MILE HIGH

75

He keeps Ella’s hand in his, but his free arm wraps around my back as his large hand gently strokes my rib cage. He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he holds me, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

“Okay.” I step away from him, wiping at my face. I take a deep breath, composing myself. “This is a good day. I need to stop.” I follow that up with an awkward laugh.

Zanders’ palm reaches out and cups my face, pulling me into him again. I melt into his chest as his body relaxes around me, his fingers threading into my curls as he holds me to him.

His fist tightens around my hair, tilting my face to his. “I missed you,” he rasps.

His heavy-lidded gaze darts to my parted lips.

“Here she is,” Cheryl rings out.

I pull away from Zanders as Rosie is led into the front room on a leash. She tugs away from Cheryl, wanting to get to the giant defenseman. As soon as Zanders bends down, Cheryl lets go, and Rosie runs right into his outstretched arms before flipping on her back, her butt moving a mile a minute.

“There’s my girl,” Zanders laughs.

He spends some time loving on the black and tan beauty, and my heart swells like you wouldn’t believe.

“They’re always like this together,” Cheryl whispers to me.

“Why didn’t you tell me he might be adopting Rosie?”

Cheryl knowingly shrugs her shoulders.

“Ella, this is Rosie,” he says.

He uses his body as a giant barrier between Rosie and Ella, giving them a moment to get accustomed to each other. Ella giggles as Rosie sniffs her hands, but she doesn’t move to touch her. She waits until Rosie gives her the go-ahead. Finally, when Rosie’s butt starts shaking back and forth, she licks little Ella’s hands repeatedly.

Zanders moves his body out of the way as Rosie falls onto her back in front of his niece.

Ella laughs, rubbing Rosie’s tummy. “I like her!”

“Yeah, I think we can check off ‘great with kids’ for her.” Zanders keeps his hazel eyes locked on his two girls.

I want to kiss him. I want to grab him by his button-down shirt and kiss him until I need to stop for air.

“So, are we doing it?” Cheryl asks.

“We’re doing it.”

Cheryl’s smile beams with excitement for the Doberman who has stayed here a year too long.

We head back to the front desk after introducing Ella to all the dogs and watching Zanders get comically covered in dog hair.

“So, I think I can have all her records and everything ready to go tomorrow,” Cheryl says to Zanders. “Is tomorrow a good day for pickup?”

“Tomorrow is perfect.”

“I’ll just need a phone number from you.”

Zanders hesitates.

“I think we can skip the phone number,” I interrupt, knowing how private Zanders is. Ryan is the same way, not giving out personal information to strangers.

“That’s okay,” Zanders says. “But can I give it to Stevie? Does that work?”

A mischievous smile pulls across Cheryl’s lips. “Yeah, that works just fine.”

“Sweetheart.” Zanders holds his hand out, bringing my attention back to him. “Your phone.”

In a small wave of shock that Zanders wants to give me his number, I swallow, pull my phone out, and hand it over.

I watch as his ring-covered fingers type in the ten digits with precision before adding his name.

Zee (Daddy) Zanders

I shake my head, laughing, holding my hand out to take my phone back.

But Zanders being Zanders, can’t help himself from adding an eggplant emoji next to his name. Then he tacks on a single heart before handing it back with a satisfied smile.

“And typically, we do a home visit before adoption, but since Stevie knows you, we can skip over that.”

“No!” Zanders interrupts. “I think we need a home visit. That seems important.”

He’s so full of s**t. I know exactly what he’s doing.

“Stevie, this seems like a home visit you should do,” Cheryl says.

Looking over at Zanders, he wears a cheeky smile as I shake my head in disbelief.

“It’s not a date,” I remind him.

He holds a hand over his chest, mouth gaping in mock offense. “How dare you accuse me of tricking you into a date.”

The devilish grin he wears tells me that’s precisely what he’s doing.

“And the last thing is the adoption fee,” Cheryl adds. “It’s fifty dollars.”

Zanders lets go of Ella’s hand before digging into the inside pocket of his long wool coat. He pulls out a checkbook, sets it on the desk, and fills out a check.

As he fills it out, I watch with a content smile as Rosie sits perfectly calm on one side of Zanders with Ella standing at his other, patiently waiting for her uncle.

“Oh,” Cheryl awkwardly laughs, holding Zanders’ check in her hands. “You filled this out wrong.” Her cheeks are flushed. “It’s fifty dollars. This says fifty-thousand.”

Zanders tucks his checkbook away, stepping back to Ella and putting his hand on her head. “Oops,” he casually says, letting me know that nothing about that was a mistake.

“Well, we don’t want to waste a perfectly good check.” Zanders shrugs. “May as well cash that one.”

“What?” Cheryl laughs uncomfortably. “Oh no. I can’t accept this.” She holds the check out, wanting him to take it back.

“Please take it,” Zanders begs. “As a donation.”

Cheryl’s head c***s to the side, her lips tilting downward. “Thank you.” She rounds the desk to give him a hug.

Zanders wraps his arms around her but shoots me a soft smile over her shoulder.

I think I might be done for.

“Well,” Cheryl huffs, trying to wipe her eyes slyly, but I know she’s having a hard time. This shelter needs so much, and Zanders’ donation will take care of a lot of it. “We better get your picture on the wall.”