Truth About Men & Dogs Read online

  Truth About Men & Dogs

  Andrea Simonne

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Newsletter Sign up

  Also by Andrea Simonne

  About the Author

  Truth About Men & Dogs

  By Andrea Simonne

  Copyright © 2019 Andrea Simonne

  All rights reserved. Published by Liebe Publishing

  First Electronic Edition, December 2, 2019

  Edited by Hot Tree Editing

  www.hotreeediting.com

  Cover Design by LBC Graphics

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author.

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Liebe Publishing

  www.liebepublishing.com

  Chapter One

  ~ Philip ~

  Dog piss.

  I took another swig from the bottle.

  Definitely dog piss. With a hint of something else.

  Cherries?

  There was a whole case of this stuff in the kitchen. When Gavin and I met with Drink Virtue, a small beverage company, they’d served us a drink that tasted like apple cider. Not this swill. Who the hell makes a wine spritzer that tastes like dog piss?

  It was bad enough I was drinking a wine spritzer at all.

  Still, their numbers were excellent, and my gut told me they were on to something. They’d found an untapped market—not an easy thing to do.

  I leaned back on the deck chair. The view of the water was picturesque. The wind rustled through the trees like a lullaby, but I grunted with annoyance.

  I needed to get off this godforsaken rock.

  My back pocket buzzed, and I reached around for my phone, except it wasn’t there.

  Just me grabbing my own ass.

  This phantom buzzing had been going on all morning. My mom and sister stole my phone right after we arrived in Truth Harbor yesterday. Right before they announced there was no party for Gavin, my business partner and best friend, that it was only a ruse to get me here. One he was in on apparently—and yes, I’d be dealing with him later.

  I took another swig from the bottle of cherry-flavored piss, trying to decide what my options were.

  I felt like the benevolent ship captain whose crew had turned mutinous.

  Vacations weren’t my thing. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but it’d been less than a day, and I was already bored out of my mind. There was no way I’d last a whole week. It turned out my cousin Doug lived here—as if that didn’t tell me everything I needed to know about this hillbilly harbor town. Doug was the biggest sad-sack loser I’d ever met. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my cousin, but I’d never known anyone so consistently miserable.

  There was only one ferry a day out of here, and I’d like to be on the next one tomorrow morning. If I could get my hands on a car, I could leave tonight. There was another escape route, though it involved back roads and hours of driving. Chartering a plane was a possibility. Even a helicopter. It sounded excessive, and admittedly, I’d only used them in an emergency. Last-minute deals or contract signings that couldn’t happen if I were stuck in Seattle traffic.

  I took in the water view and imagined myself trapped here for the next week with nothing to do but stare at the clouds as they drifted by.

  Hell, this was an emergency.

  No doubt my mom and the pest would be furious at me for escaping their good intentions. That gave me pause. My mom had just retired from her job as a schoolteacher, and I knew it was an emotional time for her.

  My eyes went down to the bottle in my hand. “Fizzy Lizzy,” I read aloud. “To your health and celebration.” It was a health tonic, a vitamin wine spritzer of sorts. When Drink Virtue pitched the idea to us a few weeks ago, Gavin and I liked it enough to offer it to our investors, but we agreed something needed to be done about the name.

  “What are you doing, silly?”

  I glanced around the deck to see who was talking to me. Except there wasn’t anyone. I was alone.

  Huh?

  I heard feminine laughter, and then she spoke again. “That’s not a good idea.”

  I realized the sound was coming from below the second-floor deck where I was sitting. She was on the sand talking to someone.

  Her voice drifted up to me with a sultry tone. “You bad boy. You have to stop that and mind your manners.”

  My ears perked up. Whoever these two were, they had no idea they weren’t alone.

  There was more feminine laughter and then some scuffling noises. Something that sounded almost like a growl.

  The house we were staying in was a vacation rental, so maybe the couple below didn’t know it had been rented out. They thought they had the place to themselves for their afternoon tryst.

  I remained quiet, enjoying myself. She had a pretty laugh. Girl next door, with a hint of something naughty. I tried to imagine what she looked like—hopefully blonde with a voluptuous body. A tiny white string bikini. Stiff nipples peeking through the fabric.

  Excellent.

  “Come on, silly,” she said in a teasing voice. “That’s enough.”

  I smirked. I should go inside and give them their privacy, but screw that. If they wanted privacy, they shouldn’t be out here playing grab ass.

  There was some heavy breathing coming from below, and I tried to picture the scene. The blonde’s face was flushed. The ties on that string bikini were pulled apart by a masculine hand that looked an awful lot like mine. I could see it as clear as if she were standing in front of me.

  Luckily, I had a great imagination.

  “Stop that now,” she said, her voice firmer than before.

  Her lips were pink, I decided. And she had pale tan lines around her breasts, which were full and heavy as they fell into my eager hands.

  “I mean it. That’s enough.”

  I paused my imagination and frowned. Blondie didn’t sound happy anymore.

  “Get your nose away from there.”

  Your nose?

  “Aaaah!” she shrieked.

  I jumped up and ran over to the side of the deck. I was ready to help, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight below.

  It wasn’t a lust-filled couple at all but a woman lying on the ground. She was tangled up in some kind of rope as she twisted in the sand like a giant snake. Instead of a lover beside her, there were three small, puffy black dogs that yipped maniacally as soon as they saw me.

  What the fuck?

  I rushed down the
back stairs and ran toward her. “Are you all right?” As I got closer, I realized it wasn’t rope but the dogs’ leashes she was tangled up in.

  She squealed, pulling on them, still trying to free herself. One dog had its paws on her chest, licking her face.

  The other two yipped excitedly again.

  “Sit!” I commanded in a deep voice, pointing at the ground.

  Like a light switch, the two dogs fell silent. The third stopped its licking and looked at me with surprise. I glared down at it. Finally, it sat too. All three of them stared up at me with their mouths hanging open.

  “Wow,” the woman breathed. She was staring at me just like the dogs. “That was amazing.”

  I bent down in front of her and took the leash handle from her hand. “Are you okay?” I unclipped each end so I could get her untangled.

  “How did you do that?” she asked with what sounded like wonder.

  I didn’t answer, still trying to deal with the leashes. Her sweatshirt had ridden up over her hip, revealing an expanse of creamy white skin.

  “I can never get them to listen to me like that.” Her voice was clear and pretty. “They’re like cute little demons.”

  “You have to let them know who’s boss,” I said, still working to untangle her. My knuckles brushed against the smooth skin on her hip though I tried to ignore it. Despite any voyeuristic tendencies, I wasn’t an actual lech. “They need to respect you.”

  “They’re my stepsister’s dogs, and they definitely don’t respect me.” She sighed. “In fact, I’m sure they hate me.”

  After freeing her, I clipped each dog’s leash back to the handle before returning it to her. “It doesn’t matter if they hate you. They’ll still respect you if they know you’re in charge.”

  “You think?”

  I stood up and offered her my hand. She took it, and soon we were standing beside each other, though I saw her wince.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, I’m fine.”

  Neither of us said anything more, and I sensed her embarrassment. She wasn’t looking at me but down at her feet.

  I took the opportunity to check her out. She was on the short side, a little younger than me, with an air of someone who was having a bad day. To be honest, she wasn’t exactly the hot blonde in my fantasy.

  First of all, there was no string bikini. In fact, she was wearing baggy gray sweats that reminded me of a lesbian gym teacher I had in high school, and not in a good way. Her hair might have been blonde, though I couldn’t tell because it was pulled back into some kind of severe librarian bun, and that wasn’t in a good way either.

  The truth was she was plain, possibly homely, and not my type at all.

  “Thanks for your help,” she said, brushing the sand off her body. I was rewarded with a glimpse of plump cleavage when she bent over, and I could tell she had nice breasts, at least.

  As we continued to stand there, it occurred to me that I might have found the solution to my problem. “Listen, do you have a phone I could borrow?”

  She looked up at me with large eyes. They were light brown with flecks of gold. “You want to borrow my phone?”

  “I just need to make a quick call.”

  The dogs were already getting antsy beside her. One of them had wandered over to sniff something on the ground, pulling on the leash. Another yipped but quieted as soon as I gave it a stern look.

  “Sure, I guess so.” She stared at me in a lost way.

  “It’ll only take a quick moment,” I assured her.

  She continued to stare. Finally, she blinked a few times and came to her senses, pulling a girly turquoise phone from her pocket.

  I smiled. Hallelujah. Soon I’d be free. Free from this hillbilly town. Free from this absurd vacation I’d been tricked into. I could go back to my normal life.

  But then there was yelling behind us. Another female voice, and unfortunately, this time I recognized it immediately.

  “Stop! Don’t give him that phone!”

  Dammit. I put my hand out. “I just need it for a second,” I said urgently. “That’s all.”

  But the librarian gym teacher didn’t hand it over. Instead, she gripped it tighter, watching as the pest ran up to us wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and big flowered rain boots though it was sunny and warm outside.

  “Please do not give him that phone. I’m begging you!”

  I rolled my eyes at her theatrics. “Don’t listen to this crazy girl.” I still had my hand out. “I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

  “Philip!” She turned to me in outrage.

  Librarian gym teacher’s brows knit together as her eyes flashed to mine. “Do you two know each other?”

  “Of course not,” I said.

  “This is my brother!”

  “Your brother?” She seemed conflicted.

  I softened my voice. “I helped you a moment ago, remember? The least you could do is lend me your phone.” I was tempted to snatch it from her hand, but I wasn’t that much of a dick.

  “Please don’t give him that phone,” the pest pleaded. “It’s a matter of life and death!”

  Chapter Two

  ~ Claire ~

  “I’m sorry,” I said, ignoring my rescuer’s outstretched hand. “I’d better not.”

  Storm clouds brewed as he followed the movement of my phone into my hoodie pocket. Clearly he wasn’t happy. His eyes met mine. They were striking—light blue surrounded by thick dark lashes.

  I tried not to gawk at him again. It was embarrassing enough the way he’d found me writhing on the ground.

  The young woman beside him had to be his sister, because she had the same dark hair, same blue eyes, and the same pink flush high on her cheeks.

  The only difference was the expression on their faces. While she was grinning and gushing thanks to me, he wasn’t. In fact, the storm clouds hadn’t left.

  I forced myself to turn away, though I could still feel his eyes on me.

  I wished I’d made some effort to put myself together before I left the house. My stepmother, Violet, had asked me to take the dogs for a walk, and I didn’t expect anyone to be here. The Talbots, the owners, rented it during the summer, but I hadn’t seen anyone around until now.

  How was I to know there’d be some cute guy here? Not that I was interested. But at least he was nice enough to help me with the demon dogs.

  “Philip, you promised you’d give it a chance!” The sister’s hair was pulled into a messy topknot that shook when she spoke, emphasizing her words like the dot on an exclamation point.

  “I did no such thing.”

  “It’s for your own good!”

  I didn’t want to get involved in some kind of family quarrel, but I had to admit I was curious. “Why is it a matter of life and death if I loan him my phone?”

  My rescuer blew his breath out. “It’s not.”

  “It is too!” The sister turned to me. “He almost died!”

  Apparently this was amusing, because he laughed. “You’ll have to forgive the pest. She’s a drama major.”

  “The doctor at the ER said you needed to rest, that you should take it easy.”

  Philip rolled his eyes, glancing up at the sky in amazement.

  I wondered what was wrong with him. He certainly didn’t look unhealthy. In fact, he looked very healthy. Fit and muscular. Not super pumped up like some guys you see—which, to be honest, I didn’t care for. Guys who were overdeveloped looked kind of weird and gross to me.

  My rescuer didn’t look gross. He was perfect, with just the right amount of solid muscle, and I’d bet he was athletic. He had that sort of look about him. Plus he was handsome, and I mean crazy handsome.

  I was wishing I’d put on eyeliner. Not to mention the way I was dressed in gray like a mental patient.

  “Do you know how long it’s been since he took a vacation?” the sister asked. “Never! That’s how long. What kind of lunatic workaholic never takes a vacation?”

  �
�I don’t need a vacation,” he said. “My life is a vacation.”

  “You’re hearing this, right?” She looked at me as if I were her accomplice, so I nodded. “He’s going to work himself into an early grave!”

  I studied Philip some more, trying to figure out what the problem could be. High blood pressure? Heart problems? A life-threatening case of hemorrhoids? Admittedly, none of those things seemed likely, but if an ER doctor was involved, it must have been something.

  “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well,” I said to him. “I hope your health improves.”

  Philip opened his mouth, but his sister spoke first. “Thank you. My mom and I are doing our best to take care of him, but he’s fighting us every step of the way!”

  One of the demon dogs barked at her tone, and the other two began to pull on their leashes again. I glanced down. “I should probably get going. I was just walking the dogs. My name’s Claire.” I switched the leash over and held my hand out. “It’s nice to meet you both. I live a few houses up the road.”

  “Oh, really? I’m Eliza,” the sister said with a smile. Unsurprisingly, her grip was light and mercurial. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Philip,” he murmured as he shook my hand. His grip was firm and concise.

  My dad used to tell me a lot could be said about a person by their handshake, so I took note of theirs. A firm grip was good, as long as it wasn’t too firm like a hand strangler. Although a strangler was better than a dead fish or, even worse, a bear trapper—someone who imprisoned your hand with both of theirs. Worst of all though was the elbow groper, a person who shook your hand and then groped your elbow too, like a politician.