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stay with a flat hand signal. “Although, this is my first dog obedience class so I don’t really have another instructor to compare her to.”
    The knot in my belly loosened. It was unlikely he’d talk that distantly about her if they’d been up all night doing, well, everything I’d fantasized doing with Henry if I had him all to myself.
    Slightly mollified, I stole another glance at the circles under Henry’s eyes. They hadn’t been there yesterday. Believe me, I’d studied every detail of his beautiful face and had gone over it a thousand times in my mind. The stubble hadn’t been there either. What had he been doing that he couldn’t shave or change his clothes? And that, in his own words, was intense?
    Everyone around me suddenly started moving. Apparently Abby had instructed us to do something. I’d been paying zero attention, so I mimicked what other people were doing by commanding Chester to “sit” and then holding my hand up horizontally and telling him to “stay.”
    It was an honest miracle that the mutt obeyed. For about two seconds anyway. Then he turned his head to the side, and started whining.
    I stared at the pedigree pup, wondering what his problem was. Oh, great. He’d better not have to use the restroom. I’d seen the blue plastic bags attached to the handle of his leash, but I’d been hoping I’d never have to use them. “What, boy?”
    He whined some more and then barked at me.
    I cringed. Half an hour with the miniature male and already I wasn’t meeting his needs. If he weren’t attached to my leash, he’d probably ditch me. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
    “He’s waiting for a treat.” Henry sounded amused as he broke a brown, bone-shaped biscuit in half and held it out for me between his fingertips. “Here . . .”
    When had they handed out dog treats? Oh, right. While I’d been tormenting myself on Henry’s whereabouts last night even though we were clearly not compatible. I mean, how many questions do I have to ask before the guy indicates if he’s single or not? Not that it mattered since I had a date scheduled with a compatible man who, I might add, is up front about who he is and not dark and mysterious, with unforgettable dark pooled eyes . . .
    “Thanks.” I coached myself not to ask outright what he’d been doing all night long (without me) because it might show I was interested and how would that look after I’d bragged about my date tonight?
    “No worries.” Henry smiled, seeming unaware of his affect on me. “This should be good for his size.”
    When I took the treat from him, our fingers brushed and my skin sizzled where we’d touched. Was that static electricity or . . . what?
    I realized I was still holding my hand in the air and, uh, gaping at him. Not exactly sly there, Ellen. My cheeks went up in flames. See, I never had these problems using Detailed Dating . It was all behind the computer and . . . safe. Quickly, I turned back to Chester who was stomping his foot and staring at my hand with a starved expression. So impatient! “Here, boy.”
    I tossed the treat at him. Instead of catching it in his mouth like I’d expected, the cookie hit his nose and then bounced toward the black lab sitting next to him. When the bone landed by Kenzie’s foot, growling ensued.
    “Kenzie, heel.” Henry used a firm voice but instead of listening, as man’s best friend should, she opened jaws twice the size of Chester’s and engulfed the cookie.
    Grrrr. Grrrr. Chester crouched—not a happy camper.
    “Sorry.” I pulled Chester away from the treat-stealing dog since, let’s face it, if Kenzie grew a backbone she could easily pummel Rachel’s pup.
    “I’m the one who should be sorry. My girl has no manners when it comes to dog biscuits.” He pulled out another treat and handed it to me. “I guess that’s why we’re here, right?”
    Uh, no. I was here because I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving All Things Furry and never seeing