“Hi.” She smiled. “Get everything set?”
“Yeah.” He stopped for a moment because he couldn’t remember why he’d come to her door. It wasn’t so she could smile at him, was it? “Everything’s here and the other place is cleaned up. I wanted to ask you a favor.”
“What do you need?” She stopped drying her hair and stood with the towel in her hand leaning against the door still holding the neck of her robe closed.
Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets before they could get away from him and looked at her bare feet. The hem of a white nightgown hung below the robe. He didn’t need to know she wore white nightgowns. It was one of those little facts that might keep him up all night, like the memory of the light tread of her feet overhead. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken this apartment. Maybe he should have found some place else instead of tormenting himself being so close. He swallowed.
“I have duty tomorrow, and I don’t have the dog door in for Archer yet. Could you make sure he gets out tomorrow afternoon? He needs to get a little exercise and do his business.” Jack had never used the phrase ‘do his business’ before and it felt alien coming out of his mouth. But he couldn’t imagine saying anything else to Katherine.
“Sure. I’ll let him out for a little while.”
“He likes to play fetch,” Jack suggested. He’d found Archer chewing on a tennis ball this morning and had a pretty good guess where it came from.
She turned a becoming shade of pink. “Oh really? Well, maybe I’ll play a little fetch with him. There are plenty of sticks in the back yard.”
“You have to order him to drop it or he won’t.” Jack watched the blush spread across her round cheeks like a faint wine stain. “He likes to wrestle too.”
She nodded, the pink deepening. “I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t worry, I’ll let him out for a little while tomorrow afternoon. When do you get off duty?”
“Monday morning at eight.”
“I’ll miss you, then.” Her eyes rounded with panic. “I mean, I leave for school about seven thirty. I won’t see you.”
“Oh. Then maybe I’ll catch you after school.” He lingered on the porch, knowing he should let her go back inside. It had turned cold, and she had wet hair tangled around her face. But he didn’t want to let her go yet. He wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure what or if he would be able to say it at all. To be honest, he didn’t want to say anything. He wanted to cup her blush-warmed cheek in his hand and kiss her pink lips. “Thanks for letting me move in a little early. Most places would prorate for the extra week.”
“No problem. I don’t know how you could be expected to move and clean your old apartment between the last of the month and the first of the next month. That never made sense to me.” She shifted her hand from the neck of the robe to the towel and her robe fell open enough that he could see her collar bones creating hollows below her shoulders. He wanted to trace the hollows with his thumbs to find out if the skin felt as soft and supple as it looked.
“Well, it’s a neat trick. There’s usually some magic involved.” He shifted, trying to jar his gaze back to her eyes. With her throat exposed he was having a hard time focusing on her face. “So you’ll let Archer out tomorrow.”
“No problem.” She beamed.
“Okay, thanks. See you Monday when you get home from school, then.” He backed away from the door, not asking any of the questions he wanted to ask. Like who was that stupid blond man? And why don’t you like me as much as you like my dog?
“Sleep tight. And be careful at work tomorrow.”
He rolled his eyes. “I can’t be careful. It’s my job.”
She laughed low in her throat and closed the door.
Jack stopped at the bottom of the stairs for a minute, remembering the laugh. If he didn’t get it out of his mind, he wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight, and that would make tomorrow unpleasant. He walked back around to his own door and let himself in.
The place was a shamble of boxes. Archer had sacked out in the middle of the unmade bed. Jack opened a box and started pulling out linens. The little cabinet would be a perfect storage place for those. But he had to make the bed first or he’d end up sleeping in a nest of blankets again tonight.
“All right, dog. Off.” He grabbed a pillow and pulled a case over it.
Archer groaned, but didn’t move.
“Come on. Off.” He put a case on the other pillow.
Archer shifted his head so he could give Jack a dirty look without having to stretch.
“My heart bleeds. Go lay on the couch.” Jack shoved Archer until he jumped off the bed after giving Jack another annoyed glare.
Jack shook the fitted sheet out over the bed. As he worked, he strained to hear anything from her upstairs. Occasionally, he heard the light sound of her footsteps padding across the floor, but nothing else. No TV, no stereo. He didn’t have any of his equipment hooked up yet, and he suspected once he did have something playing, even low, he wouldn’t be able to hear her at all. That thought might make him learn to love the stillness.
The hair on his arms raised, remembering standing in the kitchen with the guys on Friday night watching her roll around on the ground, wrestling with Archer by the back fence. She had been dirty from head to toe and giggling. All three of his friends had stood in silence watching her for at least five minutes before they decided to get back to work. Kevin had dragged Jack away.
She had looked beautiful with her long hair spilling around her and her sweatshirt riding up to expose her bare midriff. They had been able to hear her laughing as they moved the last load into the house. Jack had even caught Lew peeking out the back windows. She must have realized they were back not too long after because it got quiet, and Dan noticed Archer sleeping in the last patch of sun. She’d worn him out.
Jack thought about his exhausted dog. He’d known Archer since puppyhood and he’d never seen him this tired. What would she do to him when she had him all day tomorrow? And more importantly, when would she be willing to wrestle like that with Archer’s owner?
* * * *
Katherine threw the stick for Archer to chase down. She felt too tired to wrestle today. It had a lot to do with the fact that she’d been up before dawn listening for Jack. She had lain half awake in her bed listening to him walk around the dining room and the kitchen getting ready for work. He’d had a long conversation with Archer she couldn’t quite make out. She'd tried to hear the words, but she knew in order to eavesdrop, she’d need to go into her office and crouch beside the heating vent. And that was no guarantee. Even if it wasn’t despicable to spy in the first place. After a few minutes, she heard him walk out the front door. She waited for the sound of the garage door, but didn’t hear it. That brought her awake. Why hadn’t he opened the garage door? Was he standing outside? Was a friend picking him up?
She had slipped out of bed, cringing for a moment when her warm feet touched the cold floor. She had pulled on her robe and peeked out the window. From there she could see nothing but a small section of street. The northern neighbor’s pine tree blocked the entire view that way and there wasn’t a soul on the road to the south. Maybe he’d walked to work. He’s said the station was close. Until now, the exact location of the local fire house hadn’t been important, but things had changed.
After that, she hadn’t considered going back to bed. She’d gotten up and eaten oatmeal, sending silent curses toward the once again dripping faucet until she thought up an excuse to go outside. The yard needed cleaning up. Over the winter, a lot of twigs and small branches had fallen, and they wouldn’t go away by themselves. She dressed in long johns, paint spattered jeans, an old, out of shape turtleneck and a flannel shirt before heading outside to the garage for a rake she didn’t need for this chore, just so she could check for his truck. The truck sat in the garage. But the only eyes peering out the breakfast nook window were Archer’s. Might as well let him out now.
“You know, if I could teach you to pick up t
he sticks and take them to the trash barrel, I’d be all set,” she told Archer, shaking the stick at him.
His eyes followed the stick.
She threw it as hard as she could and watched it sail end over end to the alley fence.
Archer raced after it. He seized something bigger than the stick and started dragging it toward her.
“If you think I’m throwing that, you’ve got another think coming.” Katherine announced when she realized the dog had grabbed a medium sized tree branch. “How am I going to get it in the trash barrel?”
Archer dragged the branch to the porch and plopped down next to it, waiting for her approval.
“Very good.” She patted his head. “Now do it thirty or forty more times.”
He gnawed on the stick, watching her for signs of trying to take it away.
She picked up another stick and threw it. She needed to saw Archer’s branch into manageable chunks. Inside the garage, she had Gary's tools stored. He’d never used them, and she didn't know why he bothered to keep them, but they were in perfect condition. She found a small saw and carried it out to the yard.
After twenty minutes, she'd reduced the branch to manageable chunks, worked up a sweat, and Archer had brought her another one. “Hey, what are you trying to do to me, animal? That whole clean up the backyard thing was just an excuse.” She patted his head and picked up a smallish stick to throw. As he bounded to the back of the yard she heard a car pull into the driveway. Curious, she opened the gate and peered toward the street.
The car she couldn’t identify, beyond knowing it was well out of her price range. The driver opened the door and stepped out. She was medium height, with shoulder length blond hair, exotically shaped eyes so blue Katherine could see them from the back of the house. She wore a cream colored suit with a pink blouse. Ignoring Katherine, she started toward the front door.
“Jack isn’t home,” Katherine called, and wished she'd kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want this gorgeous woman paying any attention to her in her current sweaty, dirty state.
The woman turned toward Katherine, thrust out one hip and tapped one of her elegant, and no doubt expensive, shoes twice on the asphalt driveway. “Who are you?” she demanded.
“I’m—I own the house. I’m the landlord.” Committed to a conversation now, Katherine stepped into the driveway, leaving the gate ajar behind her.
“Oh.” She looked back at the house. “He isn’t home. I suppose he’s hanging out with that assortment of ruffians he calls friends.”
“He’s on duty,” Katherine said.
The other woman pursed her perfect lips. “Exactly the same thing. If he isn’t with that pack of rogues on duty, he's with them off duty.” She pronounced the ‘t’ in exactly.
Katherine bit her lip. She wouldn’t have called any of the men who helped Jack move in ruffians or rogues. Of course, it fit the pattern of safety officers and their devotion to their jobs and buddies. She didn’t have time to finish the consideration because Archer, having realized someone was in the driveway and the gate stood open, rushed around her, making straight for the other woman.
The woman screamed and threw her hands up, but Archer jumped on her, planting his big muddy feet on her suit jacket and swiping her cheek with his big pink tongue.
“You beast. You filthy, horrible beast!” she shrieked.
Archer dropped to the ground with his ears flattened to his head. He slunk back to Katherine and leaned against her legs, shuddering with misery.
“Oh no, your suit.” Katherine covered her mouth with both hands. Right on the front of the other woman's jacket, on her shoulders, were two perfect dog footprints. Katherine knew it would be very bad to laugh, but she couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do more. “Archer, that was bad. Bad dog.”
Archer sunk lower and pressed himself against her legs nearly knocking her over.
“Now I’m going to have to go home and change. Tell Jack that Leia stopped by. Tell him I got the partnership. Maybe I’ll call him.” She threw herself back in her car and slammed the door.
Katherine grabbed Archer’s collar and tugged him back into the yard. She couldn’t explain why she was so pleased Archer had jumped on Leia, she knew she shouldn’t be. “Good dog, Archer. You can jump on her anytime you like.” She patted the dog’s head. “Next time, try to knock her down.”
That woman was beautiful. Stunning. Just the kind of woman Katherine expected to see buzzing around Jack. He claimed he wasn’t dating anyone. Was Leia chasing him? Katherine wouldn’t want to get in the way if she was. She looked predatory.
Not that Katherine meant to get involved with Jack anyway. He was her tenant and a firefighter. But that woman gave her another good reason to not have any interest. Katherine shook her head. She needed to leave a note for him before she forgot, or worse, had to tell him in person.
Sitting at her desk, she reflected on Leia. She seemed so confident, so sharp. Leia was a stunning woman with her perfect figure, flawlessly coifed blond hair and almond shaped eyes. Based on looks, she was perfect.
But she was also rude and arrogant. When she used the words ‘rogues’ and ‘ruffians’ it sounded contrived. And Jack seemed so down to earth. How would he be able to stand Leia once she opened her mouth?
Besides, she hated his dog.
Chapter 4
Jack opened the garage door so Katherine could pull in. In the three weeks since he'd moved in, Katherine had done everything in her power to avoid her tenant. Not that she didn’t want to see him. No, she wanted to see him too much. She'd figured out his routine, one day on duty followed by two days off. On his days off, he took Archer for a long hike first thing in the morning. During the first week on the first of the two days off, he went out for the evening. She didn’t know where, only that he was gone for the entire evening, and she hoped it was a pattern. She tried very hard not to speculate about where he might be going or who he might be seeing. Katherine molded her schedule around his so she was gone as much as possible when he was home, or at least inside when he came and went. She stayed late at school, went to the library, had dinner at Pam’s. Anything to avoid crossing paths with him and turning into a babbling school girl again. Bad enough that she found herself staring at the wall, listening to him walk around downstairs.
Tonight, she’d been hoping his all-evening event was an every other week occurrence but since he was standing in the driveway waiting, she guessed not.
“Long time no see.” He grinned, one hand resting on the garage door handle over his head, ready to pull it down the moment she stepped out. Katherine decided he looked like a male model posing for a picture.
“It’s been really busy at school.” she lied. He looked good in his long sleeved knit shirt. It left no mystery to the exact dimensions of his arms or chest. As her eyes skidded down to the floor in the hopes of not blushing or leering, she took in his jeans and work boots. Did he buy jeans that fit him so perfectly she could see more than she wanted to, or did he wear them until they fell off his body? Suddenly, she remembered what it had felt like that first day when she showed him the apartment and had stumbled into him when the back door flew open. The way his arms closed around her to keep her from falling and the solid muscle of his chest when he pulled her against him. And which now flexed as he pulled down the garage door.
“My poker game was canceled, so I’m gonna get that dog door in for Archer so you won’t have to babysit him anymore.” Jack gestured to the backyard where the back door was off its hinges and propped against the porch. She supposed she should have guessed the warm weather would bring him out, but it never entered her mind. “I’ll fix it so it doesn’t stick anymore, too.”
“Good idea.” She tried not to sound breathless, an act made difficult by the fact that she was breathless. She started for her door, intent on getting it between him and her as soon as possible. He had followed her down the driveway to her door, and he was entirely too close. She could smell the scent of his so
ap. It wrecked her ability to think straight. She stepped on the bottom step and reached into her mail box trying to act as normal as she wanted to feel by pretending he was just another student, hoping the act would sink in. So far, no success. Bills and junk mail. Nothing helpful in distracting her from Jack. Of course she didn’t think a subpoena for a federal investigation would have been able to take her mind off Jack for long.
“I was looking at the garage roof. There’s a pretty good hole developing there.” He leaned on the railing, gesturing back at the garage.
“I know, I haven’t been able to afford to get it fixed.” She dropped the mail in her book bag, wanting to scurry inside her door and spy on him through her kitchen window.
“I can fix it. We can go Dutch on supplies.” He smiled, but his expression faltered when she stared at him. He cleared his throat and looked at the garage. “The joists are still okay so far, but if it goes too long they might rot, and then we’ll have a big mess on our hands.”
Katherine blinked at him. ‘We’ll have a big mess on our hands.’ The plural pronoun indicated a relationship. Her mind leaped over the idea that he might only mean two people sharing a garage to what she wanted to share. The way he was grinning at her made her think there had to be something more to the conversation, but her brain felt too fogged by his presence to figure it out. It seemed like a simple conversation. Was she missing something else?
“Did you hear me? Are you okay?” He stepped closer leaving her inches from testing out the texture of his shirt. His eyes, in the shadow of the house, looked dark with concern.
She couldn’t take a breath without smelling his scent. Heat radiated off his body and seeped through her coat. It soaked into her body and brought her temperature to a nice simmer. “Randy put up a tarp to keep the water out until I can afford a roofer.”
Three Alarm Tenant Page 6
