Diamond in the Ruff (Matchmaking Mamas Book 13) by Marie Ferrarella Page B

stomach, as if it was puckering and twisting.
    Why his sudden change of heart left her feeling let down, she didn’t know. After all, it wasn’t as if this was a date or anything. The man had already been extremely helpful, getting her started on the proper way to train her dog, and she was very grateful for that. No reason to be greedy, Lily silently insisted. The man had already gone over and above the call of duty.
    Jonathan began to whine, bringing her back to her driveway and the immediate situation. She was allowing her disappointment to hijack her common sense.
    Lily quickly shut down any stray emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.
    “Sorry,” she apologized to the puppy. She opened the rear passenger door a crack—just wide enough to allow her to grab his leash. She was learning. “I didn’t mean to forget about you,” she told the dog.
    Getting a firm hold of the leash, Lily opened the door all the way.
    Jonathan needed no further encouragement. He came bounding out, savoring his freedom like a newly released prisoner after a lengthy incarceration.
    “Easy,” she cautioned. “Easy now!”
    The words had absolutely no effect on Jonathan, a fact that only managed to frustrate her. And then she remembered what Christopher had taught the dog—and relatedly, what he had taught her.
    Grabbing a firmer hold on the leash, she said in the most authoritative-sounding voice she could summon, “Jonathan, stay!”
    The dog abruptly stopped trotting toward the house and stood as still as a statue, waiting for her to “release” him from her verbal hold with the single word Christopher had told her to use.
    Getting her bearings, Lily turned toward the front of the house so that the dog wouldn’t catch her off guard when he resumed running. Only then did she say, “Okay,” in the same authoritative voice.
    Just as she’d expected, the very next moment Jonathan was back to bounding toward the front door.
    Lily was right on his heels. “Someday, dog, you are just going to have to get a grip on that enthusiasm of yours. But I guess that day isn’t going to be today,” she said, resigned to having a barely harnessed tiger by the tail—at least for a few more weeks.
    The veterinarian’s idea of having her drop the dog off at his animal hospital each morning was beginning to sound better and better, she thought as she unlocked her front door.
    Once Jonathan had passed over the threshold, she let the leash go and entered the house herself. She locked her front door a moment later. There had been several break-ins in the development in the past couple of months and she was determined that her house was not going to be part of those statistics.
    Turning from the door, Lily looked down at the dog. “Looks like we’re on our own tonight, Jonathan. But that’s okay, we don’t need Christopher around. We’ll do just fine without him.”
    The dog whined in response.
    Lily sighed, sinking down on the couch. “I know, I know, who am I kidding? We’re not really fine on our own, but we just have to make the best of it, right? Glad to hear you agree,” she told the dog, pretending to take his silence as agreement.
    She thought of the housebreaking lessons that lay ahead of her. No time like the present, right?
    “What do you say to having some superearly dinner. We’ll fill that tummy of yours and then spend the rest of the evening trying to empty it. Sound like fun to you?” she asked, looking at the puppy. “Me, neither,” she agreed. “But what has to be done, has to be done, so we might as well get started. The sooner this sinks in for you, the happier both of us are going to be.”
    Just then, she heard her cell phone ringing. Her first thought was that Theresa had gotten another booking and wanted to run a few desserts past her to see what she thought of them.
    Grabbing her purse, she began to dig through the chaotic interior to locate her phone.
    “Why is it always on the bottom?” she asked the dog,