Free Queen of His Heart by Adrianne Byrd Page A

impromptu spit shine. “Well, aren’t you a rambunctious boy? Good boy. Good boy.”
    Confused, Jalila finally pulled her dog away. “Cujo, stop. Get off him.”
    Woof!
    â€œI’m sooo sorry,” she moaned, horrified and embarrassed. “What on earth has gotten into you?” she scolded the dog. “Please forgive him, Mr. Armstrong.”
    â€œIt’s Keenan, remember?”
    â€œThat depends, are you planning on suing me?”
    He laughed. “No. I don’t think so.”
    â€œThen Keenan it is.” Seeing that he was genuinely amused, Jalila relaxed and laughed at the situation. “I’ll go and put him outside.”
    â€œThat won’t be necessary,” he said, pulling himself off the floor. “I’m sure that was just Cujo’s way of saying hello. Beside, I own a Great Dane, too. I’m used to getting knocked down.” He walked over to Cujo and, to complete this stunning phenomenon, her dog allowed him to scratch Keenan behind the ears. “My, my. Aren’t you a handsome boy?”
    Jalila shook her head. “Now I think I’ve seen everything. He usually doesn’t like men. Up until now, my father is the only man Cujo doesn’t bark his head off at. And even he can’t make any sudden moves.” Keenan’s rich laughter deepened and something wickedly delicious stirred within Jalila.
    â€œIn that case, I’m going to take it as a good sign that he likes me.”
    â€œYou should.” She went and picked up the flowers, pleased that she’d lost only a couple of petals.
    â€œIs there somewhere I can wash up?” She turned.
    â€œUhm, yeah. You’ll have to go upstairs.” Jalilafought back the feeling of déjà vu. “The first-floor bathroom is still being renovated.”
    He handed over the bottle of champagne. “I’ll be right back.”
    She nodded and gave him directions to the bathroom. When he took off up the stairs, she went into the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase. After that she forced herself to return to grilling her dinner. While waiting for Keenan to return she kept praying, “Please stay out of my closet. Please stay out of my closet.”
    Jalila exhaled a sigh of relief when she heard the back door slide open.
    â€œNow what do you know about grilling?” he asked, his voice a light tease.
    She flipped over her steak. A few flames licked but missed her hand before she glanced back over her shoulder at him. “Please. I know my way around a grill.”
    â€œMmm-hmm,” he said dubiously.
    â€œJoin me for dinner? I have another steak marinading.”
    He hesitated. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”
    â€œNo trouble at all. In fact, I took out some vegetables in the kitchen earlier. Maybe we can make some kabobs?”
    â€œI’ll do it,” he offered.
    She lifted an eyebrow at him.
    â€œJust because I have a cook doesn’t mean that I don’t know my way around a kitchen. I’m a progressive kind of guy,” he bragged. “You hold down the grill and I’ll be in the kitchen.”
    â€œWell, all right then.” She laughed.
    It took Keenan no time at all to skewer the kabobsand bring them out to the grill. A half hour later, the two sat at the patio table with a hearty meal in front of them. Since the champagne didn’t exactly go with the meal, Jalila made some margaritas. Music was playing through the outdoor speakers.
    â€œNow this is the good life,” Keenan said, easing back from the table and his now-empty plate. “I have to say that I had my doubts about you manning the grill, but you knocked this out of the park.”
    â€œWell, thank you very much.” They clicked their glasses and then she lifted her chin proudly into the air. She loved the way the evening breeze was blowing through her hair and the tequila gave her a nice buzz.
    The sun was setting and the