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he gave her now was tender, and he reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.
You re hands are so soft, you ll get blisters without gloves. I m sure Angus left a new
pair up at the house for you. I ll run up and get them.
Animal Dreams 43
* * * * *
Mandy slumped against the barn wall and closed her eyes. Her heart was racing, and
her body was ready. She felt empty and wet -- and he had only been playing with her. She
couldn t wait to see what happened when he got serious. And they would get serious. The
pull that she d felt in the mercantile hadn t abated; it had increased. He wanted her. She
knew that she d feel those lips all over her body. Soon.
Boone ambled through the open barn door and over to her. His tongue was hanging
out and his sides were heaving, but he had a goofy, happy dog look about him.
A pang of guilt hit her as, for the first, time she realized that he had been gone for more
than a few minutes. Boone wasn t used to the country. He could have been lost or hurt.
Are you all right? Where ve you been?
He ambled almost drunkenly toward her. You know -- here, there, making friends.
Mandy raised a brow.
I m serious. The dogs around here are really friendly -- not like the ones in the city.
They re -- what s the word? He stopped, panting loudly as he thought. Neighborly. Yeah,
they re neighborly.
Boone took a few more steps until he was standing in front of her. And they have TV.
TV? Mandy made a small sound of disbelief, but Boone didn t answer. He had his nose
in the air, having caught a whiff of something. He abruptly nosed her crotch before peering
up at her again.
So is this a permanent condition now?
Mandy rolled her eyes. Boone s ribbing didn t really bother her though, and she eyed
the dog thoughtfully.
Maybe you can answer a question for me.
Boone slumped down to the ground at her feet, breathing loudly through his mouth.
44 Jeanne Laws
Shoot.
Jacob doesn t seem -- I mean, do you think he -- He s not wearing a ring, but -- Mandy
took a deep breath. Do you think he has a girlfriend?
Boone lifted his head so that he could look at her, but that required too much effort,
and he flopped back down to the ground before he answered.
I hate to break it to you, Mand, but they rejected my application at the Psychic Friends
Network. They had a little problem with the fact that I am a d-o-g.
Mandy ground the heels of her hands into her eyes. She was losing her mind. Get. A.
Grip.
But there is something you might find interesting.
Mandy dropped her hands and looked at Boone, and decided she was willing to sink to
seeking relationship advice from a dog. What-what do you know?
Boone rolled onto his back, exposing his belly. Scratch first. I m itchy.
Mandy crouched beside the dog and bit her tongue. If she begged, it would only make
things worse. One of his back legs began to twitch reflexively, jerking in time with her
scratching. Boone let out a little groan of pleasure. After a minute, Mandy sat back on her
heels, and pointedly removed her hands.
Boone looked at her from his inverted position and sighed. He slept outside last night.
Mandy blinked.
It s true -- he parked his truck down the drive, just past the first trees. I smelled him
when I went out between Die Harder and Die Hard With a Vengeance.
Mandy frowned, confused. Of all of the things she might have expected Boone to say,
that wasn t it. Why would Jacob sleep in his truck in her uncle s driveway? It didn t make
any sense, but Mandy suddenly remembered that Boone had also told her that his new dog
friends had a TV.
Animal Dreams 45
Mandy opened her mouth to question the dog further, when Boone rolled over and
shot to his feet. Mandy s eyes widened as she watched the fur on his back stand at attention.
He was staring intently toward the far end of the barn. Mandy followed the direction of his
gaze, and the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle. An unnatural silence settled
around them.
Whatever had visited last night was back. Mandy didn t question the instinct. There
was the same feeling of being watched. The same feeling of wrongness. The sunlight that
streamed in through the open doors and the windows of the hayloft belied a threat.
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