She laughed. There was just no way to hold it in. When she glanced at Ben, she saw he was right on the edge of losing it as well. “She got him.”

Ben nodded. “She did.”

“Excuse me?” When Mr. Higginbotham started sniffing Connor’s sneaker, Connor picked him up and put him on the chair next to him. Right across from Ben.

“Winnie and Paul are . . .” It was an open secret but Maddie realized that, being new, Connor hadn’t heard it yet. “Let’s use the word dating.”

Connor made a strangled noise. “I’m still confused.”

Yeah, she was going to have to spell it out for him. “They like to meet for sex but, apparently, Mr. Higginbotham barks if they’re too loud, so Winnie tries to convince other people to take him on a long walk while she and Paul do the deed.”

Ben kept nodding. “I think they know we all know, but they act like they don’t.”

Connor’s mouth dropped open. It took him a few seconds before he said anything. “Let me understand this. I was scammed by a seventysomething woman who wanted to have a noisy booty call.”

Finally. “Yes.”

“That sums it up nicely,” Ben said.

She waited for Connor to get ticked off but he smiled.

“Good for her.” His smile grew wider. “For Paul, too. Although I’m now thinking the handyman job was a ruse for the real job, dog walking.”

An odd sensation flooded her. One she hadn’t felt in so long that she barely recognized it. Happiness. He got scammed by some well-meaning older people who wanted some time alone and he was fine with that. He didn’t yell or cause a scene. He hadn’t when he found out she hit him either. That’s who Connor was. He stayed calm and handled things. It’s likely what made him such a good businessman.

“She’ll be happy to know you like walking Mr. Higginbotham,” she added, unable to stop herself.

His smile faded. “This is a one-time thing.”

“You poor, naive darling. Sure it is.”

Ben shook his head. “Sucker.”

“That, too.” She took pity on Connor and reached for the leash. “Here, let me take him.”

“Where?”

“See the circling thing he’s doing on the cushion?” Mr. Higginbotham walked around, sniffed the fake leather, then circled again. She took that as a sign to get moving. “I think he has to go to the bathroom and Ben will get testy if it happens on his office chair.”

Ben snorted. “Yes, he will.”

After Maddie handed Ben her tablet, she grabbed the dog and headed for the door. Connor just stood there. He could see her through the open door to the inner office and the one to the outside. She stuck to the area right out front, in the patch of grass before the parking lot.