“Oh, right. Yeah. Send me a text and let me know where to meet you.”
I hold the door open and he steps past. I think he’s going to leave without either of us saying another word, but something makes me want to be brave, to catch him off guard. I think he wanted me to be honest earlier, to say what I was really thinking.
“And Adam?”
He looks over his shoulder.
“If the tables were turned, I doubt you would have looked away either.”
I think my line is killer, one of those moments in life when you say the exact right thing at the exact right time—right up until I get a text from Adam Saturday morning, canceling our meeting.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MADELEINE
Adam had a good excuse for canceling on me: one of his patients’ owners called with an emergency and Adam agreed to go into the clinic to check it out. He didn’t mention what the emergency was in his brief text, but it’s not like I could question it. He dropped everything on a Saturday to aid a helpless animal. Like I said, it’s a good excuse.
The problem is, he hasn’t bothered to get back to me about a rain check. Over the last few days, I’ve called and left him voicemails, shot over a pair of professionally worded emails, and even slipped and texted him twice when my common sense had already gone to sleep for the night.
In return, I’ve received nada. Zilch.
We are right back to square one, and it makes no sense. When we’re together, he’s friendly, even borderline flirtatious. When we’re apart, he doesn’t just act different, he falls off the face of the earth altogether.
At first, I give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s really bad at communication. Maybe he likes to live his life unencumbered by technology. Maybe he’s so embarrassed about me seeing his nether region that he can’t work up the courage to text me back.
Too bad none of those lame excuses stick. There’s something up with Adam, and I think I know what it is.
He likes me.
The clues fit. He flirts with me when we’re together, he got jealous over the cowboy at the singles event, and he came over to run with Mouse. Why would he do any of that if he didn’t like me?
Daisy doesn’t agree.
“It sounds like you’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”
I wave away her pessimism. “Listen, you didn’t see the way he acted around me the other day. He came over to run with Mouse and he was looking at me almost like he wanted me.”
She hums in disbelief. What a good friend. “Are you sure he wasn’t just horny? I mean, how well do you know this guy? If he liked you, he’d text you back.”
I check my phone and the only text waiting for me is from the local pizza shop, offering me a coupon for being such a loyal customer. That’s it, no more giving my number out to pizza places; the only text I want to receive is from Adam. Still, I save the coupon.
“Shouldn’t we go in?” Daisy asks, leaning over to eye the front of the YMCA through my passenger-side window.
It’s the day of the second puppy training class and we’re sitting in the parking lot, waiting for class to start. We stopped for sandwiches on the way over. I think I told Daisy it would be a picnic, but instead we sat in my car. I finish off the last bite and sneak a small piece of turkey back to Mouse.
“Not yet. Last time Mouse was overeager with all the other puppies and everyone acted so offended. I want to minimize the amount of time I have to be around them.”
“Is that Lori?!” she asks, pressing her face closer to the glass.
“Oh, yeah.” I roll my eyes. “She came last time to try to convince Adam to hire her as an agent. I’m not sure why she came back.”
“Her dog looks really old.”
“That’s because it is.”
I brought Daisy with me to puppy training class because I need someone else to evaluate the situation with Adam and tell me if I’m reading too much into things or not. She’s the perfect person for the job because she isn’t one of those friends who only tell you what you want to hear. When I tried to pull off bangs in eighth grade, she politely told me I looked like a buffoon and instructed me to immediately grow them out. I’ve trusted her implicitly ever since.
When we walk in, there are even more women than there were for the first class. The twelve measly chairs positioned in a half-circle have long been claimed, and the unlucky few who weren’t able to grab a seat linger around the perimeter.
“Wow. Is Adam a world-renowned dog trainer or something?” Daisy asks, eyeing the group of women as we head toward the back.
I level her with a knowing glare. “No, he’s an eligible bachelor in a small town.”
As if to prove my point, when Adam walks through the gymnasium doors a few minutes later wearing jeans and a Hamilton Animal Clinic t-shirt, a hush falls over the crowd. Everyone sits up a little straighter, pushes their boobs out a little more. Daisy laughs and the sound carries around the entire room. Adam follows it to the source and his green gaze locks with mine. My stomach flips and I hold my breath. It’s been nearly a week since he was in my apartment, and I’m not quite sure how to act. I want to be annoyed with him for not replying to my texts, for completely disappearing yet again, but then he breaks out in a wide, devastating smile. He’s happy to see me. My heart soars and Daisy has to elbow me in the side to get me to look away.
“See?!” I tell her.
“Yeah, okay. He looked really happy to see you, but remember how he hasn’t bothered to call or text you back in the last few days?”
I remember, but now that he’s here in the flesh, I can’t seem to hold on to any of the anger that was brewing over the last few days. Adam is here, and that’s all that matters. The training class starts and he spreads us out around the room. There’s more clicker training, and he adds on a few new tricks to today’s repertoire. We’re supposed to be working on the stay command when he makes his way over to Daisy and me.
“How is Mouse coming along?” he asks, reaching down to pet him.
I beam. “Really good. He’ll sit and stay for a few seconds now before going crazy.”
He laughs. “That’s to be expected in the beginning. He’ll get better at it the more you work with him.”
“Well then, we better get back to it.”
He nods, but he doesn’t drop eye contact, doesn’t move to check on the next student.
“I’m sorry about the last few days. I know you’ve been trying to get in touch about a rain check date and—”
“No worries.” I smile. “Really, it’s fine.”
His brows furrow as if he’s surprised to be let off the hook so easily. “Right, okay. Well maybe I’ll catch you after class?”
I smile. “Of course.”
Daisy has a bone to pick with me as soon as he’s not within earshot.
“Way to cave within the first five seconds of seeing him!”
“He seemed remorseful,” I say with a shrug.
“No,” she whispers, “you just saw those eyes and that jawline and you turned into putty.”