Reluctant Romance (7 page)

Connor sucked in a breath. That
was
great news, but still, he wasn’t one to make snap decisions. “Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he chuckled. “I’m not even sure I want to move just yet.”
 

He heard Myra laugh on the other end. “We’ll see about that. So I’ll see you over on Palomino in an hour then?”

“Yep, see you then.”

Connor hung up the phone, his thoughts taking a serious turn. He had spent his youth in the house on Palomino Drive and was surprised to find it available for sale. Initially he had called the realtor on a lark, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. The house was perfect for him, had a big yard for Picasso, was near the airport, and, most importantly, felt like home.
 

His foot pressed harder on the gas pedal as he turned to Picasso. “Well, boy, you might get that yard to run in sooner than we thought."
 

As if understanding him, Picasso let out a loud woof and licked Connor’s arm.

###

Risa slammed down the phone. “Damn it!”
 

She couldn’t believe the nerve of Connor canceling at the last minute after she’d gone to so much trouble. Well, he didn’t actually
know
she’d gone to any trouble, but still.

The previous night, she’d put her plan into place while she was working at the clinic. In between giving vaccinations, setting a broken leg on a pug, and doing a couple of routine exams, she’d put in calls to her most loyal customers.
 

She was supposed to meet with Connor today to go over some company particulars and had planned to have those customers waiting in the clinic where she would conveniently bring him. Then she’d simply introduce them and let them tell their stories.
 

Of course, she’d coached them to emphasize how the clinic made them loyal customers who spread the word about Healthy-Pet, thus giving the company’s public image a boost and bringing more loyal, and paying, customers on board. But the important part was that the stories were true, as was the customers’ loyalty and devotion.

She plopped into her chair feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach.
Now what?

Risa supposed there wasn’t much she could do, except tell the customers to go home, then try to coordinate getting them and Connor to the clinic at some later date. He’d said the evaluation was getting pushed out until next week since Jim Abernake couldn’t make it back until then. Maybe she could use the extra time to come up with something better.

In the mean time, Risa had to admit she felt a little relieved that she didn’t have to put up with Connor for a few days.

Turning back to her work with a sigh, she slid off her pumps and rubbed Bailey’s belly with her toes. She wondered why Connor needed a few days to “tie things up.”
Did it have something to do with the acquisition?
And if it did, why was she being left out of it?
 

Risa realized she was being paranoid. More than likely it had to do with Connor’s social life. He probably had to fly off to some tropical location in order to appease one of his many model girlfriends, Risa thought with a pang of disgust…or was it jealousy? No, definitely
not
jealousy.
 

She figured her feelings about Connor were all tied up with her feelings about the acquisition. She didn’t feel anything for him as a man. Not. One. Thing.
 

All those butterflies she’d noticed in the pit of her stomach when he was around were due to her concern over losing Healthy-Pet. Nothing more.
 

Well, maybe
that
and the fact she hadn’t had a boyfriend in a long time. Dana was right, she needed to get out more. Glancing at the calendar on her desk she realized that Bobbie Shore’s big party was only two days away.
 

Risa felt a stab of anxiety. In recent years she’d shunned most social gatherings. She was a bit nervous about going to the party, but she realized her friends were right: a day off to unwind and not have to think about the acquisition—or Connor Dunn—was just what she needed.

A rough, wet tongue on her toe made her giggle. She slid her chair out and bent down to pet Bailey. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about our trip to the dog park tonight."
 

The dog park was a gigantic parcel of town-owned land with open fields and wooded trails where dogs were welcome. It was one of Bailey’s favorite places because she could be let off her leash to run around the fields. Risa loved taking Bailey there.
 

Settling back in her chair, Risa felt her earlier anger melting away. Bailey and her other pets were all she needed to be happy. In fact, her life had been perfect before this whole acquisition thing reared its ugly head. She couldn’t wait to put it behind her and get back to the peaceful, if not a little lonely, life she’d come to love.

###

Connor felt a pang of guilt as he hung up from his short conversation with Risa Kennedy. She was clearly not happy with him.

He wasn’t in the habit of canceling business appointments but Jim would be tied up until next week with his family emergency, and that meant the whole evaluation would be pushed out. Which meant Connor had a lot of extra time on his hands. And a lot of thinking to do.

His visit to the house had brought back pleasant childhood memories even though it wasn’t exactly the same as it had been when his family lived there. It had been updated over the years. The updates included a top-of-the-line gourmet kitchen that caught Conner’s eye.
 

The house
was
exactly what he was looking for. He had to admit the three-bedroom cape was a bit big for just him and Picasso, but the location, setting and style were perfect.
 

The question was, was he ready to make the move from “on-the-go” city living to a more laid-back suburban life? He had a lot of thinking to do and wanted to take the afternoon to focus on it so he could make the right decision.

His thoughts turned to the Healthy-Pet acquisition. At first he had been totally against it, but his recent research into the pet food market had been favorable. People spent a lot of money on their pets. The pet food market alone was a nineteen-billion dollar market - not anything to be scoffed at. His own feelings about feeding Picasso good-quality, healthy food told him there were plenty of pet owners who would buy Healthy-Pets high-end products.
 

His only hesitation was that he still didn’t know what shape the company was in. With the strange way Risa was acting and the odd coincidence of the accounting system being on the fritz, he couldn’t help but feel that she was trying to hide something from him.
 

She had seemed surprisingly upset at the news that they would be continuing their evaluation into the next week.
Did she think he would be reckless enough to make a decision without seeing the actual numbers?
 
It seemed like she’d hoped they would, and that worried Connor.
 

Connor thought back to the two times he had seen Risa outside of Healthy-Pet. Both times she’d seemed to be having a bit too much to drink, which was out of character for her from what he had read in her files. Something strange was definitely going on with Risa Kennedy, and he needed to find out what it was before he made the final decision.

Connor glanced at his phone to check his missed calls and text messages. He’d asked his private investigator to do some more digging on Risa and was hoping something had come through, but there was no message from Jason Anders.

Connor felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach. His father was good friends with Risa’s, and they both wanted this deal to go through. If the financials panned out, he might be able to see his way to buying the company, but he’d probably have to do some cutting, and the clinic would be first on his list…along with any employees that weren’t an asset.
 

Connor rubbed his face with his hands. Looking over at Picasso, who was peacefully sleeping on the bed in his hotel suite, he felt a pang of jealousy for the dog. As if sensing the attention, Picasso looked up at him.

“Things are easy for you, just sleep, eat, and exercise,” Connor said.

Picasso thumped his tail, glancing longingly in the direction of his leash in response.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. I have some things to hash out and then later this afternoon, we’ll go for a big, long walk." Connor reached over to pet the dog’s head.

As if understanding Connor’s words, Picasso heaved a sigh and put his head back down on his paws. Connor watched the dog’s eyes drift shut. In seconds, his chest was moving with the slow, shallow breath of restful sleep. Connor felt himself wishing it was that easy for
him
to fall asleep.

Connor sat back in his chair with a sigh. He’d been having a hard time sleeping lately because of this whole Healthy-Pet business. He was getting a lot of pressure from his father. Maybe he should just give the acquisition his stamp of approval to please his father and the consequences be dammed. But he couldn’t do that in good conscience; he had to run the numbers before he could decide if the buy-out was a smart move for Dunn International.

But approving the actual acquisition wasn’t the real thing that was causing him to lose sleep. The real cause was Risa. Even if he did determine that it would be profitable to buy Healthy-Pet, he still had to deal with her odd behavior and whatever potential problems she had.
 

Which brought him to the question that was keeping him up at night. If Dunn International bought Healthy-Pet, would he be forced to fire Risa Kennedy?
 

Chapter Eight

Risa smiled to herself when she noticed the dirt parking lot at the dog park was nearly empty. She liked it best when no one else was there.
 

She parked at the south end of the lot, near the trail, and slid out of the car. The heat of the late summer afternoon wrapped around her like a blanket, a sharp contrast to the air conditioning she’d been blasting inside the car. She mentally congratulated herself for being smart enough to change into shorts and a tank top before leaving work.

Even though she had a built-in fur coat, Bailey never seemed to mind the heat and squirmed her way out of the back before Risa could even flip the seat up.
 

“What do you say we walk the trail first, then I’ll let you run around in the field?”
 

Bailey wagged her whole body in response. Risa picked up the leash, heading in the direction of the woods.
 

The trail ran through a section of tall pine trees, which kept it shady and a few degrees cooler than the open fields. The fallen pine needles and other leaves cushioned the path. Risa walked at a quick pace, Bailey trotting along contentedly at her side.
 

Late afternoon was Risa’s favorite time of day. She loved the way the sun filtered through the trees, the chirping of the birds as they finished their daily business before nightfall, and the scurrying sounds of squirrels and chipmunks on the forest floor always made her feel like she was in a fairy-tale land far away from her real-life problems.

She found herself relaxing as she walked the path. It was a big loop that started at one side of the parking lot and ended at the other. When she came out the other side, she’d take Bailey across the lot and let her have free rein to run in the fields. On the trails, though, a leash was required.

Risa was so engrossed in nature that she barely paid attention when Bailey started acting antsy. One minute the dog was walking calmly beside her, the next she was tugging on the leash trying to run ahead. Before Risa had time to react, the leash snapped out of her hand and Bailey took off, disappearing around a bend in the trail.

“Bailey, come back!” Risa felt her heart hammer in her chest as she sprinted to try to catch up with the dog.
 

The trees were thick on this part of the path and Risa couldn’t see around the sharp corner. She came careening around it at full speed, almost tripping over Bailey, who was stopped in the middle of the path playing with another dog. At the last minute, Risa shifted left and barreled headlong into the last person she expected to see there.

“Connor?” She looked at him in wide-eyed incredulity.

“Risa?”
 

She gazed up into Connor’s sapphire-blue eyes. He had put his hand on her arm to steady her when she had plowed into him. Risa noticed it was still there. Alarm bells started going off in her head when she realized it didn’t feel all that unpleasant either.

She looked down, clearing her throat, and Connor released her.

“You have a dog?” she asked him.

Connor nodded. Risa noticed that the sheepish look on his face made him boyishly appealing. She took a step back, away from him.

Risa looked down at the dogs who were enjoying each other’s company like old pals.
 

“Your dog sure is a beauty.” She reached out her hand to the Great Dane, who was so tall that she could pat his head without having to bend over.

“Thanks. His name is Picasso." Connor beamed like a proud parent.

“Picasso?” Risa’s brow furrowed. “Like the artist?”

“Yes, exactly. I have an affinity for art.”

Risa looked back up, studying Connor’s face, almost as startled to discover they shared an interest in art as she was to discover he had a dog.

“This is a nice dog park you guys have here. I just stumbled across it while I was driving by.” Connor spread his hands wide.

“It is. I take Bailey here all the time. There’s a ton of trails to walk on and a field on the other side of the parking lot where you can let the dogs run off the leash." Risa pointed back toward the way Connor had come.

“There is?
 
Picasso would love that. He’s been cooped up in the Residence Inn since we got to town.”

“Well, I was just headed there with Bailey…we could go together. Looks like the two of them would love to run around with each other.” Risa regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She was still mad at the way he’d canceled their meeting and she certainly didn’t want to spend any more time with him than she had to. So why had she invited them to tag along?
 
Risa looked down at the two dogs and decided it was for Bailey’s sake. Bailey rarely got a chance to play with other dogs.