Thank you to the amazing Alice's White Rabbit and annaharding for pre-reading and beta-ing this for me. You wouldn't be reading this without them. I did add/change a few things after they saw it, so any mistakes I take full and complete credit for. Stephanie Meyer owns the original human characters. All of the dogs are mine.
Chapter 1
~~~THE DOGS~~~
"Come on, boys! Time for the park!" I heard all three boys running my way. They loved the park.
I own my own business, consulting with organizations who want to create online learning environments. After 10 years as a high school teacher, I was frustrated with the restrictions teachers faced and found companies much more willing to use innovative learning methods. I had a few regular clients who kept me comfortable.
Working from home the majority of the time, I wanted a companion and, after years with no pets, decided it was time I adopted a dog.
It all started with Beaker—a cute mutt I found at the local shelter. He was a typical mutt with bits of everything in him. He was friendly, gave lots of kisses, and was in good health, except for an underbite that didn't deter him from eating.
A couple of months later, I realized I could only provide so much company for him, so I went back to the shelter where another mixed breed caught my eyes. Beaker weighed in at a healthy 50 pounds, but this little guy looked a quarter Beaker's size but had the prettiest brown eyes. He looked like a Chihuahua, dachshund, and beagle mix. Welcome, Boomer.
One year later, I saw a note on Facebook about a dog who was in his last days at a shelter, even though he was only a year old. Another mutt, I drove four hours to get him, and that's how Bumper came into my life.
With springtime upon us, I joined the local dog park to get me out of the house and give the dogs more room to run.
After a couple months, all of the regulars knew Boomer, as he was the most social and playful of all my boys. To see his 20-pound frame play with 105-pound Lucy, a Bernese mountain dog, had all of us laughing.
Hot summer temps mean early visits to the dog park. I notice one very attractive man with his two golden retrievers, Bo and Bea.
"Are your dogs really named Bo and Bea?" I ask him while laughing.
"Yeah," he responds with a quizzical look on his face.
"My boys are Beaker, Boomer, and Bumper." Realization hit him as all five dogs' names started with the letter B. "And I'm Bella." That made him laugh even harder.
"Edward," he said, extending his hand to me.
"We're going to have to find a B name for you," I tell him.
~~~MISSING~~~
Bumper gets me up at 5 AM. I wake the other boys up and open the door so they can all go outside. I'm fortunate to have a small yard they can do their business in.
I haven't seen Edward at the dog park for two days, and I'm hoping he's there today. I shake my head. I've talked to him once, and I'm already obsessing about seeing him again.
We head to the park around seven, and there are a few dogs there, but no Bo or Bea.
The boys play for about an hour, and as we're getting ready to head out, I see Edward and his dogs entering the dog park.
I know I need to play it cool, but I can't stop watching him.
Boomer sees Bo and Bea and heads over to say hello. I swear he thinks he's the welcoming committee at this dog park.
Bo and Bea come over to me and I pet both of them while Beaker looks at me with a sad face as if I'm ignoring him.
"Hey, you two," I say to the dogs. "How are you doing?"
"Hi," Edward says to me.
"Hey. How are you?" I ask him.
"I'm good," he replies.
He follows Bo and Bea into the park, and I watch him walk away. I'm so tempted to just follow him and start up a conversation, but we've been here for a while, and I need to get home and get started on a new project.
I gather up the boys, and Edward watches us leave.
The next morning, we don't arrive at the dog park until 8, and Edward, Bo, and Bea are already there. My three boys run over to Bo and Bea, and they take off chasing Boomer.
"Good morning," he says to me.
"Good morning." And we hit awkward silence so I start walking around the park, keeping an eye on the dogs.
Edward takes a seat on one of the picnic tables, sitting with his legs stretched out and his elbows resting on the tabletop. He's wearing a baseball cap backward and is sinfully sexy.
Edward always affixes Bo and Bea's leashes to the fence. I see Boomer run over to the leashes, and he tries to run off with one of them. Since the leashes are clipped on, he can't do anything, except he sees an opportunity. There are little baggie containers on each leash, and there's enough bag peeking out that Boomer grabs it and takes off running.
"No! Boomer!" I yell in vain. He's halfway across the park with a long trail of bags behind him, sparking interest from other dogs, who start grabbing the bags. "Boomer! Come!" Nothing. He's having way too much fun.
I see Edward watching the commotion, and I'm completely horrified. Great way to make an impression.
Then I notice he's laughing. He hasn't even gotten up from the table. He just sits there and laughs.
After a few minutes, I finally get the bags from Boomer, and other owners help me retrieve the other bags. They are all laughing, too.
I take the bags over by Edward. I'm absolutely horrified.
"I am so sorry. I saw it coming. I just didn't act fast enough to stop Boomer. I'll replace all of the bags. I'm really sorry." I know I'm rambling, but I can't help myself.
"Bella," Edward says, trying to get my attention. "Bella, it's okay. Actually, it was pretty damn funny."
"I'm really sorry," I tell him.
"It's fine. And don't worry about the bags. I have a lot more. It's okay, really."
"Thanks. It was kind of funny," I say, giggling.
"Bo! Bea!" he yells at his dogs. "Time to go!"
I was sad he had to leave so early but understood.
"See you, Bella," he says while walking past me.
"Bye," is all I can manage as I watch him leave.
About an hour later, the boys and I head home. While still horrified by what Boomer had done, Edward's laughter and smile stayed with me.
That was the first night I dreamt about Edward. We were sitting at the picnic table he was at earlier that day, and somehow, I ended up laying on top of it while he kissed me senseless.
~~~THE BASEBALL HAT~~~
I woke up breathless. The dream about Edward had me on the verge of orgasm. My nightstand held my handy vibrator, and it took only a few seconds to find some relief.
I let the boys out and fixed their breakfast. I take time to get ready before we head to the dog park.
We arrive and no one else is there, so the boys take off, just sniffing around.
About twenty minutes, later Edward, Bo, and Bea arrive. I'm sitting at the picnic table Edward was at yesterday, and Bo and Bea run over to greet me. When my boys see them, Boomer jumps up on the bench then the table. At the dog park, everyone realizes it's the dogs' park, so standing on the tabletop is allowed.
Edward wanders over. "Good morning," he says with a Starbucks cup in hand. Not only is my mouth watering, but working from home means I don't get to partake in as many Starbucks runs as I used to.
"Hey," I say while eyeing the cup.
He sits down next to me, elbows on the table and his baseball cap on backward.
We watch the dogs run around. One moment, Boomer is chasing Bea, and then Bumper is chasing Boomer. I love seeing them play and run around.
The next thing I know, Boomer has jumped up on the tabletop, he grabs Edward's baseball cap, and takes off. Oh, not again!
Boomer is off with the other four dogs running after him. "Boomer!" Nothing is going to get his attention.
Edward is furiously running his fingers though his hair, trying to get rid of his hat-hair.
"Oh, God, I am so sorry." Thankfully, his reaction is to laugh. "It seems as if Boomer is particularly naughty around you." As soon as the words leave my mouth, I can feel my face turning red because I want to get naughty with him.
Somehow, Bumper got the hat away from Boomer and brought it over to me. He's such a good boy!
Other than some dog drool, the hat's okay. "Here you go," I say, handing the hat over to Edward.
"Thanks," he says while taking it from me, but instead of putting it on his head, he puts it in his pocket.
"Uh, I'm not sure that'll be safe from Boomer. He can probably get it out of your back pocket easier than he could take it off your head."
Edward laughs. "You're probably right. Thanks," he says while putting it in a front pocket.
"Sorry about that," I say, still apologizing.
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's fun to see them having a good time."
"Well, we best get home before Boomer runs off with anything else," I say with a laugh.
"Okay. Have a good day."
I leash my three boys and head home.
When I get home, one of my clients wants me to fly out to California for a few days to work on a project with their staff. I've done this before and call my dog sitter to make arrangements for the boys.
"Hi, Clare, it's Bella."
"Hi, Bella! How are you?"
"I'm okay. I have to head to California for a few days to work with a client. I was wondering if you could watch the dogs next week. I leave on Tuesday and should be back Friday."
When I don't hear her response right away, I worry.
"I would love to, but I'm heading down to Florida to visit some friends. I'll be gone all week." She truly sounds sorry.
I've been hiring Clare ever since I adopted Beaker. I guess I was spoiled with her constant availability.
"That's fine. I'll find someone else. Enjoy Florida, okay?"
"I will. Talk to you soon."
Beaker comes up to me like he knows something's up. I pet his head as leans against me. "Hey, boy. Mama's gotta find you a sitter next week." He looks up at me, and I swear he understands.
AN: The dog running off with the poop bags? Yeah, that really happened to me. Unfortunately, there was no sexy "Edward" in real life, just the laughter from various dog owners as my dog was running around with a long train of bags.
