Free A Dog and a Diamond by Rachael Johns

put everything he had into the distillery for the foreseeable future and that didn’t leave time for love and romance.
    â€œOh. Okay. Because I couldn’t date a client.”
    He smirked. “Isn’t Bailey technically your client? And is that a yes?”
    She shrugged. “You have a big family, don’t you?”
    â€œPretty big, but don’t worry, they’re not too scary. My little sister hasn’t bitten anyone since she was three.”
    Chelsea laughed at that and he honestly couldn’t recall anything ever sounding quite so beautiful. He wanted to tell her a joke and hear that sound again. “Okay.”
    â€œOkay?” he asked.
    â€œOkay.” She nodded. “It’s the least I can do for you after everything you’ve done for me. But I’ll only come if I can bring Muffin. I’m never letting him out of my sight again.”
    An unbearable urge to kiss her came over him, but he shoved his hands in his pockets instead. “I’m sure that would be fine. We McKinnels love animals, especially dogs.”
    â€œRight. Good then.” She met his gaze and then quickly looked away.
    â€œYep. Good.” He should make a move but his legs didn’t seem to get the message. “I’ll pick you up about noon on Thursday, then?”
    She nodded. “Can I bring anything?”
    He shook his head. “Just yourself. And Muffin of course. Between Mom and my brother Lachlan, we’ll have enough food to feed an army anyway.”
    She smiled and then they stared at each other a little longer. Until it started to get embarrassing. Until he told his legs if they didn’t start walking, he’d chop them off. “Okay. Thursday then.”
    â€œThursday,” she repeated.
    And, before he did something really pathetic, like lean forward and kiss her, he turned and jogged back to his car.

Chapter Six
    A s Chelsea waited for Callum to pick her up, she nervously paced the length of the front porch with Muffin chasing at her heels, thinking this was some kind of new game. Perhaps he was right, because she had no idea why she’d agreed to go to the McKinnels’ Thanksgiving lunch. It was like she’d rolled a dice and it had told her to go, so she’d said “sure, why not?”
    But now she was harboring serious second thoughts.
    She should have bought him a box of chocolates as a way of saying thanks for finding her dog. Problem was, Muffin was worth way more than a few sweets. It would have to be a very big box to come close to showing her gratitude, and anyway, there was no way she’d have been able to say anything but yes when Callum McKinnel hit her with that smile. It was lethal. Especially set in that sexy, short beard thing he had going on. Chelsea hadn’t thought herself a fan of beards, but simply thinking about his had all the organs in her body doing gymnastics.
    With a sigh, she sank her teeth into her lower lip and stopped pacing. No point in getting all hot and bothered. What was done was done. This was nothing but a fake date and it would pay for her to remember that. Callum had made that 100 percent clear when he’d asked her. And because of Muffin, she’d felt obliged to help out.
    Yes, right, you keep telling yourself that’s the reason, Chelsea.
    A horn sounded and she turned to see a black SUV pulling into her driveway. Callum’s SUV. Seconds later he jumped down from the driver’s side and Muffin flew off the porch and galloped toward him. Chelsea’s stomach did a final tumble turn as she forced her hand up to wave. He grinned and waved back as he opened his arms to receive her dog. Stupid, but her throat clogged with emotion as Callum let Muffin slobber all over him, and then, she snapped out of her silliness.
    â€œMuffin! Leave Callum alone,” she called as she grabbed her purse and the bouquet of flowers she’d bought for his mother off the porch