The Cowboy Upstairs by Tanya Michaels

Author:Tanya Michaels
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“This is not me giving in to your 5:00 a.m. howls,” Becca told the puppy sternly. “Because that would be reinforcing negative behavior. This is just me taking you outside to further your house-training, since we’re both awake, anyway.”

Trouble didn’t seem to care what the reasoning was. She bolted forward with her customary enthusiasm the minute Becca unlatched the kennel. Since Becca had sleepily stumbled into the master bathroom, where the dog was, it seemed inconsiderate not to also give the shepherd the chance to go potty. She carried the puppy downstairs, where the leash hung on a newly installed hook, and as she did so, the most delicious aroma in the world washed over her. Coffee.

Maybe that had been what woke her, not the puppy’s intermittent whimpering. Truth time, Rebecca—did you come down here to walk the puppy or to say goodbye to Sawyer before he hits the road? Well, it wasn’t as if the two were mutually exclusive.

Refugio was only a couple hours from here; she was stunned that someone would voluntarily make a trip this early. But Sawyer said he was stopping at a ranch along the way to have breakfast and check on some business investments. It sounded as if he had friends in the area that he wanted to visit, too. Like Brody, here in Cupid’s Bow. Thinking of Kate and Sierra and Hadley, Becca wondered what it would be like if her friends were scattered throughout the state. She couldn’t decide if Sawyer was blessedly popular, with so many people in his life, or lonely. Maybe those conditions weren’t mutually exclusive, either.

As she padded into the kitchen, she wondered... Did Sawyer also have lovers all over the state, women he called when he was in town who would be happy to see him?

Her tone was sharper than she’d intended when she greeted him with, “You turned on the wrong light. Again.” She had one programmed; it helped give the house the appearance of being occupied when she was away and insured that she didn’t come downstairs to total darkness on early mornings. When he used the switch manually, he disrupted the timer.

“Good morning to you, too.”

“Sorry. The puppy’s been interrupting my sleep.” She had no qualms about blaming her mood on the squirming bundle of fur in her arms. At the shepherd’s insistent wiggling, she set Trouble down, freeing her to run to Sawyer with floppy-pawed adoration. Trouble’s feet were comically big for her body, but she didn’t let awkwardness stop her from throwing herself atop Sawyer’s boots for a tummy rub. The dog obviously loved him—and why not? He had rescued her from a storm and given her a home. Yet after a moment’s affection, she loyally returned to Becca.

He grinned. “She knows who the alpha of the pack is.”

Now if only the rest of the pack would recognize my authority. As she took the puppy into the backyard, Becca thought irritably about Sawyer disrupting her light settings, and Molly

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