He took a peek over the edge of the sofa to find her sitting on his shoe, looking up at him with her sad, dark eyes.

“No sofa for you. Go lay down in your crate.”

He resumed watching the movie. For another five minutes, anyway, until the whimpering started up again.

“Christ.” With one hand, he scooped the dog up and laid her on his stomach, where she turned around in a circle three times, laid down, and promptly went to sleep.

“Fine. But don’t get used to this.”

Bash was asleep a few minutes later.

Chapter 4

Chelsea pulled up in front of Bash’s house and turned off the engine, then wondered what in the world she came there for.

To check on the dog, of course. She’d seen the indecision on Bash’s face last night. He didn’t want that dog, and he’d ended up stuck with her. And then she, Jane, and Emma had had to leave, so she hadn’t had an opportunity to follow up and make sure the poor little thing would be well taken care of.

Not that it was any of her business, really, but she couldn’t help herself. One look at the sweet little pup’s face and she’d fallen madly in love. She’d thought about her all night, worrying about her, and she just wouldn’t be able to run her errands today until she was sure the dog was well settled.

She went up to the front door and rang the doorbell, smiling when she heard the sharp little bark. She waited, but didn’t get an answer, so she rang the bell a second time. And again, another bark. After a minute, the door opened and Bash leaned against the doorway, wearing his boxers, a sleeveless tank, and nothing else.

Chelsea held her breath. Oh, did Bash have a body. She normally saw him in jeans and a T-shirt, so this was the most skin she’d ever seen exposed on him. He was tall and lean, but well-muscled, with great legs, amazing shoulders, and those arms …

“Chelsea. What do you want?”

She finally exhaled and looked down at his bare feet, where the adorable dog sat perched next to him.

“I wanted to check on Lulu.”

“Lou is fine, as you can see. And it’s eight goddamn thirty in the morning.”

“I know what time it is, Bash. Shouldn’t you be up by now?”

“I don’t close the bar until two. By the time I clean up and get home, it’s after three.”

She’d sort of forgotten about his crazy hours. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

The dog wriggled against his foot. “Shit. Hang on a second while I put some pants on. Or just … never mind. Come in since you’re already here.”

He walked away, and Lulu—or Lou—followed him. Since he’d left the door open, she went inside, closing the front door behind her.

She’d been to Bash’s house before when he had a party one night a few years back. She remembered she’d brought a date.

That had been a disaster. The guy had gotten so drunk in the first hour that Luke had driven him home and Chelsea had ended up begging a ride home from Megan Lee that night. She’d been so embarrassed she’d hidden out in a corner with her friends.

Bash had been dating some hot blonde at the time who’d hung on him all night long.

So not a surprise, since Bash was always dating some hot woman. There were so many women in and out of his life on a regular basis, no one could ever keep track of their names.

But none of them had ever dumped a dog on him.

He came out of what she assumed was his bedroom. This time, he had on pants and a T-shirt. “Come on,” he said to her. “I need to take Lou out back.”

The dog stayed right next to his feet as he walked from the hallway toward the back door. When he opened the door and stepped outside, Lou went with him.

Obviously, the two of them had already formed an attachment. Chelsea supposed that was a good thing.

While Lou ran outside to do her business, Chelsea took a seat on one of the chairs on the patio.

“You look terrible,” she said to him.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Let’s see how you look on four and a half hours’ sleep.”

“Sorry. Again. I wasn’t thinking about the hours you keep.” She was an early riser and tried to maximize her weekend time. Which made her very happy that she’d added the “nine-to-five job” on her perfect-man list. A man like Bash, with the hours he worked, would never do.

Though watching Lou, who pranced her way back to Bash and happily sat while he scratched her ears, made her wonder about revising the small-dog thing on her list. She didn’t seem yippy at all. In fact, she was awfully cute and had only barked when she rang the doorbell.

“So you’re keeping her?”

Bash yawned. “What?”

“Lou. You’re keeping her?”

He shrugged. “For now, I guess.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that as of today, I have a roommate.” He pushed off the railing he’d been crouching against and stood. “I need coffee.”

He walked to the back door and went inside, Lou following him. And, of course, he’d left Chelsea, which she supposed meant that was an invitation for her to follow as well.

He was such a terrible host. She sighed and went inside, again shutting the door behind her.

“You want coffee?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’ve already had a couple of cups. But thanks.”

He ignored her while he dragged out a sauté pan and started pulling things from his refrigerator, so she decided to ignore him as well. She sat on the floor in between his kitchen and dining room, trying to coax Lou to come to her.