“You know people are going to talk, right?” Roxie sat at the front of the boat, scanning for anything that might catch on the bottom or the motor.

“Talk about what?” Maybe he should have taken what Lila had offered. Maybe if he had she wouldn’t have hustled him out of her house this morning. If he’d been in bed with her, he could have pinned her down and kissed her until she couldn’t even think about going to work. He could have woken up to her body cuddled against his. Instead, he might have to ask someone to check him for ticks because Peanut had managed to climb on the couch with him in the middle of the night.

“Talk about the fact that your truck was spotted outside the new girl’s house.”

Shit. He hadn’t thought about that. “Peanut came back last night. He scratched at the back door and scared her. You know how it is when you aren’t used to the sounds out here.”

Roxie’s brow rose. “Peanut? Bill’s dog? I thought his son took the dog.”

“Yeah, well, Mikey always was a selfish asshole.” It shouldn’t have surprised him but it did. He’d given Mikey a call this morning and explained the situation. “He gave me some story about how they stopped at a rest stop and the dog ran away. But he also told me to take him to a shelter because he wasn’t coming back to get him.”

“Asshole,” Roxie said with a sigh. “I’ll take him in. I’ve been meaning to get a dog.”

“I think you’ll have to fight Lila over him. She says she’s going to fix him up and then find him a home, but you know how that goes.”

“Yeah, in a few days she’ll be used to him and she’ll think it can’t hurt to let him stay a little while longer, and then she’s buying him Christmas sweaters and arguing at the town hall for a dog park.” Roxie nodded. “She looks like the kind who would dress up her dog, and I think she likes arguing.”

Why hadn’t he thought of that? He could have gone to bed with her, woken with her, shown back up at her place to fix something—he had his pick since nothing worked—and repeated the whole process. “I think she’s too practical to dress up the dog.”

“Nah, she only looks that way. Trust me, that dog will have a sweater by the end of the year. Have you thought about how Miranda is going to take your sudden passion for Remy’s sister-in-law?”