Love Me Sweet (Love Me book 1)

Chapter 3

Even though it had been only a half shift, it had felt like a full one, and if she didn't know Chloe so well and like her so much, she would have sworn that she planned it that way on purpose. She forced her weary bones out of the car and stretched. She still had to take Huck for a walk, and she didn't want to.

She should have gotten a place with a yard, but it was hard to find rentals that allowed animals.

Her phone chirped, and she looked down at it, it was a message from Chloe asking her how the rest of the shift had gone.

Lia wasn't one to complain about a favor she was giving, so he sent a quick text back that said it had been fine. She had to laugh when Chloe sent back a heart emoji and the words 'that bad, huh?' Her friend knew her well too.

As soon as she entered her apartment, she threw her keys down on the kitchen counter and went to the fridge to grab a drink, and as she popped the tab to the soda her phone rang. When and she saw it was Faye's number she answered.

"Hey!" Lia greeted as she chugged her soda.

"Hey, how was the shift, but more importantly, how did it go with your neighbor this morning?"

"Chloe owes me big, it was horrible, there was a multiple vehicle collision with serious injuries. Why did she need the afternoon off anyway? Do you know? I forgot to ask."

Lia walked into the living room to see Huck asleep on his back with his paws up in the air and his head hanging off the side of the couch. Maybe he was broken or deaf; there was no reason he shouldn't greet her like a normal dog when she got home every day. He didn't even seem to care that she was there.

"Her father has a friend who is coming to do some research at the hospital, something about a book on how emergency medical care is handled around the world. His flight should be getting in about now. She's bringing him here to look at the apartment," Faye supplied.

"Good, that will be some extra money for you."

"Sure, but I have had to spend all day cleaning it, the previous renter trashed the place," Faye said with a smile in her voice. Lia had stayed in the apartment after her breakup with her fiancé. It had been nice to have Faye around during the worst of it.

"Ha-ha, funny girl." At Huck's continued lack of interest in Lia's return, she turned and went back into the kitchen.

"And the neighbor?" Faye asked.

"I got the tarp up, he couldn't stop me," she crowed a little.

"Did he try?"

"Not really, he came out and got in my face about it for a minute, but I didn't let him get to me." Lia bluffed for all she was worth. He may not have scared her, but he had most definitely gotten to her. She could still remember his warmth and his smell.

"If you say so," Faye agreed, sounding unsure. "I'm just glad you didn't get arrested."

"Nope," Lia assured her.

She and Faye talked a few minutes more before Faye said she had to do a few more things before Chloe showed up with her friend.

Lia finished her soda and, too tired to change before Huck's walk, reached for his leash then walked back into the living room, eyeing the mutt as he groaned when he looked up and saw the leash.

"You don't have a choice, come on." She snapped the leash on his collar then watched the drama unfold as he rolled himself off the couch, and it was the same story it always was when they reached the edge of the driveway, except for one minor difference. Lia hadn't snapped the leash on tightly, and as soon as he tugged forward, it came unhooked. There was a moment of stunned stillness between the two of them. Lia looked at Huck and Huck looked a Lia, and she swore at the grin that covered his face as he realized his freedom. Her dog actually grinned at her before he took off across the alley and up the steps of the mean neighbor's house.