He hoped Lila would be at work or else all his little planning of a surprise for her would be for naught. Maybe she would reject him again. No way, he knew he had the perfect gift for her.

He made his way to the back of the store where he hoped she would be, and sure enough, she was standing behind the counter, her locs pulled up high in a ponytail, her attention on typing on the computer. He smiled and stood right in front of her, the puppy he held in his arms whimpering a bit.

"What are you-" She started to go in on him and saw the cute caramel-brown puppy in his arms. "Aaaw! He's so cute! Can I hold him?"

"Her," he stated. "Sure, she's all yours."

Lila took the puppy from his arms and cuddled it up to her face. She was instantly smitten with it, he could tell. The big smile on her face, her cooing over it as if it was a newborn child. She cuddled on the pup so hard he thought she would strangle the thing.

"Oh, she's so adorable. What is her name?"

"I don't know, what do you want to name her? She's yours."

"What do you mean she's mine?"

"I mean," he leaned over the counter to watch her. "You didn't like any of my other gifts to you, I had to send something that you would want to keep."

"Oh no!" She gasped. "You did not buy me a puppy! Why would you do that? You don't even know me or-"

"That's kind of the point, I'm trying to get to know you."

"By buying me things? By buying me?" He did not like the way she said that. "If that is the case, Richard, I don't want to keep-"

"No, no, okay, I am not trying to buy you. I wanted to buy you some nice things because I am very intrigued by you. If you don't want to accept the gifts, I understand. But the puppy is nonrefundable." He flashed her a grin. "No strings attached. I want every time you see her face, you think of me."

She nuzzled on the puppy for a moment, the pup was already loving the attention. He could tell she was thinking if she wanted to throw him and the puppy out or relax and enjoy it. He did not know what he would do if she did not want the animal. It was getting rather embarrassing.

"I want to keep her," she said softly, rubbing the dog's back.

"Then keep her!"

"I can't."

"Why not? Look at you, you love her and she is already in love with you."

"I know but...my apartment...I can't have a pet. Oh no! This is so sad."

He had not thought about that. It was an innocent puppy, it would not grow to be that much bigger. He was not an animal lover, he did not have a fascination with dogs or cats. His mother always had one or two while he grew up.

"Tell you what...it's your dog to keep, but we keep her at my place."

"Seriously?" She looked up at him. "You would do that?"

"Yes, and you can come over and see her anytime you want." Now this was perfect, even better than he originally thought. That meant she would sure have to see him again and again and again, and each time he could stake his claim on her.

"Hmmm," she thought. "But this doesn't mean anything else, except I will get to see her sometimes."

"Sure. What are you going to name her?"

She looked down at the dog licking her face. "Bella."

"I like that," he said. "Pretty and Bella."

"I need to get some things for her. She needs a bed, some toys, some food....do you even know how to take care of a puppy like this?"

"I'm sure you will show me how."

"Come on, let's go shopping for all her things. I get off in a few minutes, there won't be any more grooming clients."

She sat the pup on the counter while she did some things on her computer before shutting it down. She held Bella while she grabbed her army green backpack and tossed it over her shoulder before closing the area and locking the door. 

He took this moment to look her over in her shapeless, dark blue scrubs, covered in dog and or cat fur. Should be a turn-off, but he wondered why someone as pretty as her settled for a job washing animals. She looked as if she could be a model or a singer or someone with her face being shown off, not tucked away near stinky animals.

"I think I will buy everything you said she needed," Richard said, already grabbing a cart.

"No!" She snatched the cart from him, putting Bella inside. "You said she is mine, I will buy her things."

Okay, he liked the bossiness of her already. Also, the fact that she was independent and did not care that buying a few dog things was a drop in the bucket for him. She had to know he was filthy rich if she knew who his mother was. He had to make it known, that money was not a thing for him.

"Half and half," he stated with some authority. "Don't fight me on this, you'll only lose."

"We need to discuss the proper way to take care of a puppy like this. You need to measure out her food, and occasional treats, used as a disciplinary lesson. And she sleeps in a bed and don't leave her alone for long hours of the day, and when you leave her for smaller bits, have a nice size kennel for her. I will find one. And also, she needs all her shots. Do you know if-"

"Uh...no. I had a friend who knew how to get a purebred border terrier at the last minute. Don't think she has any shots."

"I can set that up for her. I know a good vet."

"How do you know all these things if you don't already have your own dog?"

"I love animals. It's what I study at school."

"Really?"

"Yes, animal medicine, for now, veterinary school hopefully next year."

"So, you like all animals, not just dogs."

"Yes! All of them, they are so great and normal and innocent little creatures."

"Not all," he added, looking at the weird stuff she tossed in their cart. "There are pit bulls ripping off little kid arms for petting them."

"It's not the dog's fault!" she said, voice raised. He could tell she was very passionate about this matter. "A young child like that should not be around a dog that is not used to little ones touching them and roughhousing with them. And the dog gets punished for a mistake!"

He liked her all riled up. Something about it to him was sexy.

All while she talked about protecting the animals and how humans were cruel, she tossed things in the cart, and he had to take Bella out to hold while she filled it up. He could tell Bella would already be a spoiled pup by the number of toys alone she bought herself, and an assortment of blinged-out collars.       

When they made it to the checkout, he quickly pulled out his platinum MasterCard, but she stopped him.

"Stop!" She dug in her bag and pulled out her phone case which was also a wallet. "Employee discount first." She handed the cashier her work ID. "And can you ring half the total up and I will pay and this kind sir is paying the other half."

She smiled at him and he smiled back at her. They were not even dating and now they owned half of a dog. They were dog parents now. This was a first for him.

"I wished you would have let me pay for it all," he said after he saw the total was nearly close to eight hundred dollars, and that was with her discount. He did not know how much a college student working at a pet store made, but surely not enough for over four hundred dollars on a dog.

"I won't feel like she is mine if I don't take care of her." She was already fastening a collar to her neck and connecting it to a leash. "Bella needs to stretch her legs."

She placed the dog on the floor while the cashier loaded their bags in the cart. He was busy watching her every move, wondering what she looked like under those horrendous scrubs. For him to be still interested in her when one, he did not know what body she was working with, and two, she seemed to have no interest in him, made him want her more.

When they finally strolled out of the store, she suddenly stopped and he nearly bumped the cart into her. It was only about three o'clock in the afternoon, and he should still be at work, instead of hanging with a girl that was only interested in him now that he had given her a puppy. Work could wait.

"Oh no!"        

"What?" Now panicked that they had forgotten something.

"How am I going to get all this home? I drive my bike to work."    

He looked around the small parking lot with only a few cars. West End Pet Store was a small, family-owned pet store and groomer. His mother could have taken that mangy poodle to any ritzier place to get groomed, but she had a weak spot for small mom-and-pop businesses. This store was not far from where he grew up in the Central West End, but it was more West End area of St. Louis, almost at the St. Louis County line, and close to Washington University's campus.

He saw a bike chained against the wall on a bike rack. He could not believe she did not have a better mode of transportation. The only bike he rode was his Peloton, and that was not very often.

"First of all, it's going to my place, remember. Two, I can drive you home if you like."

She did not seem to like that idea. She contemplated it way longer than needed before she finally stated, "Okay, can I take Bella for a walk before I say goodbye to her?"

"You can do whatever you want with her, she's yours."

She helped him load all the things into his silver Cadillac Escalade, including loading her bike. She took out some of Bella's dog food, put some in a little "to-go" food bowl for her, and on the other side, added a little water. The pup barely let Lila move her hand before she dove in and ate the few bites of food and went for the water. She was a natural at taking care of the puppy while he did not know a thing. He would need to learn since it was now his sole responsibility.

After Bella finished her treat, Lila wanted to take a stroll around the block. Walking for sport was not something that he ever did, and dressed in his work attire, he was not up to it. But to spend more time with her, he would walk barefoot several miles for her.

He was familiar with the area, by driving by it, never walking. Many of the older homes were million-dollar homes. He had friends not far from there. Most of the homes were on gated streets with the best of the best security systems and cameras. This was the area of St. Louis seldom talked about, only the criminal north side and the killings and drug issues and poverty, not the parts well taken care of.

Now that they had a mayor who cared, maybe St. Louis' plight would be better. Their new mayor was an around-the-way girl, she was from the same area where he grew up. Though he did not know of her personally, he knew her family well and worked on her campaign. He planned to work with her to help put St. Louis in a positive light.

Seeing the city he loved taken care of so well, was why he never left the city, even though he could have after college.

"You look uncomfortable," she said, throwing a glance at him. "Too hot out?"

The weather was nice for a late August day. Never knew what you were getting with St. Louis weather, but he was not complaining about mid-seventies temperature in late summer.

"It's pretty nice. How much walking are we going to do?"

"Bella's still young, she doesn't need much. But if you don't walk her often, she will get restless and want to chew up everything in sight. Oh, and pee on everything and poo...we have to train her."

"We?" Suddenly he realized he was in for more than he bargained for.