Read The Rocky Road to Romance for Free Online Page B

Crow and his terrific mouth and warm hands and cute butt.
    â€œOkay,” Daisy said. “I’ll wait, I just got here myself.”
    â€œI’m only around the corner. I’ll be there in half an hour tops.”
    Steve drove out of the showroom humming happily. This was much better. They’d put the backseat down, and Bob had lots of room to stretch out. He didn’t smell any better, but he’d stopped panting and drooling. And this wasn’t a woman-catcher car, Steve thought. He wouldn’t have to worry about finding panties on his antenna.
    His heart beat a little faster when he saw Daisy. She was wearing a black tank top and awhite linen skirt that stopped an inch above her knees. “That’s her,” he said to Bob. “That’s Daisy. What do you think? Great legs, huh?”
    Bob started panting again.
    Steve patted him on top of his head. “I know just how you feel,” he said to Bob. “I feel like panting, too, but you have to learn to control these body functions. Take my word for it, women don’t usually like to be drooled on.” He parked the car next to Daisy and went around to open the door for Bob.
    Bob jumped out, happily lunged at Daisy, and pinned her to the WZZZ car, his paws planted on her chest.
    Steve studied Bob’s technique and wondered if it’d work for him. Bob even received a hug. Steve pulled the dog off Daisy and encouraged him to sit down. “He’s a tad low on manners,” Steve explained. “He’s a puppy. He hasn’t been to obedience school yet.”
    Bob’s mouth fell open, and his eyes widened in alarm.
    â€œI don’t think he likes the idea of obedience school,” Daisy said, fondling Bob’s droopy ears.
    â€œSure he does. Only the other day he wastelling me how he wanted a chance to do some socializing.”
    Bob looked at Steve with his head cocked and his eyes narrowed.
    â€œJeez,” Daisy said, “if I could put that look into words, I’d probably be embarrassed to say them.”
    Steve thought he was beginning to understand why Bob had been left at the pound. “He needs food. You know how it is with youngsters, if you don’t keep feeding them, they get cranky.” He leveled a look at Bob that implied neutering might follow obedience school. The warning wasn’t necessary. At the mention of the word food Bob snapped to attention. His mouth tipped up into a smile. His tail thumped the cement floor. His eyes brightened.
    â€œI have just the thing,” Daisy said. “A nice nutritious stir-fry dinner.”
    â€œWe’ll follow you home,” Steve said. “I want to make sure nothing else happens to you today.”
    Daisy rolled her eyes. “That isn’t necessary. I’ll be fine. Until today I had an impeccable driving record.”
    â€œHumor me.”
    Steve and Bob got back into the Explorer and waited for Daisy. A moment later she drove by and waved to them. The car was yellow and maroon, or at least might have been yellow and maroon when it was new. Steve could barely see for the exhaust. New had been a lot of years ago. Valves clattered, the fan belt squealed, the muffler rattled, and the beast left a trail of oil that reminded Steve of Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs.
    Forty-five minutes later Daisy had a mound of food on her chopping block and was waiting for her electric wok to heat up. “It’s my mom’s,” she said to Steve. “She sent over a box full of pots and pans, hoping Kevin wouldn’t starve to death before they returned from Texas.”
    Kevin was forlornly staring into an empty bag of chips. “Bob ate all my chips.”
    â€œHe’s a puppy,” Steve said, throwing a black look at Bob.
    Daisy added oil to the wok. “I hope he hasn’t ruined his appetite.”
    Kevin looked at Bob sprawled across thekitchen floor. “I don’t think this house is big