This shouldn’t have happened.
I couldn’t get Pepper’s horrified face out of my head when she took in the park. She’d been quiet ever since. Her shoulders hunched as we worked together to feed the dogs.
Where would she take them now?
Ash pawed at my leg. I kneeled beside her. “I gotta go to work soon.”
She burrowed against me as I rubbed her ears.
“My shift’s twenty-four on, so I won’t be by tonight. Promise me you’ll eat?”
She licked my face. I hoped that was a yes.
“Miss Adeline will be devastated.” There was a hollowness to Pepper’s sarcasm.
“You never did tell me exactly how you met.”
She fidgeted with straightening the counter, even though everything was already in order.
“I called her about some abused dogs at a track,” she said as if choosing her words carefully.
“I gathered that.” Why wouldn’t she look at me? “How’d you know about them? Did you work there?”
She knotted the towel used to dry the dog bowls in her fingers. I rose to my full height and knitted my brow.
“I lived there.”
She dropped the towel and bent to pet Sadie like a default mechanism.
“Like a caretaker?” But that didn’t make sense. If the dogs were under her care, she wouldn’t have needed to contact Miss Adeline. She’d never abuse an animal . . . or anyone.
“Like a homeless person.”
Pepper kept full eye contact as she spoke. I tried to control my reaction, but my brows shot up. Homeless?
This woman worked harder than anyone I’d ever met . . . including my brother. And that was saying a lot. I simply could not imagine the scenario she described.
Then the image of her sleeping so soundly with the dogs crashed into my brain.
Was that why she was so comfortable with them?
She spread her arm, motioning to the dogs surrounding us. “We’re all rescues.”
Underneath the acceptance of her situation was a hint of defensiveness.
“Pepper—”
“Please don’t tell me you’re sorry. It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m here.” She stroked Sadie more spastically.
“I—” I didn’t know what to say. Other than it hurt and made me angry she’d ever had to experience that.
If she hadn’t met Miss Adeline, where would she be?
She refused to look at me, and I stood there like an idiot who couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I get it if you don’t want—”
My phone chimed.
Don’t want what?
But she didn’t finish. Not in the two minutes it took for my phone to alert me again that I had an unread text message.
The air turned awkward, like we were strangers. Like we hadn’t spent last night in each other’s arms. Like those kisses hadn’t happened. Like we hadn’t shared anything we normally kept to ourselves.
I pulled out my phone.
My office. Half an hour.
“It’s the captain. I have to go.”
I didn’t want to leave. Not like this when I wouldn’t be able to see her until at least tomorrow.
“Who wants a treat?” She moved toward the container and carried it away from the back door. All the dogs obediently followed. Except Ash. Who stayed pressed to my leg.
I stroked her head. “I’ll see you soon.” Though I wasn’t sure if that was true. “Go get a treat.”
She stayed next to me.
The other dogs were in a semi-circle around Pepper, mostly patiently waiting for a dog biscuit.
“Pepper.”
She tossed a treat to Sadie. “Thank you for everything.” She wouldn’t look at me. And I didn’t fault her that. She’d told me something intimately personal and humiliating. I imagined it wasn’t a fact she shared often, if ever.
I stalked toward her, careful not to step on any dogs. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “This changes nothing.” I was not a coward.
I hopped out of my truck at the station.
Heavy.
That was how everything felt. These past few weeks had been a lot.
Normally, I’d be glad to have a long shift. This was where I was meant to be. My extended family.
Maybe the twenty-four on was a blessing. I could get out of my head for a bit and hopefully have some perspective.
But I hated how I’d left things with Pepper.
She could probably use a minute to sort things out for herself too, but I hated the way she’d withdrawn from me.
I felt it.
And I didn’t like the distance.
Did she think I’d want nothing to do with her because of her past?
On the drive over, the farther away I got, the more it seemed that way. I didn’t want her to believe that. Hadn’t she seen by now, there was nothing that could keep me away?
Except she practically pushed me out the door.
“Yo.” Burke fell in step beside me as we approached the firehouse.
“You back on? I thought you worked last night?”
“Got a message to come in.” He shrugged. “I could use the overtime.”
“Any word on the fire?”
“Not yet.” He shuddered. “I hope they were already dead before it started.” Then he smirked. “Cassano would’ve called them crispy, the sick bastard.”
“Or marshmallows.”
He’d had a depraved sense of humor. Turned out I missed that. Burke must have one too.
There was a somber silence for our lost brother as we entered the station. Burke forked toward the bunks. I went the opposite direction.
“Yo. Where you headed?”
“Been called to the principal’s office.”
“Ooooh.” He slapped me on the back.
I flipped him the bird.
This was my first long shift since the suspension. Hopefully, that meant I was back full time. Captain didn’t have much choice when we were a man down.
I tapped my knuckles on his partially open door.
“Come in.” The call was gruff from too many years of cigarettes and whiskey.
He sat behind his desk with an unlit cigar hanging from his mouth as he studied an open folder.
“Hollingsworth, you’re late.”
He hadn’t even looked at a clock. But I had before I turned off my truck. I was seven minutes early.
“You wanted to speak to me, sir.” I wasn’t in the mood for an argument.
“Don’t sit. This won’t take long.”
I was halfway in one of the chairs in front of his desk. As commanded, I stood back straight.
“Who told you to work that fire last night?” His haggard gaze finally appraised me.
“Burke said it was all hands-on deck. Everybody close by was there.”
“When did Burke become captain?”
I clamped my mouth closed. I was already on a razor-thin margin. Though the urge to defend myself pulsed underneath my surface. This time, I hadn’t done anything wrong. Only what I was asked.
“You’re out. Since Burke thinks he’s in charge, he can bring you your stuff from your locker.”
What?
“You need me on this shift. We’re down at least a man—”
“You’re done, Hollingsworth.”
It was like he spoke a foreign language.
“I just got here. You could’ve told me on the phone you didn’t want me in today.” I thrust my finger in the direction of the bunks. “Those guys need me. I’m here. And I’m staying.”
Captain crushed the end of his cigar in his fingers. Well, he wasn’t the only one mad. This was absurd, even for him. And after the past few weeks, if he wanted to be the recipient of all my pent-up frustration, that was fine by me.
“I have work to do.” I spun and stalked away from the man who’d had it in for me for as long as I could remember.
“Hollingsworth.”
> I hesitated in the doorway when he called my name but didn’t turn around.
“You’re fired.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Pepper
Why did you tell him you were homeless?
It wasn’t his business. Only one other person on this earth knew. Did I think because we’d spent a few nights together and he was nice to me I could trust him?
But that look on his face when I’d told him the truth.
Shock. Then horror. Then pity. Then . . . I didn’t know what the last one was, but it changed something between us.
Maybe it was a loss of respect.
I slammed the freezer door.
“Who wants ice?”
Was I trying to be falsely cheerful for the dogs or me? They could see through me, but I didn’t want to project my bad mood onto them.
A piece of paper floated to the floor from the ferocity of the slam. It landed face up.
An old note of Vivian’s ideas for the adoption event.
I stomped on it.
All the sweet faces I loved scampered toward me, eager for the ice. I tossed a piece to Sadie before she could bark.
As the sound of crunching grew louder as they all chomped away, I knew what I had to do.
These dogs were our family. I wanted them to be happy. I wanted them to have everything they needed.
And they did right here.
I slid down the cabinets to the floor. A free-for-all ensued with the ice.
My eyes stung.
Muffy licked the side of my face with his cold tongue.
“Do you want to go anywhere? To a new home?” My voice was watery.
He put a possessive paw on my leg.
I blinked hard to hold back the tears. The weight of everything pressed heavy on my shoulders.
Vivian’s heart was in the right place. It was mine that was wrong.
My irritation wasn’t at her or the adoption event. It was at myself.
I was embarrassed over this morning. I was angry we’d had to place some of our dogs in someone else’s care.
I was scared Teague would disappear from our lives as quickly as he entered.
Sadie nudged the bowl out of my hands and crawled into my lap. She licked at my face.
I hugged her fiercely.
“I can’t lose you,” I said into her neck.
I found myself surrounded by all of them. They licked and sniffed and pawed at me in support.
Because they understood me better than anyone.
They were my safe place.
And lately our safe bubble felt penetrated.
This changes nothing.
Teague’s final words from earlier pierced my brain.
“Think he’s coming back?”
Ash pawed at me. She believed in him. Maybe I could take a lesson.
Maybe I could stop being so guarded.
I checked the clock. After ten. Another day that had gotten away from me.
“We’d better tell Miss Adeline we’re going for our night walks.”
At her name, a few dogs bolted up the stairs before I was off the floor. The sound of their paws hopping on the hardwoods made me smile on a day I would’ve thought it impossible.
Dogs were the great healers.
I followed them to the base of the stairs and cupped my hands. “Hey, I’m running out to take a couple dogs out. I’ll be back soon.”
"Be careful. Take your phone,” Miss Adeline called.
I pocketed the device and leashed up Sadie, Muffy, and Ash.
As the back door slammed behind us and we entered the dark alley, Teague's warnings about being out late at night popped into my head. I never thought about those things much before him. But I could be extra cautious. I always was.
Muffy did his business immediately like the good boy that he was. He looked at me for his treat. I fumbled in my pocket for one and finally found it.
He munched as Sadie pulled us toward the end of the alley instead of following Muffy’s lead.
“You have no concept of cold, do you?"
She ignored me like always and headed in the direction of the park.
“Sadie, can we not go that way?”
The direction of the park still hurt too much. Seeing it earlier in the day . . . I needed some time away from it.
But she wanted to go that way, so we did.
There was no one else around. Who would be out in this cold? Is it ever going to warm up? A few cars passed every so often as we made our way down the block in the otherwise quiet night.
Sadie charged ahead until the park came into view. Where there used to be lights illuminating the perimeter, it was now a big dark hole.
Ash's steps were tentative the closer that we got. Sadie had been so sensitive to the other dog’s feelings that I was surprised she barged forward.
Muffy was in between the two, unsure whether to speed up or slow down. Ash’s body was warm against my leg where she’d glued herself to my side.
Grrr.
Ash bared her teeth and refused to go any further. She hadn’t had this reaction to the park earlier in the day. Sadie stopped. And sniffed. And barked.
Woof. Woof. Woof.
Muffy joined in but this wasn’t his playful bark. It was deep and powerful and scary.
I glanced around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. These dogs wouldn’t be barking at nothing, especially not like this. Maybe it was anger somehow at the destruction of their park. It wasn’t impossible for them to feel that even though they were dogs.
Part of me hoped it was Teague and he would appear from the shadows like the other night in the alley.
“Let’s go home,” I said. No need to stress them out any further.
“I think Garrison might’ve left some midnight snacks for you.” Even the mention of a treat didn’t stop the barking.
I tugged the leashes, unable to get them to move in the direction I wanted.
Maybe I need to go to an obedience school.
“Sadie.” I hoped I could get her headed home and the others would follow.
I crouched down next to her and touched her head, but she kept barking. “What’s going on?”
She lunged around me, knocking me to my rear. The leashes were yanked from my hand, the rope burning my palm.
Something went over my head and a sickly sweet smell invaded my nose.
I swung my arms wildly, hoping I didn’t hit a dog but praying I’d nail whoever was around us.
A grunt sounded from behind me.
The barking was so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts. I tried to pull off whatever was over my head, but it tightened the harder I fought.
I have to get to the dogs.
“Run,” I screamed, but it sounded warbled. Distant.
Please don’t hurt them. Please don’t hurt them.
And then I was in the air.
I landed on a hard surface that didn’t feel like concrete. With everything I had, I kicked.
I struck something.
Pain radiated from my foot to my knee.
A door slammed.
The barks muffled.
And then everything went black.
Teague and Pepper’s addictive story continues in Burn. Will they find their way or Crash & Burn?
ORDER BURN NOW.
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Also by Grahame Claire
It’s Not Over
Three Dates
Righting Our Wrongs
Heartbreaker
Dangerous Redemption
Thick As Thieves
FREE SERIES
Free Me
Trust Me
Defend Me
SHAKEN SERIES
Crash & Burn Duet
Crash
Burn
Rise & Fall Duet
Rise
Fall
Bend & Break Duet
Bend
Break
WRITTEN WITH CLAUDIA BURGOA
Holiday With You
About the Author
Grahame Claire is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance.
A writer. A blogger. United by our love of stories and all things romance. There was definitely some insta-love. Hello? Books involved. A little courting. A lot of writing. The result . . . Grahame Claire.
Soulmates. Unashamed of our multiple book boyfriends. Especially the ones that rooted in our heads and wouldn’t leave us alone. Don’t worry. We’ll share.
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Crash: Crash & Burn Duet Book 1 (Shaken) Page 20
