Dog groomer Rey Skywalker has to deal with a neglected Doodle, his jealous owner, and the owner’s ex-boyfriend, who just happens to be the man Rey loves.
Damerey Creations
Damerey May the 4th Mix and Match 2021
Prompts: Category 1: a jealous ex
Category 2: Cat (or other animal) café
Category 3: military uniform
Rey looked at the clock on the wall one more time. Ten minutes to close. It was Friday, and Poe would be here any minute. He was coming straight from the Base and was planning on changing in to his civies when he got here so they could go directly to Rose’s new café down the way, but if her last client didn’t show up to pick up her dog soon, they may have a late start to the evening.
She glanced toward the front door one more time as she saved the cash drawer count sheet on the computer; she would input the last payment of the day, which she was positive would be with a credit card, and be done in a heartbeat. Everything was cleaned and put away except for the kennel the client’s dog was in, and that could wait until Monday. She was anxious to get out of here and spend some time with her boyfriend; it had been a long week.
Archer, the dog waiting quietly in the groom room behind her, was only the last of some very trying canines this week, and some of their owners had been even worse. Archer’s ‘mom’ was a new client, and Rey’s patience had been tested when the woman had brought the black Goldendoodle into her shop this morning. The eight-month-old dog had never been groomed before, and he was in dire need of some care. His ears were hidden in giant matts and the rest of his fluffy coat was covered in knots. What made Rey about lose her marbles was when the owner asked for a simple ‘bath and brush out.’ “I like him fluffy, so I don’t want him clipped.”
Rey had taken a deep breath and explained to the woman that there was no way she could do a simple bath and brush on the dog. The matts behind the ears and in other areas of his body would need to be shaved out, and trying to brush the coat would be torture for the pup. While the woman was not at all happy, she had finally agreed with a roll of her eyes that Rey would need to clip the dog to make him presentable.
Archer, though super friendly, was not an easy groom, either. He could not hold still, bit when he got tired of having his feet handled, and screamed in the bath as if Rey was trying to drown him. Rey couldn’t help but wonder if the dog got his ‘drama queen’ tendencies from his owner. As usual, Rey remained patient and calm, and though it took longer than it should have, and necessitated the assistance of a muzzle at one point, Archer was now clean and feeling much better, even if he had a very short hairdo. Rey had called his owner over two hours ago to let her know Archer was done, but here it was, five minutes to close now, and she still hadn’t shown up.
Finally, the bell over the door jingled and Rey looked up to see Zorii Bliss walk through the door, looking sharp in a neat business suit with a pencil skirt and pumps that probably cost more than Rey made in a month. She clicked over the hardwood floor of the shop to the desk. “Sorry I’m late,” she muttered, but she looked far from apologetic.
“It’s alright,” Rey answered, then gave the woman her total. With a grimace, Ms. Bliss handed over her credit card. Rey made the transaction, gave her the slip to sign, and was unsurprised to see no tip when she took the paper back and gave the woman her copy. “He’ll be happy to see you,” she smiled as she headed into the groom room to retrieve Archer. The young dog was indeed excited upon seeing his mistress and jumped all over her when Rey brought him out.
Zorii just glared down at him. “He’s practically bald!” she exclaimed.
Rey kept her mouth shut. The clip was short, but not down to the skin. There was still enough fluff over his body to give him some curl. His ears, however, had been a lost cause and she had had to shave down to the leather. Personally, she thought he looked cute.
The bell above the door jingled again, and Rey’s pulse sped up as she looked over to see Poe stride though. He was still in uniform, his flight suit fitting his lean frame to perfection, and he carried a duffle which she knew held his change of clothes. He glanced at the woman and dog and grinned at her, probably knowing how peeved she was that it was closing time on a Friday and she still had a client in her lobby. Then the woman looked over at him and his expression changed immediately. “Zorii?”
The woman looked equally surprised. “Poe?” She glanced at Rey, then around the room. “Don’t tell me you bring that little bowling ball of yours to be groomed here?”
Poe had slowed his progress toward Rey, but he was still moving toward her desk. “Oh, I’m not here for Beebee,” he said, looking at Rey with a small smile. “But, yes, he does come here for a bath once a month.” Beebee was Poe’s French Bulldog, one of the most intelligent, humorous, naughty dogs Rey had ever had the privilege of knowing. Poe set his duffle on the ground and leaned his elbow on the ledge that prevented dogs from jumping on the desk. “His coming here is how Rey and I met.”
Again, Zorii looked at Rey, her expression disbelieving. “A dog groomer? Really?”
An anger such as she rarely felt welled up in Rey at the woman’s caustic words. How dare she? But before she could say anything, Poe snorted a laugh.
“This ‘dog groomer’ probably makes as much money as you,” he said. “And she enjoys her work. I wouldn’t be looking down my nose at anyone after what happened to you last year, Zorii.”
Poe wasn’t wrong. Though she didn’t charge excessively for her services, her clientele was made up of mostly wealthy people who loved their dogs, and unlike Zorii, they tipped well. However, it was Poe’s last statement that had her attention, especially as Zorii’s expression turned first embarrassed, then angry. Rey was instantly curious.
“Yes, well, I don’t think I’ll be bringing Archer back here anytime soon.”
“Just remember,” Rey immediately answered. “If you don’t have him groomed every four to six weeks, here or somewhere else, he’ll end up getting clipped short again.” She paused. “Unless you start brushing him yourself in between grooms.” She could not see that happening. At all.
Zorii glared at her, then turned her attention back to Poe. “I see you’re still flying.” Her eyelids drooped a bit and her smile turned wry. “And you’ve been promoted,” she said softly. Seductively. She gestured to the patch on his flight suit, jerking on Archer’s leash as she did so because her movement got him excited enough to jump up again. “Major Dameron,” she smiled.
Poe didn’t smile back, but he nodded in acknowledgement. “A lot’s changed in my life since I saw you last,” he said softly. “All for the better, too.” He looked at Rey, and that simple glance made her heart race. She and Poe had only been dating for a couple of months, now, but she had long ago admitted to herself she was absolutely, undeniably smitten with him. However, thanks to not one, but two men from her past, she was super cautious when it came to relationships. Poe had admitted to not having such a stellar record in his past, either, and was more than happy to take things slow between them. He had mentioned a not-so-pleasant ex a couple of times. This Zorii must be her.
Zorii’s eyes narrowed again, but this time there was no flirtation in them.
“Are you ready to go to ‘Rose’s Feline Fun’?” Poe asked, still looking at Rey.
“Absolutely,” Rey said with a smile, finishing the job of adding the last credit card transaction to her sheet and closing down the computer.
“That cat café?” Zorii sneered. “That’s seriously where you’re taking her on a date?”
“My friend Rose owns the place,” Rey said, controlling her voice as best she could, like she did when talking to an angry dog. “We want to celebrate its Grand Opening this weekend.”
“I’ll get changed,” Poe told her, grabbing up the duffle. He looked at Zorii. “It was… interesting… seeing you again, Zorii.”
Zorii pursed her lips and then glared at Rey. “I’ll be leaving a review on Google.” Rey didn’t need to wonder what that review would be like thanks to the tone of the woman’s voice. Zorii turned on her heel and, pulling a still excited Archer behind her, clicked across the room and out the door. Rey came around the desk and moved to the door, locking it, turning off the ‘Open’ sign, and pulling the shade over the door down. She turned to see that Poe had set down his duffle again and had his arms folded across his chest.
“Sorry about that,” he told her. “I might have cost you a good review.”
“Oh, I doubt it,” Rey told him with a shake of her head. “She wasn’t happy before you got here.” She shrugged as she moved toward him. “High maintenance clients with high maintenance dogs like that aren’t worth the effort to keep them. My regulars won’t be fazed by a bad review, especially since a lot of them have Doodles and know how much work goes into them.” She stopped a few feet in front of him. “So, I’m assuming that’s the ex you mentioned?”
He sighed. “Yeah. That’s her.” He laughed depreciatingly. “Now’s the moment you start questioning my judgement.”
Rey laughed softly. “Hey, you broke up with her, right? Not the other way around?”
He nodded. “Yeah. She wasn’t happy about it, either.”
“Dare I ask what she did in her job to warrant that embarrassed look on her face?”
Poe raised his eyebrows and nodded. “She works for an import/export business, and she told her boss that she could lure me away from the Air Force and hire me as a pilot for their company. Needless to say, that’s what led to our break-up.” He shook his head. “Her boss was not pleased with her, but she managed to keep her job.”
Rey moved around the desk toward the groom room, reaching in to turn off the light and close the door. The little devil on her shoulder insisted she keep interrogating Poe, but the minute the question came out, she regretted it. “So, what number date did you first have sex with her?”
When Rey had first agreed to go with out with Major Poe Dameron, B1-B pilot and amateur musician, they had both agreed to take this newfound relationship slow. However, after two months of spending almost all of their free time together, Rey had started wanting more. Twice in the last week, she had tried to let him know, without actually saying it, that she was ready for the next step. But Poe, ever the gentleman, had always ended the evening after only a short make-out session. Rey was getting frustrated, but was too shy to say anything, and thanks to previous boyfriends who had not only been demeaning in bed but had been verbally abusive, she was beginning to wonder if Poe even wanted her that way; low self-esteem was hard to overcome.
She fiddled with her appointment book as she waited for the answer to the question she shouldn’t have asked, not looking at him. He was silent so long, she worried she had totally ruined the evening, but then she heard him sigh.
“We slept together after our first date.”
Rey felt her stomach drop. Of course, they did. Zorii was beautiful and experienced and self-confident.
She finally looked up at him. He had his hands on his hips but was looking at the floor. When he felt her gaze, he looked up. “That was the only reason I went out with her that night, Rey.”
She understood and nodded her head. “A one-night stand.”
“Well, more a fling,” Poe argued. “I always think a one-night stand means two strangers. Zorii was a friend of friend, so I already knew her.” He shrugged. “But, yeah, it was supposed to end there, but Zorii wanted it to continue. When Finn found out, he pushed me to make a relationship out of it. Said it would be good for me. Ground me.” He took a deep breath. “So, I tried. For six months, I tried.”
Rey, recognizing how serious her normally upbeat, jovial Poe was, tried to lighten things up. “The sex must have been good to keep trying for six months.”
Poe snorted. “Actually, no, it really wasn’t.” He looked her in the eye. “I was just too stubborn to give up on what I thought I wanted. It was Finn, again, who made me realize it was not at all what I wanted. The whole trying to hire me away from the Air Force was the last straw.” Finn Champion was a fellow airman, an enlisted MP who Poe had befriended his first year stationed at Yavin Air Force Base. Rey liked the man, but had long ago determined that he stuck his nose in other people’s business a little too often. He was always very sincere in his desire to help; he just overdid it more often than not.
Poe moved around the desk and stepped up to Rey, sliding into her ‘bubble.’ Rey turned to face him, leaning her butt back on the desk. Though not much taller than her, Poe always made her feel small and feminine, especially when he was in uniform. While Rey considered herself a self-reliant, independent woman, this man made her feel vulnerable in a very good way. Rey had started her own business from the ground up, but she had never been as confident in her personal life as she was in her professional. With Poe, she had always been comfortable, instinctively knowing he wouldn’t hurt her, physically or emotionally.
“That’s why I’ve been taking it slow with you, Rey,” he told her, his eyes soft. “I don’t want to give up months of my life to something – or someone – who isn’t worth it.” He swallowed. “But, I think I knew from the beginning that you are more than worth it.”
Rey sighed as Poe moved in to kiss her. God, she loved how he kissed. No hesitancy, open mouthed and deep, using tongue and lips and working his jaw into that perfect angle that made her feel as if she was being swallowed whole. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers dive into the short curls at the nape of his neck, his military cut short but not too severe. She felt him push into her and she scooched her butt up onto the desk behind her, spreading her legs as she did so.
He pushed to stand between her legs, bringing his arms around her and pulling her closer to him with gentle pressure at the small of her back. As she felt his crotch make contact with her center, she moaned. She felt him smile as he left her lips and moved his mouth down over her jaw and underneath it. Rey raised her chin so he had easy access to her neck.
“Poe?” she asked softly.
“Hmmm?” he answered, his lips and tongue never leaving her skin.
“Let’s not go to Rose’s tonight.”
He stopped what he was doing and lifted his head to look at her, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“I didn’t tell her we would come specifically tonight,” Rey continued. “Just that we would stop by sometime this weekend.”
He tilted his head. “Okay. Where do you want to go instead?”
She took a deep breath. “Actually, I was hoping you would come home with me.” Being single, Poe lived in the officer’s quarters on Base (which fortunately allowed pets) while Rey owned a small house not far from downtown; her place was the obvious choice for their first night together.
She literally saw his eyes darken as she watched him, his pupils dilating as he reacted to her husky words. She watched as he licked his lips and swallowed. “Okay, on one condition,” he told her, his voice deeper sounding than normal.
Condition? Rey thought. He had a condition before coming to her home to have sex with her? Maybe she had been wrong about how far he wanted this relationship to go. She held her breath, waiting for his ‘condition.’
“We need to stop at my place and pick up Beebee.” The corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly. “I don’t think he’d understand being left alone all night.”
Rey let out a soft laugh, releasing her anxiety and acknowledging his request. “Deal,” she whispered, and was embarrassed to feel tears form in her eyes. Caused by relief or happiness or both, she didn’t know.
Poe dropped his head down to touch his forehead to hers. “I love you, Rey Skywalker,” he whispered. “And I can’t wait to show you in every way possible.”
She gave him a watery smile and nodded slightly, her forehead rubbing lightly against his. “That’s good,” she told him. “Because I love you, too, Major Dameron.” Her soft smile turned into a grin. “And you’re lucky I love that little bowling ball of yours, too!”
Poe laughed, then backed away from her, grabbing her hands and pulling her lightly off the desktop. He turned and moved around to the front of the desk where his duffle still sat on the floor. He picked it up and turned back to her. “Let’s go get him, then,” he told her, still grinning. “And let’s be happy he’s not a high maintenance Doodle!”
THE END
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