4. Amusing and Arousing

4

AMUSING AND AROUSING

V an was circling back home from his run on Friday morning around seven thirty.

He'd slept in an hour extra since he didn't have to work, but he wasn't giving up his exercise.

Five days a week he got his run in outside and then he'd lift weights another three times a week.

He was stronger and healthier than he'd been in years, even if he was much smaller.

Months of bed rest would do that to a body.

When he turned the corner, he heard a shout and a clicking noise, then saw a small dog running as fast as it could toward him, almost turning its head to see if it was being chased.

The woman coming after it was wearing light-colored pants that were fitted to her body and stopping at her ankles. She had some heels on her feet she kicked off and left in the road, her bare feet picking up speed on the dog, both of them with hair blowing in the wind.

"Mr. Franklin, get back here!"

His jaw dropped and he thought, what the fuck? How could this be happening to him twice in a week?

The puppy was on a full run right at him. Van stopped and squatted down, scooped the ball of hair in his hands and got his face bathed.

The stunning blonde beauty stopped in front of him out of breath and panting.

"Son of a bitch," she said. "I can't believe he did this again. You'd think this damn dog would get sick of doing this. Or maybe he's sick of me and wants to get away. Jesus, am I that out of my element here?"

She looked like an angel but appeared to swear like a sailor. He found it amusing and arousing at the same time.

He'd thought she'd had a touch of crazy going on before and now it was confirmed.

He wasn't sure which one of them had hair blowing around more. The owner or the dog. They were almost the same color. Sort of. Maybe not. The woman's was a yellow blonde, the dog's more a copper.

"I believe this belongs to you?"

"Yep," she said. "I have to be the worst dog owner on the face of this earth. I opened the door to bring the garbage out. I let him out too to do his business. When I brought the bins to the road, he snuck between my feet the minute the gate to my fence opened."

"Maybe keep the dog in the house when you're going to open the gate?" he asked.

"You think?" she asked sarcastically. "But he ran out so fast I thought he had to pee. We are getting there on house training. I thought it'd save me cleaning up my kitchen floor."

"Instead you got a nice workout," he said, handing over the dog when she reached for it.

"I'm getting a lot of them lately," she said. "At least I didn't step in dog crap barefoot this time."

He grunted. "You mean when you were trying to get him out from under your deck?"

She frowned. "Do I know you? How did you know about that or who I am?"

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?" he asked in his dry calm work voice. It was the only time he talked much. Though he was doing more of it now than normal too.

She burst out laughing. "Oh my God. Seriously. It was you? Talk about a small world. I guess you realized it by me shouting Mr. Franklin as I chased him down the street."

"It's not that common of a name," he said.

She laughed even harder. "He would have tired out before me," she said. "At least I hope so. I'm not much of a runner. Now if he was trying to get away from me in the water, there'd be no chance."

"You swim?" he asked.

"I did in college. I was good too." She was wiggling her eyebrows.

"I bet you were."

"I'm Kelsey, but you know that unless you forgot."

"I didn't," he said. "I rarely forget much."

"Do you have a name or are you just the nine-one-one operator?"

"Van," he said.

"Not a common name, just like my dog. Though he's called Frankie most of the time."

"Just not when you're mad or frustrated with him?" he asked, snorting.

She was laughing even harder and he couldn't figure out the reason. "Like a parent does when they mean business."

"Your dog doesn't seem to know or care that much though," he said, his hand reaching out to pet the little thing. He got more licks in the process.

He'd never owned a dog before, but the affection he was getting now was a nice feeling.

Not enough to override having to chase one down the street with no shoes on though.

"He thinks he's the king of the house given his breed and all, but he'll learn fast enough I was the queen of the castle first. Anyway, thanks for the good catch. I've got to get my escapee back home and get ready for work. I'll let you finish your run so you can do the same."

"I'm off today," he found himself saying.

"And you're up this early running?" she asked, her tone almost comical. "Are you mad? Maybe a little loco?"

Considering the two situations she'd been in with her dog this week alone, he'd keep the loco comment to himself.

"I'm a creature of habit," he said. "I actually overslept."

"Sleep," she said. "I don't know what that is now. I used to get it more on the weekends, but someone needs to go out very early. I read it's good to get them in a routine too. Guess this is what being a single parent is about."

"I wouldn't know," he said.

"Are you single?" she asked him quickly. "I've never seen you around before, but that doesn't mean anything. Since you're close to my house, I'm going to assume you don't live that far away."

"Less than two miles," he said.

No reason to add much more. If he said he was on the water, she'd know he had to have some money somewhere and it wouldn't add up with his career.

"You didn't say if you were single? On the island, my choices of meeting people are normally online and I'm sick of being pen pals with people."

"Pen pals?" he asked lifting an eyebrow.

She snorted. "Long story. If you're single and want to get a drink sometime, maybe the old-fashioned way of meeting someone will work out better. I can fill you in on my comment then. Otherwise, no worries. Don't need to waste my breath or your time."

He liked her and wasn't sure why that was.

There were parts of her he couldn't piece together.

She looked high maintenance and was stunning but yet didn't think much about running down the street barefoot or trying to get under her deck to get her dog. She laughed about stepping in dog crap on top of it.

Her potty mouth told him she was pretty free with her speech and didn't care too much about being polite, yet she wasn't rude.

She was obviously outgoing since she'd just asked him out.

He couldn't remember the last time a woman asked him out. Most times he was meeting someone at a bar with the guys one night. Those women didn't tend to lean toward long-term relationships.

But there was something in Kelsey's eyes that reminded him of his mother.

A twinkle of humor and a hint of adventure. Not that his mother ever got to venture out much that he remembered, but she always urged him to do it.

He needed both in his life desperately and found himself saying, "I'm single."

"Look at that," she said. "We've got that in common. Don't suppose you've got your phone on you? I ran out the door without mine."

"I do," he said, looking at his arm where it was strapped. He'd been listening to music in his earbuds while he ran.

"Oops, silly me," she said. "I was distracted by other things, but you've got some nice arms there too."

He smirked. There was no way not to. She was all over the place, but he found it enchanting in a way.

Then he wondered where the fuck he even came up with that word.

"Are you asking me to call you?" he asked.

"Text works," she said. "I'd rather talk to someone in person than on the phone."

"Where the pen pal comment came from?" he asked.

"Something like that." She was reaching her hand for the band holding his phone there and he let her pull it out. She held it to his face to unlock it and then started to punch something into it and put it back. "Text me when you're ready to get that drink. Don't stress about the fact tonight or tomorrow might be too early. I'm free if you are."

"Good to know," he said.

She turned and started to jog back to her shoes with her dog. She picked up the heels and turned the corner barefoot, giving him one hell of a strut in the process.

He grunted and then continued on his run, going past where she'd turned but looking down the street and seeing the house she'd gone into.

He could get her address back at work anyway. If he wanted to, he could look up the owner of the home but wouldn't. It's not like he cared one way or another.

The houses around here were nice and on the new side. She had to have a good job to either own or afford the rent. She was dressed professional enough, but that didn't mean a lot either.

He turned again once he was past her block and went back home. He just would start off in a run each day and then turn back after twenty minutes. He never followed the same direction daily, but he knew he could get his way back easy enough and ran in all sorts of directions trying to get a lay of the area he lived in.

Toward the middle of the island, overlooking the water facing Plymouth, he could get to either port in less than twenty minutes, if need be, driving.

He was five minutes or so from where he worked. He could walk if he wanted to but no reason to do that when he got his exercise in running.

When he returned home, he pulled his phone out and unlocked the door with his app. The old man had a lot of security.

The place was still decorated as it had been when he moved in. Van hadn't come with much other than the clothes on his back. The furniture here was nicer than anything he'd ever owned.

He walked past the kitchen and through the living room, then down the hall to his bedroom that overlooked the water.

He thought of the sexy woman he just ran into and tried to picture her in a bathing suit swimming in the bay and then said that was nuts. No one did that around here. He saw people in kayaks and canoes, jet skis and paddle boats. But no one just went out to swim laps for exercise.

Then he reminded himself, Kelsey might just be crazy enough to do it.

Now he had to decide if he was crazy enough to actually reach out and go on a date with her.