Love Is a Four-Legged Word Read Online Free PDF

You’re saying the dog’s full of sh—?”
    “I said shih tzu. A Tibetan lion dog. See the way his bottom teeth jut out from beneath his top teeth? The vet says that’s a fault of the shih tzu breed.”
    Miracle of miracles, a smile was beginning to tug at the corners of Mr. Way-Too-Serious Tom O’Brien’s mouth. It lit up his eyes with humor and changed his face completely from grim to gorgeous.
    And for a moment Maddy was so entranced by the dimple that formed in Tom O’Brien’s cheek as he smiled that she didn’t think about Brutus at all.
    Until Tom spoke again. “Brutus is the ugliest dog I have ever seen,” he said.
    Maddy glared at him. “Hey! You didn’t hear that, Brutus. Avert your ears,” she said, bending down to stroke Brutus’s head.
    Then she glared again at Tom. “That doesn’t help matters, does it? We’re trying to build up trust here.”
    Again the grin pulled at his mouth. “As if the dog could understand me.”
    “You never know. He might have.”
    “Huh,” said Tom. “But you’ve got to admit I’m right. About how ugly he is, I mean.”
    “Weeell,” Maddy said. “He’s quite a mix. But I wouldn’t call him ugly. Exactly. More . . . unusual, perhaps?”
    “Ugly.”Tom snorted.
    Brutus slunk on his belly right up to Tom and sniffed his feet in their well-polished business shoes. Then he wagged his long, plumed tail so vigorously his whole body moved.
    Maddy couldn’t keep the amazement from her voice. “Hey, in spite of you insulting him, I think he really likes you.”
    “Well, I don’t like him,”Tom said. “I like big dogs. Man-sized dogs.”
    “How can you say that?” Maddy’s voice rose in accusation. “This is so great. It’s the first spark of interest the little guy has shown in anyone since Walter died.”
    She had to stop herself from dancing around the dog—and Tom O’Brien—in excitement.
    “C’mon. Speak to him like an alpha male.That’s what the vet said to do. How are you at growling?”
    “Growling?” he said.
    “Like the top dog in the pack.You know, like this.” She tried to growl deep in her throat. “Grrr. It won’t work for me. I’m a girl.You need to talk to him like dogs talk to each other. Establish you’re the boss.”
    Tom looked at her as if she should be certified. But his smile hadn’t quite disappeared. Neither had the dimple.
    “C’mon,” she said. “You try it. Growl.”
    “Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to growl like a dog to a dog. No way.”
    He bent down and put his hand out for Brutus to sniff. “Hi there, fella.”
    At his deep tones, Brutus promptly rolled over on his back, panting, tail wagging madly.
    “That’s a pose of submission!” Maddy practically shouted. “Oh, this is so good. That means he’s acknowledging that you’re an alpha male.You didn’t even have to growl.”
    The unbidden thought flashed across her mind of what she’d do if Tom O’Brien growled at her in a deep, sexy voice. And what he would do if she rolled over on her back in response.
    To hide her sudden blush, she knelt down and rubbed the little dog’s tummy. “Oh, good boy,” she crooned.
    Brutus squirmed excitedly and licked her hand.
    Tom O’Brien didn’t look the slightest bit impressed.
    “What do you mean, ‘good boy’? I’m not his alpha male.”
    “I was saying ‘good boy’ to Brutus, not you. But I can say it to you, too, if you like,” she said, risking a flirtatious tone to her voice.
    Since he’d encountered Brutus, Tom O’Brien had switched right out of grim lawyer mode. Now he was acting like a regular too-handsome-to-be-true thirty-year-old guy. And she liked it. A lot.
    It was a major flaw in her character to only be attracted to handsome men. She knew that. But she just couldn’t do ugly. Or even ordinary. And Tom O’Brien had never been anywhere near the ugly stick.
    “You’d call me a good boy even though I didn’t growl?”
    “You didn’t need to. He probably responded to