Because leave a man like David out on his own within five hundred yards of those teenage girls and they’d flock to him. It was hot-guy radar. Had to be.
Lyn hung back, unwilling to break it up. Insecurity was an ugly beast and she readily admitted she was succumbing to it. Rather than show it to David, it’d be better to wait at a distance. Instead, she observed Atlas—which was her job, after all. Atlas was standing at heel, trying to keep all of those waving hands in sight. Generally, dogs didn’t like all those grasping hands coming at their face. So far, though, Atlas had managed not to get defensive. He was wary but not upset. Under control. David was doing his part as handler, keeping the girls at a minimum distance to allow Atlas to feel safe.
They weren’t rehabilitating him to be friendly.
Social, yes. Able to pass calmly through anything and still follow commands, absolutely. But he wasn’t a pet and he wasn’t expected to play with random people. He wasn’t a PR dog.
He could play, if he wanted. He did play with her and with David. Most of his games revolved around a much-loved tennis ball and fetch. She loved seeing Atlas happy. And once in a while, the perpetual tension left David’s shoulders. His face relaxed and the worry lines fell away. David was even more handsome when he was happy, too.
But neither of them was the domesticated male those women and girls expected. It was unfair of them to demand either David or Atlas be safe, perfectly behaved, even submissive to poking and prodding and unwanted attention. But if they made one move to try to shoulder their way out of there, they would go from military hot to scary dangerous. If David even tried to be more assertive about insisting they leave Atlas be as a service dog, they’d decide David was mean rather than respecting Atlas’s space.
Not fair.
Suddenly, Lyn started walking. Neither David nor Atlas could be rude to get away. They were essentially trapped. And it’d reflect badly on them if they snapped to be free of the twittering attention showered on them. Fine. She could be a bitch on their behalf.
“I bought us coffee for the road.” She plastered a broad smile on her face as she shouldered her way right through the other women and girls.
Passive–aggressive whispers and mean girl giggles surrounded them. Ugh. She didn’t miss high school. And really, what was it about people losing all respect for personal space or someone working? Lyn remembered similar gaggles forming around hot police officers or firemen when she’d been on school field trips, more years ago than she cared to count.
The center of attention—be they a man or a woman—always had an awkward time extracting themselves while leaving a positive impression.
David looked like he’d seen salvation. Atlas’s ears swiveled forward and his tail even moved side to side once. Tock, tock.
One of the girls said something. Lyn ignored it. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long. Ready to go?”
“Yup.” David wrapped an arm around her shoulders like she was a lifesaver and he was drowning. They headed back to the car as the girls made sad pouty faces. The grown women shot looks that could put Lyn six feet under. David dropped a kiss on Lyn’s hair.
No blushing. None. Nope.
Damn it.
Delighted warmth ran through her. Even if it was for show, he filled her with a happy glow.
Once they all got in the car, David let out a long sigh. So did Atlas.
A person would think they’d been through days of combat instead of surviving minutes with hungry ladies. Well, the latter might’ve been worse. Depended on the type of guy and his preferences.
David started up the car. “Let’s go.”
Lyn smiled at him—a genuine, happy smile.
*
“It should be the next right and up the street on our left.” Lyn hoped the GPS was correct. Otherwise, it’d be an incredibly awkward conversation when they knocked on the door.
Actually, it was going to be awkward no matter what. At this point, how awkward was more an order of magnitude.
“We’re going to drive around the block first,” David said, passing the right-hand turn and continuing onward. “Never hurts to get a good look at what cars are parked on the street and nearby.”
“Did you get a look at the car the man was driving in New Hope?” She wondered if she should’ve been keeping an eye out for it this whole drive.