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Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and walked to Liam’s garden gate. He stood at the open front door waiting for her. As she walked up the paved walkway, she cast her gaze over the neat and tidy garden, bursting with color. The cottage roof was thatch and the windows latticed. It was beautiful. So far from what she expected Liam’s home to be, yet suited to the confident, almost mysterious man Liam seemed to be today.
Whereas chaos had once ruled supreme in Liam Browne’s life, Tanya now sensed a deep sense of organization and control. Something she’d said she needed from him eight years ago when she lived her life that way. How the tables had turned...
When she reached him, he held her gaze. “I hope you like dogs.”
Surprised warmth spread through her. “You have dogs?”
He grinned, devotion clear in his eyes. “Three.”
“Three?” Tanya raised her eyebrows and glanced around the regimented garden. “How is that possible when you have such a perfect garden?”
“They’re well trained in the art of doing as I say, just like my clients.” His smile faltered and his blue eyes darkened behind his glasses. “Unfortunately, other people I know take longer to fall into line.”
The insinuation was clear and Tanya smiled. “Maybe it’s just as well I’ve come back to challenge you on this dictator thing, then.”
His eyes flashed with amusement before he stepped over the threshold and held out his arm, gesturing her inside. Tanya entered the hallway and her breath caught. The place was stunning. Dark wood paneled the walls, and landscape prints, or maybe even original paintings, dotted the space and lined the wall leading upstairs. She glanced at the titles of the leather-bound books that filled the floor-to-ceiling bookcase beside her. A sucker for the Tudors, she smiled to see biographies of past kings and queens between volumes of law books.
At least they could talk about the merits of Henry VIII’s reign if all else failed.
Liam brushed past her toward a closed door at the end of the hallway. He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “You ready?”
Tanya stiffened. “For what?”
He waggled his eyebrows and she breathed in his playfulness like oxygen. Before she could match his smile, he pushed open the door and a mass of white, black and golden fur raced toward her with a barrage of scratching claws along the hardwood floor. “Oh my God.”
The dogs—large, medium and small—crashed into her legs, sending her teetering backward from a trio of wide-open mouths and slathering tongues. Tanya gripped the edge of a radiator and held on for dear life.
“Max, Domino, Luther, down. Now.” Liam’s voice boomed from the walls and the dogs immediately halted and fell from their hind legs to a much safer four-pawed stance.
Laughter bubbled in Tanya’s throat. The dogs’ demonic smiles were fabulous. “They’re...they’re...”
“Well trained.”
She met Liam’s soft gaze and her heart flipped over. His eyes sparkled with laughter and his smile was wide. “They only bite if I tell them to.”
“They’re beautiful.” Risking another barrage of licking, Tanya straightened and held out her hand to pet the dogs. All three of them collapsed onto their backs, their legs akimbo and their bellies exposed. She laughed and sank to her haunches. “Ah, all male. I should’ve guessed.”
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