so agonized, so tortured, that he might have been in true physical pain. And she realized it was because of her. She’d caused his beautiful face to look like that.

Her own features contorted in response. Everyone in the yard grew still, expectant. Piper was conscious of the audience. The camera still rolled, and Holly was holding her breath.

Knowing whatever they had to say needed to be off the record, Piper tilted her head toward the house. Aiden understood and headed her way.

Drawn to the drama, Holly began to follow them into the center, but Zoe and Addison blocked her path. Piper smiled at the “We’ve got your back” look on Zoe’s face. And next to her, Addison’s face lit up with a “Dreams do come true” expression.

Piper waited until Aiden was inside before closing the door for privacy.

“Aiden,” she began; she had to swallow the lump in her throat. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I should have known you better than that. It just looked so…”

“Bad,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. “I know. I don’t blame you.”

“And well, Holly said…”

“Yes. Holly.” He laughed. Not in a “haha” kind of way, but in a way that made it seem like he might find it funny one day. Like maybe fifty years later. “I’ll give her this, though. She had her facts straight. It was her conclusions that needed a bit of editing.” Any humor vanished from his expression; those green eyes grew darker by the second. “But with what information you had and then what you heard in my office…”

Piper shook her head, laughing humorlessly at herself. “Oh, God. Your office. I shouldn’t have been there. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“During my interrogation,” he said, “the inspector played your recording for me. I listened to it, trying to imagine what you must have been thinking. And, well, it was bad. I don’t blame you for thinking that I had something to do with it.”

“But I should have talked to you first,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He took a shy step toward her, causing her heart to leap. “Besides, you thought I was trying to kill you at the time. Not exactly the best conditions in which to sit and have a chat.” He stared down at his hands. “I’m sorry for not telling you about my plans for the center sooner.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Marilyn explained everything to me. How she asked you not to say anything.”

“Once things got out of hand, I kept trying to contact her, to get her permission to tell you about the plans. But I couldn’t reach her. It wasn’t the way I was used to doing business. And then we started dating, and it all got so complicated. You know me, I hate mixing—”

“Business with pleasure,” she finished for him. “I know. But you were right. That was your business and not mine. I had no right to know those things.”

“That’s where I was wrong.” Aiden took another step.

Another leap of her heart.

“When my father died, I put my old life, that old Aiden, behind me. I tried so hard to fill my dad’s shoes, to pretend I was something I wasn’t, that I eventually lost sight of who I wanted to be.” He smiled and shook his head, maybe at himself. “I’m no longer that insecure twenty-five-year-old anymore. It’s time I do things my way. Discover the man I’m supposed to be.”

“I think your father would be proud of that man,” Piper said honestly.

Aiden gave her a grateful smile before staring down at his hands. “When I asked you to be my girlfriend, you asked me to be a partner instead. And I didn’t treat you like one. What I did wasn’t fifty-fifty. I shouldn’t have let anything, business or otherwise, come between us. Nothing is worth losing you over.”

His hand rose as though he wanted to touch her cheek, but then he thought better of it and reached for his tie. Discovering the lack of tie and a lot of Hawaiian, he ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up.

“There are some things money can’t buy,” he said.

Piper took a deep breath. Her numb mind flipped through the information she’d received that morning, trying to find a path, a tangent that she’d yet to explore. Could it be that simple?

“So, that’s it?” she asked hesitantly. “Neither of us did anything wrong? It was all a big misunderstanding?”

Was it just a little mix-up that had torn Piper’s life apart, had created such a huge hole in her chest? Now Piper realized just what Aiden truly meant to her. His mere absence in her life, if only for a day, could obliterate it, could leave a void big enough to swallow her.

But now she was frightened to reach out across that hole, to fill it again with their love. Such a tiny misunderstanding, but such a wide gulf.

Humans thought of themselves as more evolved, with their opposable thumbs and their fancy brains. When she’d watched Colin and Sophie frantically greet each other like two loved ones reunited, Piper figured it was because they couldn’t comprehend the reality of it. But now she wondered if animals didn’t have it right. Animals listened to their instincts. Maybe it was the brains that always got in the way.

Aiden reached out first. He held out a hand, palm upturned, his expression hopeful, pleading. And like it was instinct, her hand moved automatically to meet him halfway. Fifty-fifty.

“Can I show you something?” he asked.

She nodded, and he led her across the toy room to a door marked with a nameplate etched in swirling letters. She read it on their way in, and her mouth fell open. Dr. Piper Summers.