Take a Chance on Me (42 page)

Thomas looked down at the two dogs, their tiny tails wagging as fast as hummingbird wings as they sniffed at each other's ensembles.

Oh, dear God.

"You know, you don't see too many Cresteds in town," Franco was saying. "I knew a guy a few years back with one, but they're few and far between. How long have you had him?" Franco blinked, his mouth pulled into a pert little smile, waiting.

"You've actually seen one of these before?" Suddenly, Thomas's back pain faded in comparison to the headache now eating away at his brain stem.

"Of course."

"Want it?"

Franco giggled. "Uh, not really."

A sharp "yip!" drew the men's attention to the dogs. They looked down to see Hairy humping Lorraine like there was no tomorrow.

"Goddammit, dog!" He pulled at the leash, then looked at Franco in horror. "Uh, sorry about that, man."

Franco laughed as he reached down to retrieve Lorraine . "It's perfectly natural—just the way dogs decide who's going to be the dominant one in the pack." Franco batted his eyelashes at Thomas. "You know, who gets to be on top."