Sukie gave her the evil eye again.
“I’m running a business and I do have other customers besides you.”
She looked toward the curtains as Kristor walked inside the grooming area. Great. He was the last person she wanted to see. But she couldn’t stop the flutter of excitement that rippled through her.
“You’re still in town,” she said.
“Just until I can convince you to leave with me.”
They were back on that. Then she remembered they were the only two people in the store. He could murder her and…She studied him. No, if he’d been going to kill her, he’d had his chance, and hadn’t taken it.
He was still a nut.
Sukie suddenly latched on to a finger of the glove that actually contained a finger. Ria jumped.
“Sukie!” The pooch hadn’t hurt, only startled her. The gloves were too thick for the dog to cause much damage.
“Are you okay?” Kristor stepped closer.
Sukie growled.
“Shhh!” He held up a hand. Sukie hunkered down and looked away.
Sukie backing off? That was a first. “How did you do that? Are you a dog whisperer or something? I mean, Sukie can be very aggressive.”
“Once you connect with your guide, you’ll be more in touch with other animals.” He stepped up and began to rinse the soap from Sukie.
Ria held her breath, waiting for Sukie to take a chunk out of his hand. But after only a few seconds, she relaxed. This wasn’t fair. First, he wins over the townspeople, and now Demon Dog. He’d cast some sort of magic spell over the mutt.
“If you didn’t talk all that crazy stuff about taking off for another planet, it would be nice having you around.”
He looked up.
“That didn’t come out exactly the way I meant. It’s just that you seem nice enough, and you’re good with animals. But then you start talking about being a shapeshifting alien and that’s just crazy.”
He smiled. A smile that reached out and touched. Some men were like that. They could smile at you and all of a sudden, you weren’t able to think rationally.
He pulled the plug to drain the dirty water but kept rinsing Sukie. “Can you say truthfully you’ve never wondered if there were people living on other planets?”
She leaned against the wooden table. “Yeah, I can truthfully say I’ve never thought about it. I’m not a Trekie fan, either.”
“Trekie?”
“Star Trek. Oh, that’s right, you’re from another planet so you wouldn’t know about our TV shows.”
He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Sukie before he brought her over to the table and began drying her. Sukie seemed to enjoy the rubdown. Not that she would mind too much if Kristor was the one rubbing her down. No, she told herself, you have to stop thinking about him in that vein.
“I can shift,” he told her. “It would prove to you I am an alien.” He met her eyes.
He had beautiful eyes. So clear. Such an intense green. She mentally shook her head and reached for the blow-dryer and plugged it in. If she asked him to shift into a hawk, it would prove once and for all she was right.
But then, she remembered the last time, and the fact he’d been naked. She wasn’t sure she was ready for another naked Kristor, or that she would be able to keep her hands to herself.
And then there was the fact she was probably dealing with a crazy. What if he stripped down and started flapping his arms? It probably wouldn’t be good for business if someone walked in the store, especially Ms. Miller.
“I think I’ll pass for now.” She turned on the blow-dryer and grabbed a brush. Kristor kept Sukie entertained while Ria blow-dried and styled the mutt’s hair. She clipped two pink bows above her ears, and refastened a new pink bandana. Sukie jumped up and barked when the bell above the front door jingled.
“There’s Momma,” Ria said and snapped the leash in place. But as she reached to set the dog down, Sukie snapped at her.
“Shhh!” Kristor commanded.
Sukie immediately downed her head. Kristor picked her up, but before he set her on the floor, Sukie licked his hand. He patted her on the head.
Ria gritted her teeth. So not fair. She was the one who bathed the dog, and all she ever came away with were teeth marks.
“Ria.” Ms. Miller’s voice singsonged again.
Ria took the leash and walked Sukie out. “Here she is.”
“Oh, you look so sweet. Ria, you always do such a wonderful job with her. Some groomers have told me our little angel is a monster in disguise. They’re wrong, of course.” She reached down and picked Sukie up. Sukie rubbed her head against Ms. Miller. “Ah, baby wants to snuggle.”
More than likely, Sukie was trying to dislodge the bows, but Ria didn’t tell Ms. Miller that.
Ms. Miller’s eyes widened when Kristor stepped from the back. “Oh, I didn’t realize you had someone here with you.”
“Ms. Miller, this is Kristor. He’s renting my old room from Mom and Dad.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of you.”
No doubt she had. Nothing much got past Ms. Miller.
“You have an interesting dog,” he said.
“I know. Sukie is our little darling.” She held the dog a little tighter, but Sukie was having none of it. The dog began to squirm until Ms. Miller had to put her on the floor. Sukie immediately ran to Kristor. Kristor knelt down and began to pet her.
“Oh, she doesn’t normally take to strangers.”
Ria smiled. “Kristor has a way with animals.”
“Apparently.” She suddenly smiled. “If Sukie likes you, then I do, too. They say a dog has a natural instinct about humans, and dogs know if they’re good or not. I guess you pass the test.”
Ria wondered what that said about her.
Ms. Miller walked over and took Sukie’s leash. “Come, sweetie. Daddy is waiting for us.”
Kristor straightened as Ms. Miller left the shop. “She is a very strange person.”
“I think we’ve finally found something we agree on.”
He walked closer. “We would agree on a lot more if you would concentrate on shifting into an animal.”
But then that would make Ria as crazy as him.
The bell above the door jingled again and Jeanie walked in.
“I thought you weren’t coming back today.”
Jeanie dumped her purse behind the desk. “Amy had a family emergency and had to leave. The house wasn’t what we were looking for after all. We’re going back out on Sunday. Amy promised to have more houses lined up for us to look at.” She turned her attention to Kristor, then looked pointedly at Ria.
“This is Kristor. He’s renting my old room from my parents.”
“Hi,” she said, but her gaze said a lot more.
Good grief, Jeanie was engaged. “Kristor was just leaving.”
“It was nice to meet you,” he told Jeanie, before turning back to Ria. “Think about what I said.” He left, but Ria couldn’t drag her gaze away from him as she watched him cross the street.
“Wow, you’ve been holding out.” Jeanie picked up a manila folder and began to fan herself.
“Not at all. I’m not the least bit interested in him.”
Jeanie stopped fanning. “You’re kidding, right? I mean, the guy is seriously sexy.”
“There’s more to a man than his muscles.”
“The way he looks, he doesn’t even need a brain. He’s great eye candy.”
“And you’re engaged so you might want to leave the sweets alone.”
“You’re right. He would definitely send any female into a diabetic coma from sugar overload.” She studied Ria. “You, on the other hand, have been on a sugar-free diet way too long.”
The bell jingled above the door, saving Ria from further conversation. The rest of the afternoon was busy with clipping hair and bathing animals. Thankfully, very well-behaved animals.
But she couldn’t help thinking that Jeanie might be right, that Ria hadn’t dated in a while. A very long while. Not since Donald. A sour taste formed in her mouth. That had been a huge mistake.
It also meant she hadn’t had sex in a while. Not that the pickings in Miller Bend had been that great. The only guys left in town were the ones she had already dated, at least most of them. She wasn’t that great at recycling.