She knew she overwhelmed Richard with all the care he would need to give Bella, but it was his idea to get the dog. If she could, of course, she would keep the puppy with her. It was the prettiest dog she had ever seen, and she had been around dogs her whole life.

But now how was she going to share custody of a dog with a man she did not know? Would he feed her correctly? Take her to see a vet? Walk her when she needs to. Love and care for her as all doggies deserve.

"Maybe this was not a good idea." She stopped walking to look at Richard whose face showed bewilderment, as if he wanted to forget all about her and the puppy. "I can find someone else who wants the puppy and can take care of her since I can't, and you don't seem that interested."

"No! I got this! It's just a dog, right?"

"She's not just a dog! Richard, you have to watch her like a child."

"As long as you help me watch her." He grinned at her, his eyes twinkling. And this was the charmer she met a few days ago. This was how he could get any woman to do whatever he wanted, she was sure of it. Because now she was thinking of doing things with him she had never done before.

Why not? Richard was a catch. Looks, money, and paid enough attention to her to buy her things she liked. Sure, she sent all the gifts back. But she loved chocolates, red roses were her favorite, she loved the dog figurine and hated sending it back, and now with the puppy. He was trying so hard to catch her attention, and it worked.

"I think we are jumping too quick into things," was her reply.

"We're two people taking care of a growing puppy, and you want to be there for her, right? So that means, I get to see more of you. Bella needs you." He slightly licked his lips and she felt things. "I need you."

Her cheeks flushed. Great, he was using her fondness for Bella to blackmail her almost. He did not need to dangle the dog over her much, she already was having feelings for this man when she knew she should not. If Jamie or Daniel could see her now, googly-eyed over this man, one would cheer her on and the other would pull her away.

"I think we better head back." She turned to walk back toward the pet store and his ride.

"Already? We barely got to talk and get to know each other."

"Well," she smiled at him. "I want to play with Bella again, so I guess your plan worked. You have my full attention now, Mr. Richard."

"Oh, don't do the formal game with me, I think we're beyond that."

She shrugged him off. "I don't know you from Adam, so now, let's stick to the formalities."

"But we have a dog together, that's like, having a kid together. We're bonded for life."

She laughed at him. "Not the same."

"Okay, it's like we're divorced with split custody of the kid. You're welcome to come see her anytime you like."

Her body warmed thinking of ever going to his place with the excuse to see the puppy. No, better meet him on mutual terms, in safe places.

"Tell you what. You walk her every morning and bring her to see me after I get off work and I will walk her."

"And weekends? What about tomorrow? Maybe we can spend some quality time together...you know, bonding with her."

This was about to be a bad idea.

"Okay, great."

They made it back to his car. She put Bella in her brand new plush carrier, placed her snug in the back, and attached the seatbelt to hold it in place. Bella did not like that at all, she barked like crazy and wanted to be free.

"Sorry baby, have to keep you all protected. But mommy will cuddle with you again soon."

She knew she sounded like an idiot talking to a puppy like she understood, but she could not help herself. She wanted to play with the dog all night, but she knew a guy like Richard had a million other things to do besides sit with her and a pup.

She got into the passenger seat and adjusted her seatbelt, all the while, Richard watching her.

"What?"

"I...like looking at you is all."

Again, her body rushed with heat. He knew what he was doing. Getting her all hot and bothered. Maybe that worked on other girls, but it was not going to work on her. Well, it was working, she would not give in to it.

"Where do you live, on campus?"

"No, actually, my apartment is on Oakland Avenue, right off Tamm near..."

"Turtle Park," he finished. "I'm familiar with the area."

"So..." Suddenly shy to ask any questions, but she wanted to know more about him. "You're from St. Louis?"

"Born and raised. I'll give you the quick rundown," he said as he took off. "I'm twenty-six, went to Catholic school all my elementary years, attended SLU-High. Went off to college at Howard, came back to St. Louis, and did my master's at Wash U."

She nodded while she listened. He checked off all the rich boy boxes to her.

"Oh, and I'm single since you did not ask," he shot a grin at her. "You're single too, right?"

Again, she blushed at him asking a simple question.

"I'll take no comment as a yes," he said continuing on. "My family owns a real estate company, we buy properties and redevelop them mostly. Sometimes we develop new sites, like a few strip malls across the city. I'm an only child and I have taken over the business from my parents."

"Sounds like a lot of work for someone so young."

"What can I say, I'm good at what I do. When I was appointed President, there were doubters for sure, who said I was handed the golden key because of my parents. But I know the business in and out, been working there since I knew how to spell my name...which was age two by the way."

"Two?"

"I'm a little intellectually gifted if I might brag on myself."

"Yes, of course you are."

"I attended Howard at sixteen, you tell me. Most schoolwork bored me, but I did not want to be one of those thirteen-year-olds in college, because I could have. I wanted the experience of a kid, so I held back. My parents wanted to push me as far as they could. We both are happy with what I was able to achieve. So, despite my age, I'm still the smartest person in the room."

"I like how...modest you are," she said with a chuckle.

"Hey, if I can't speak well of myself, who else will? What about yourself? SLU is not a school to sneeze at either. You're not from St. Louis, I can tell that. But judging by your accent...southern Missouri. Southeastern Missouri to be exact."

He was smarter than any person she ever met.

"Sikeston."

"Okay, I can see that. Where does your Cherokee background come from?"

"My grandfather." He was digging too deep and too fast. She did not like talking about her family much. She was extremely close with her grandfather, he practically raised her, but her mother and she did not see eye-to-eye on many things. She wanted her to stay down in Sikeston, and go to college there, maybe Southeastern Missouri State, or SEMO as it was called.

She wanted to get far away, and St. Louis was the furthest her mother would allow, and that was only because her grandfather now lived here. He wanted her to stay at his house and commute to SLU, but she won the right to have some freedom and stay at the residence hall.

She was fortunate enough that she received enough scholarship and financial aid to attend St. Louis University. It was one of the higher-end schools in the area. Since all her aid covered tuition, she had to work nearly thirty hours a week to help pay her living expenses. She did not mind working at the pet store, it never felt like work when she loved what she did.

"I can see that," he said. "There are not many full-blooded Cherokees in the area, so you can rarely trace your roots back like you can. And obviously, you are African American as well."

"Yes. My grandfather married a Black woman, my grandmother. They had my mom, my mom had me pretty young, and my father... as far as I know is Black so..."

She stopped talking. That was more than he needed to know. She was from a broken home and never knew her father. She never regretted not knowing a man who never wanted to know her. Besides, her grandfather stepped in when she was a baby and was all the father she ever needed. Her grandmother died when she was only ten, and she was close to her as well, so losing her tore her apart.

She was an only child, like him, but she was not one of those only children who got everything because they were the only child. She grew up poor and not with much. Her mother either hardly worked, lived off government assistance, or had someone else paying her bills. Either the many men she dated or her grandfather or her great-uncle. Neighbors would even feed her if she went days without food. Her life was the total opposite of what Richie Rich grew up with.

He pulled up to her apartment building, which was about a ten-minute drive away. When she rode her bike, it took maybe twice that long.

"Nice," he said, finding a nice spot in front of the building, which was rare. There was only street parking and a small lot in the back for residents. She did not own a car, but both Jamie and Daniel did, and they were always complaining about parking spots. The spots in the back were an additional a hundred fifty a month each, and neither was forking that out, so they fought for street spots close to their building.

"Can I play with Bella for a bit, or do you have to get going?"

"Take all the time you need."

She got out of the car and took Bella out of her carrier. She had calmed down and now was happy to be free. She did not believe in caging animals, but Bella was a pup, she could not be loose in the car while driving.

She attached her lease to her collar and sat her on the ground and she tried to run off.

"Feisty," Richard said, at her side.

"Are you sure you will be able to handle her? I'm sure you work a lot and can't be bothered with a puppy."

"That's where you come in. Let me give you all my contact info, address, and numbers, so if you need to drop by, come on by."

At this point, he had her, because she would do anything to spend more time with Bella. If only her apartment allowed pets, but it was so tiny, the apartments had thin walls, and the barking would drive other residents crazy.

"Let's go over to the park and sit," Richard said.

Turtle Park was about a block down and across the street from her apartment building, so they headed that way. There were a few young kids there, of course with their parents. When they saw Bella, some of them ran up to her.

"Can I hold her?"

"I want to play with her?"

"Is she a nice puppy?"

"Can I have her?"

She laughed and held Bella while she let them gently touch the puppy, who enjoyed the attention. It was good that the puppy got along with kids while so little. She knew this was a breed that got along well with everyone. It was not a watchdog for sure, but it was great for companionship.

She spent her time running around with Bella and watching the kids play with her, while Richard sat on a bench and watched. She knew she needed to say goodbye to him, and Bella for the night and she was already sad about that. She felt selfish keeping him for this long.

She walked over to Richard, Bella in her arms.

"I guess I will let you take her for now."

"Let me walk you back to your place."

They walked quietly. She had nothing to say, she told him enough about her, more than she told most. She did not know what this all meant, sharing a pet with a man she did not want to date, but she would see how this went.

"So tomorrow, what time do you want me to pick you up for a grownup date...without our little pup," he said to her when they made it to her building.

Even though she wanted to say no, she simply nodded. "Okay, sure."

"Yes!" His voice an octave higher than normal, before he calmed back down. "I mean, cool, I can't wait."

She handed Bella to him. "Make sure you put her in the carrier and it's strapped in."

"I got this."

She smiled, watching him holding the little cute pup. They looked so adorable together, he looked like a natural.

But Richard moved in close to her, as if he were trying to kiss her and she quickly moved and planted a kiss on Bella.

"Bye!" She quickly walked inside her building. Oh gee, she would have rather kissed Richard, hopefully, she would get a chance to.