Barking Up the Wrong Tree

by Jenn McKinlay

  Carly had known when she went out tonight that she was looking for something, anything, to distract her from the disaster her life had become. The fact that James, the cute physical therapist from the park, was here at Marty’s Pub made her think the universe was looking out for her for the first time in quite a while.

  Even though it was October, she had pulled together her go-to outfit for pickups, which consisted of a cute floral minidress more suited to June paired with calf-hugging brown leather boots with treacherous heels, and a delicate little sweater that did more to frame the girls than it did to keep her warm.

  As she crossed the pub, she hoped her effort had not been for nothing. Judging by the way he watched her walking toward him, it had not. His hazel eyes lit up, making them more blue than gray. He rubbed his hand over his hair as if preparing for her approach—adorable—proving Carly’s theory about his style of grooming, casual with a side of sloppy—even more adorable.

  She paused in front of his table, pleased to see that his eyes stayed on hers and didn’t venture south. He was respectful. That earned him some serious points. She rested her elbows on the table and propped her chin on her hands.

  “Excuse me,” she said. She made sure she kept her voice low so he had to lean in to hear her. He did. He didn’t say a word, but one of his eyebrows rose higher than the other letting her know he was listening.

  “My friends and I were having a discussion and I was wondering if you, being a guy, could weigh in on it for us.”

  “All right,” he said. His voice was a beautiful deep bass that made her spine reverberate in response. She had to force herself to stay still and not wiggle with anticipation.

  “We were just debating whether men like it better if a woman waxes, shaves, or goes au naturel. Thoughts?”

  He didn’t move for a second, and then, using his foot, he pushed out the chair his friend had vacated and gestured for her to have a seat. Yep, that line worked every time.

  Chapter 4

  “Seems to me that is going to require some thought,” he said. “What can I get you to drink, Carly? It was Carly, wasn’t it?”

  She smiled, liking that he’d caught her name this afternoon. Then she gave him a side look as if considering his offer. “A dirty martini would be lovely, James.”

  He grinned at her, clearly pleased that she’d gotten his name, too.

  “Coming up,” he said. He stopped the waitress as she passed them, giving her their order.

  Carly noted that he was drinking Bluff Point Ale on tap and she knew that Sam, Zach, and Brad would approve of him right away because they co-owned the Bluff Point brewery. She’d have to look to Gavin, who, being a veterinarian, was more of an animal person than a people person and as such had higher standards, to advise her on her catch of the day.

  Carly slid onto the seat and faced him.

  “Nice to officially meet you, Carly,” he said and offered her his hand. There was an intent look on his face that she couldn’t read, but she liked it. He was definitely giving her his full attention and what girl didn’t like that?

  “You, too, James,” she said.

  His hand swallowed hers up in one gulp and then released it. She’d been right. He had big, manly callused paws that she desperately wanted to feel against her skin. A flash of heat hit her low and deep.

  Wow, that was intense. Her life had been swirling in the bowl for so long, she hadn’t been attracted to any man in a very long time. Even if it went nowhere tonight, it was nice to feel the fizz and zip of attraction again.

  “Carly,” he said as if he liked the sound of it on his tongue. “Nice name.”

  “I was named for my great-aunt Carlotta, who had a wart on her upper lip with two hairs growing out of it,” she said. She tapped one ruby red fingertip on her upper lip.

  His eyes widened and Carly fought to keep her face straight but when his gaze studied her mouth as if looking for a wart, she cracked and laughed. He gave her an amused look and then he leaned across the table into her personal space.

  “Why do I get the feeling you just tricked me into studying your perfectly shaped mouth?” he asked.

  “Me?” she asked innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Perfectly shaped, huh?”

  “Except . . . wait . . . is that . . .” His voice trailed off as he stared at her mouth with concern.

  Carly felt a moment of horror. What if she actually had a wart? Or a pimple? She pressed her fingers to her lips, feeling for any bumps. Sweet chili dogs, she didn’t even have an aunt Carlotta. It was just a joke.

  Then she noticed the wicked twinkle in his eye. Hot damn! The boy knew how to play.

  “Very funny,” she said.

  He grinned. “For the record, I already noticed your lovely lips.” He paused to stare at them, again, making Carly feel hot and shivery, before he added, “As well as your beautiful eyes, gorgeous face, and that figure—well, let’s just say you have some dead sexy curves.”

  Carly started to sweat and her breath was coming in rapid bursts as if she’d just climbed a staircase and was trying to pretend she wasn’t winded when she was sucking air big time. She wanted this boy bad.

  “Is your dog okay?” she asked. “He really was wonderful with Ike.”

  “He’s fine,” he said. “He’s got a bum leg, but we’re working on it. I think his bird rescue today gave him a nice shot of confidence. How’s Ike?”

  “He’s fine, too,” she said. “Maybe a lost feather or two but nothing he won’t recover from. So, where did your friend go?”

  She hoped he was gone for the night and not just making a pit stop.

  “To work,” he said. “He’s a cameraman on the late news in Portland.”

  “So, you’re all alone now?” she asked.

  The waitress appeared with their drinks and James waited until she was gone before he answered.

  “I am, but I noticed you came in with quite a group, four girls to four guys, unless I miscounted,” he said. “This wouldn’t be a ploy to make one of those guys jealous, would it?”

  “Would it matter if it was?”

  “Maybe, not.” His full lips curved up a little higher on the right and Carly was charmed stupid by it. “I just don’t want to get too attached if this doesn’t stand a chance of going my way.”

  “What way would that be?” she asked. She took a sip from her drink.

  “Let’s see,” he said. “Beautiful girl, gorgeous night outside . . . I see a walk on the boardwalk, a stolen kiss, which wouldn’t really be stolen because she wants it, too, and then we see what happens.”

  They stared at each other for a moment. Carly could feel the blood rushing in her ears. She had never before wanted to leap across a table and rip a man’s clothes off, ever, but right now the idea had serious appeal. Man, she’d been out of circulation for too long.

  “Those guys are what I call my Maine crew,” she said. “Just friends.”

  “And this night just keeps getting better and better,” he said. He looked delighted as he downed some of his beer.

  “But, wait, you didn’t answer my question,” she said.

  “Fair enough.”

  He leaned across the table so that they were just inches apart. Carly felt like she was getting sucked into his gaze as if it were a black hole and she were a passing asteroid.

  “I’ve got to be honest . . .” He paused for so long that Carly felt compelled to say, “Yeah?”

  “I don’t care what a woman does down there. If I’m lucky enough to be with her, to touch her, to watch her come undone for me, just me, because of what I’m doing to her, then that’s good enough for me.”

  That did it. Carly grabbed him by the shirtfront, yanked him close, and kissed him. It wasn’t a nice kiss. It wasn’t gentle or timid. It was a full-on assault. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Ja
mes had shoved her off; instead, he grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her even closer.

  Then he took control of the kiss, using his tongue to open her mouth beneath his so he had full access. Carly wasn’t sure when it happened—somewhere between his tongue tangling with hers and the way he nibbled on her lower lip—but her brain turned to goo and she was powerless to do anything but hang on while he kissed her senseless.

  When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing as if they’d just finished a ten K. Lips were swollen, cheeks were flushed, and deep dark desire clouded any good judgment either of them might have had.

  “My car is outside,” he said.

  “Let’s go.”

  They both got up from the table. James threw down a wad of bills and grabbed her hand as they headed toward the door.

  “Oh, my coat and bag,” Carly said. She turned and headed toward the table with her friends, pulling James with her.

  “Leaving already?” Mac asked.

  “James, these are my friends, Mac, Emma, and Jillian. Girls, this is James, okay, bye now,” she said. She grabbed her coat and purse and turned back to the door and slammed right into a wall of testosterone.

  “Going somewhere?” Zach asked. He crossed his arms over his chest. Sam, Brad, and Gavin fanned out around him.

  “Yes, we’re leaving,” Carly said.

  “Not so fast,” Sam said. He looked Carly’s boy toy over from head to toe as if looking for a police-monitored ankle bracelet or any other indicator that the man was no good. “Name?”

  “James, okay?” Carly said.

  “James Okay is not exactly what’s on my birth certificate, but I kind of dig it. James Sinclair.” James extended his free hand to Zach, who gave it a reluctant look before he shook it.

  “He drinks Bluff Point Ale, so he’s your people, surely that makes him acceptable, yes?” Carly asked.

  She was tapping her foot in impatience. Did these men not have eyes? Could they not see that she had bagged a god, or at least a demigod, of hotness? Why, oh why, were they in her way?

  “Is that what you think of us?” Brad asked. He looked aggrieved.

  “Yeah, like we’d really let you take off with a guy just because he drinks our beer?” Sam asked.

  “It’s like you don’t know us at all,” Zach said. He looked at James and asked, “But since we’re on the subject, which of our fine brews do you prefer?”

  “I’m partial to the amber,” James said. “It tastes like it has a hint of nutmeg in it.”

  The three of them looked at each other and nodded, obviously pleased with James’s choice.

  “The man clearly has a refined palate,” Zach said.

  Carly rolled her eyes. She knew they’d be easy to win over. Then Gavin muscled his way forward. He looked forbidding and Carly felt her hopes for a hot night of romance (i.e., sex) get doused like a candle flame being hit with a bucket of water.

  “Before you make off with our girl—” he began but Mac interrupted her man and said, “More like make out with our girl—again.”

  Gavin winked at her. “Exactly, before you make out with our girl again, I’d like to know your intentions.”

  “What?” Carly cried. She turned to look at James. He was trying not to laugh while she was sure she was going to combust from the hot fire of humiliation that was consuming her.

  “You’re adorable when you blush,” James said, bending low to whisper in her ear.

  She blinked at him and felt her face get even hotter. She couldn’t remember the last time she had blushed. This sort of thing just didn’t happen in Brooklyn.

  “Go away!” she snapped at Gavin.

  “No can do,” he said.

  “Dude.” She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him down so they were face-to-face. “I love you like a brother, I do, but you’re kind of cock blocking me here.”

  Gavin burst out laughing, which only made Carly even crankier.

  “Wait.” James tipped his head to study Gavin. “Don’t I know you?”

  Gavin stopped laughing and asked, “Maybe, do you have a sick dog or cat that you’ve taken to the vet recently?”

  James shook his head. “I’m new here so I still go to my vet in Portland. I started doing volunteer work for the local animal rescue network though. Last month we broke up an illegal dog breeding syndicate. They had over fifteen basset hounds.”

  “The place over in Hazelwood?” Gavin asked. “I was one of the vets on call to treat the dogs.”

  “That’s why you look familiar,” James said. “You outfitted my boy, Hot Wheels, with his rear support wheelchair. I didn’t know you were located in Bluff Point. That’s terrific. That’ll save me from having to drive him to Portland.”

  “Hot Wheels?” Gavin asked with a laugh. “Now I remember, you were the one who found the injured dog out in the woods, right?”

  James nodded. “That was Hot Wheels. I found him locked in a cage out there. I think the assholes running the puppy mill planned to let him starve to death because of his bum leg.”

  “You saved his life. We never would have found him if you hadn’t gone looking for more dogs.” Gavin clapped him on the shoulder. “Nice work.”

  Carly glanced between the two men. She was all for rescuing animals, truly, but there were pressing matters at hand, or rather, she was quite sure there should be hands pressing her matters by now.

  “So, we’re good here?” she asked Gavin.

  Gavin looked from James to her as if remembering his purpose. He glanced at Mac and shrugged. She nodded in understanding.

  Moving to stand in front of James, Mac stood up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. James’s eyebrows rose up to his hairline and he glanced at Gavin.

  “Yes, she means it,” he said.

  “Good to know,” James said. He gave Mac a nervous look.

  “Carly, can I have a word?” Jillian asked.

  If it were anyone else, Carly would have told them where to go, but this was Jillian, her bestie since adolescence. The friend she had woefully misinformed about the actual meaning of the words “blow job” as it had never occurred to her twelve-year-old self that there really wasn’t much blowing involved.

  “What?” Carly asked.

  Jillian pulled her aside while the guys crowded James and asked his opinion on their blonde ale.

  “This guy seems different,” Jillian said.

  “Not as different as he’ll seem when we’re both naked,” Carly said.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t get naked just yet.”

  Carly frowned. Mac and Emma joined them and she tried really hard not to feel as if they were ganging up on her.

  “What Jillian is trying to say is—” Mac began but Emma interrupted.

  “James could be more than a one-night stand.”

  “No, he can’t,” Carly scoffed.

  “Why not?” Jillian asked. “He’s handsome, funny, smart, he rescues animals—what more could you want?”

  “I don’t want any more, that’s the whole point,” Carly said. “I don’t do commitment of any kind. I can’t even commit to a brand of toilet paper. How could I possibly commit to a man?”

  “But the right man . . .”

  “There is no right man for me,” Carly said.

  She glanced over her shoulder to make sure James hadn’t been chased away by her well-meaning friends with the really lousy timing. Zach was bending his ear, but while James nodded politely, his gaze was on her and she was pretty sure he was picturing her naked, too.

  “So, this was fun,” Carly said as she fastened her coat. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Remember tomorrow is your first day of work in the bakery,” Jillian said. “If you don’t show up, I will hunt you down. I don’t care if you and the boy toy are naked or not. I have five s
pecial orders, three birthday parties, a bar mitzvah, and a retirement bash to prep and I need you to watch the front counter.”

  “Gina and I are sharing Dad’s old Pontiac,” Carly said. “I’ll have her drop me off. Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”

  She grabbed her handbag, looped her hand through James’s arm, and yanked him out the door.

  A blast of cold October air hit them as soon as they stepped outside, but Carly was so overheated she didn’t care. Neither did James.

  He pulled her around the side of the building and pushed her up against the wall.

  “I like your friends. They obviously care quite a lot about you,” he said. Then he kissed her.

  It was just as potent as the kiss in the bar and Carly felt a whisper of caution course through her system. She had a lot of notches on her bedpost and she’d enjoyed pretty much every one, but this, this was different. Jillian was right. He was different.

  His lips were firm and warm and they fit perfectly against hers. He kissed her with more than just desire. As he breathed her in, it felt as if there was a longing in his kiss, as if he’d been waiting just for her.

  Carly broke it off. She was getting lightheaded, clearly, and she was reading way more into this lip-lock than there could possibly be. They’d just met. There couldn’t be any longing. And yet, she felt something, something different with him. It was more than desire; it was . . .

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “I didn’t mean to jump on you, I just couldn’t help—”

  Carly rose up on her toes, put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, and kissed him. Was she imagining it? No, there it was, the feeling of connection, like a highly charged wire wrapped around another highly charged wire.

  When her lips met his, they fit perfectly together and when she deepened the kiss, he gripped the back of her head and held her in place while he kissed her with a thoroughness that made her woozy.

  “—it,” he said. He stepped back from her, his hot gaze scorching her from head to toe. “This is crazy, right?”

  Chapter 5