by Hailey North
“I’m so sorry,” Sami said. “Let me help you up. Down, Shelby. Down, Rusty. Down Ruby.”
Through a haze of pain, Flynn saw two dogs lower their bodies to the ground. The third one danced and leapt like it was chasing cats in mid-air.
He let Sami help him into the house. He was fairly certain he’d ripped his pants and his head throbbed the way it did after a long night of partying. She deposited him on a sofa, disappeared, and returned with an ice pack wrapped in a towel.
“I am so sorry,” she said. “The Corgi isn’t trained yet. I rescued her just last month.”
“Dogs,” Flynn muttered. “Killed my brother.”
Sami stroked the back of his hand. “Shh. Close your eyes for a few minutes. I need to call the dogs back in and then we’ll get you to the E.R.”
“Forget it,” Flynn said, struggling to rise. “I’m not going to a stinking hospital. All I did was fall down. I’d never hear the last of it from Cameron. He’s done his own stunts for years.”
“Well, if you refuse to be sensible and rule out a concussion, at least let me take your shoes off and you can stretch out on the couch. My dog knocked you down and I therefore feel responsible for your well-being.” And without waiting for him to agree, she started tugging his shoes off. She pushed him back on the couch, arranged the ice pack and tossed an afghan over him. He would have protested except he liked the way her body pressed against him and he couldn’t believe how darn much his head hurt.
He heard her walk quietly out of the room. A bark or two followed by shuffling steps sounded toward the back of the small house then the opening and closing of an outer door. Flynn sat upright, swung his feet to the floor, and started to reach for his shoes. A crescendo of pain in his temple flooded his entire frigging head. He dropped back to the sofa.
Knowing when to make the most of a bad situation had always been one of Flynn’s strengths. Forget the club. Forget the Swede. He lay back, resettled the ice pack, and glanced around the room. A desk, chair, and small bookcase occupied the opposite wall. Stacks of books and papers were as neat and tidy as Sami in that pink linen suit. An archway led into the next room. The house appeared to be the type of shotgun where you had to walk through one room to get to the next. Was the next room her bedroom?
Flynn was curious whether it would be as neat and tidy as her desk area. Did the woman truly not let go other than in her wild and reckless driving? He bet she always made her bed. The only time he’d done that was his stint in the Army. Maybe he’d take a peek. Not that it mattered to him one way or the other. Just curious.
He edged off the sofa, shedding the afghan but clutching the ice to his throbbing skull. Tiptoeing, he crossed to the archway. A light shone from the room on the other side. Frilly. Her private space would be lacy and girly. She couldn’t be all business all the time. He leaned into the room just as the back door, visible through the connecting arches, shot open and three dogs burst in, rushing straight at him.
Sami stepped inside her kitchen, closed and locked the door. Ruby was leaping and barking on the far side of her bedroom. Sami rushed forward, surprised to find Flynn standing almost in her bedroom. “You are supposed to be lying on the sofa,” she said. “You are an impossible patient.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I am not a patient.” He had an odd look on his face and was gazing at her breasts.
Sami realized the neckline of Jonni’s dress had worked down and out revealing the lacy edge of her pink bra.
“As a matter of fact, I’m usually impatient,” he said, tipping her chin and lowering his head.
“Mmm,” Sami said, giving in to the warmth of his lips on hers for the tiniest fraction of a second. She knew she was a fool to indulge a playboy. She knew he was making time simply because he couldn’t stop himself from playing the game. She also knew his kiss shouldn’t feel so deliciously good.
Whap! Sharp-edged Corgi barks rent the air.
“Oof!” Flynn broke off the kiss. Ruby was leaping at Flynn’s knees.
Sami called the Corgi to sit. She tugged her dress into a more respectable line. “You need to sit, too,” she said to Flynn and pointed him to the couch. “I looked up what to do in the event of a concussion while I was outside with the dogs. Rest. Don’t tax your brain. And no driving.”
He’d sat on the couch again and was watching her with a glint in his eyes. “I can’t think. Not after that kiss.” He patted the sofa. “Join me?”
“Oh, no,” Sami said. “You are not to do anything that will get your heart rate up. That was the other point I forgot to mention just now.”
He nodded. “So you felt it, too?”
“What do you mean?”
“Our blood racing together.”
“Don’t be silly,” Sami said. “You’re stuck here for the moment and the only way you know to amuse yourself is to put the moves on me, simply because I’m a female. You and I both know it’s nothing personal or specific to the manner in which you relate to me as an individual.”
“Do you always try to take the fun out of things?” Flynn sounded annoyed, yet curious.
“I’m going in the kitchen to prepare herbal tea,” Sami said. “Please stay on the couch.”
“Can’t I peek in your bedroom?”
Sami glared at him. “I thought that was what you were up to. No. N. O. My bedroom is private and personal and you are not allowed in it, not now, not ever.” She turned on her heel. All three dogs stayed in the living room. Good. They’d keep watch over Flynn.
She switched on her electric tea kettle. The day before she’d emptied her refrigerator, packed what she needed for the summer by way of clothes and research materials, and cleaned in preparation for departure. What remained to be done was loading the car, settling the dogs in their backseat harnesses, leaving the key for the summer tenant with the neighbor, and heading north.
But now she was stuck with the question of what to do about Flynn.
The kettle whistled. She prepared two mugs of Sleepy Time and carried them through to the living room, somewhat surprised that Flynn had abided by her request and remained on the sofa. When she saw her Lab sitting with her head on Flynn’s lap and the Corgi guarding his feet, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Think it’s funny, do you?” Flynn accepted the cup of tea. “Imprisoned by dogs.”
Sami moved her desk chair over by the couch and placed two coasters on her small wicker and glass coffee table. She’d drink her tea, then go and change. She’d feel terrible if she caused any harm to Jonni’s beautiful dress. But she admitted she wasn’t quite ready to slip it over her head and return to her workaday self.
They sipped their tea. Flynn’s eyes were half-closed. Sami concluded his head must be hurting worse than he’d admit to. With a sigh, she reached the responsible decision. “You are staying here tonight,” she said. “I will set my alarm and check on you every three hours. In the morning, you may, if you are well enough, join me in my drive to Nashville. If there’s any question as to your condition, should you begin vomiting or experiencing double vision, I will deliver you to the nearest emergency room, even if I have to knock you out to accomplish same.”
Flynn opened his eyes. “Do you honestly think I can’t help myself from coming on to you—or any female?”
“That’s a rather abrupt change in the conversational thread,” Sami said, stalling for a moment.
Flynn tapped the side of his head. “Might be the concussion.”
“What do you think is the answer to your question?” There, put it back in his court.
He took a drink from his mug. “Other than the fact that you are a gorgeous, sexy desirable babe, it makes no sense at all for me to think of kissing you.”
“Well!” Sami puffed out the word. “Thank you.”
“Seriously, you’re the analytical one. We have nothing in common and our goals are as opposite as any man’s and woman’s could be. So why do I persist in wanting to taste your pink, pouty lips?”
&n
bsp; “Have you ever sought treatment for sex addiction?”
Flynn sputtered and almost lost control of his tea mug. “Certainly not.”
Sami shrugged. “If the shoe fits…”
“I appreciate women,” Flynn said. “I am a connoisseur, not an addict.”
“Prove it,” Sami said, enjoying what she felt would prove an impossible challenge for Flynn.
“How?”
“Go cold turkey for thirty days.”
Flynn looked horrified. He reached out and set his mug on the table, just missing the coaster.
Sami leaned over and placed it securely on the stoneware square.
“Nice view,” Flynn said.
“See,” Sami said, knowing full well he was referring to the peek-a-boo vision of her breasts afforded by her low-cut neckline. “You’ll never be able to do it.”
CHAPTER THREE
Flynn awakened when the early morning light blazed through the living room windows and the Corgi barked in his ear. He glanced around, confused at first by the unfamiliar surroundings. Then he remembered the fall, the bump on the head, and Sami’s challenge.
He grinned, thinking of the negotiations they’d entered into. He’d gotten the time period down to seven days. They’d each written on a square of paper what each wanted as a prize. For Flynn, his prize took little thought. He scribbled it, folded the paper, and shoved it in his pocket. Sami had gnawed on her pen and finally written something short. She’d insisted that he surrender his paper and placed both squares into a Ziploc bag that she tucked into her purse.
The Corgi barked again. Flynn sat up slowly, relieved that his head didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had last night. The dog whirled its squat body around, heading in a beeline to the next room. A moment later, Sami poked her head around the doorway. “Good, you’re up,” she said, sounding extremely sleepy. “We need to get on the road in half an hour.” She yawned and stretched her arms over her head. She had to be only half-awake, as she moved into the living room wearing a baby-doll nighty that barely skimmed the tops of her thighs. Last night she’d wrapped herself in a far-too-sensible chenille bathrobe with a tightly tied sash when she’d escorted him through her bedroom to the house’s only bathroom. She yawned again and Flynn remembered she’d planned to set her alarm every few hours.
“Did you check on me during the night and not wake me?” He felt a bit guilty for having slept so well.
She nodded. “You seemed fine and rest is very important after a head injury.”
He was touched by her sacrifice. “You can sleep while I drive.”
“No driving. Remember, not for at least twenty-four hours.” She wasn’t using her lecture voice. “Sorry, Flynn, but if I get sleepy I’ll pull over at a rest stop and walk around with the dogs.”
“You’re taking the dogs?”
Sami looked at him as if he were speaking in tongues. “Of course they’re going with me.” The Corgi barked, as if to punctuate her statement. “What did you think I was going to do with them?”
“Board them?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I have a friend in Beverly Hills who runs a dog service that’s nicer than a lot of hotels. Holly’s Helping Hands. You’d like Holly.”
“As I’m not likely to meet her, that’s of little importance,” Sami said. She glanced down and it appeared to dawn on her that she was half-naked. “Oh!” She scurried into her bedroom.
Flynn smiled. The Corgi barked again and started running in circles. Before Flynn could shout a warning, the dog squatted over his loafers and let out a stream.
“Damn dog!” Flynn jumped up. His head throbbed.
Sami raced into the room, zipping a pair of denim shorts beneath her baby-doll. “Oh, no, Ruby. Let’s go out, everyone.” She marshaled the dogs toward the back door.
“Hardly seems necessary for that one,” Flynn muttered, following the pack as far as the bathroom. He took care of matters there and then studied Sami’s bedroom. Sure enough, there was a lot of pink. And roses. And lots of throw pillows with lace and fringe atop the bed. Jeez, she’d already made the bed. Nice and neat, exactly as he’d predicted. He crossed to a small dressing table with a mirror in the center and a padded stool pushed into the knee-hole opening. He breathed in, recognizing what he realized was the scent of Sami. Floral. Fresh. A hint of something exotic he couldn’t quite place. He lifted a crystal bottle to see the name of the scent.
A door slammed.
Flynn jumped.
Dogs came hurtling toward him.
He just managed to clutch the bottle to his chest.
“I’ll take that,” Sami said, holding out her hand and eyeing him as if he’d been a naughty toddler. “Back in the living room with you.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said, giving her a wink.
She laughed.
He smiled. She sounded happy when she laughed. She didn’t do it often enough. He’d help her work on that. That would give him something to do during the tedious road trip. But first they had to get underway. “I need to stop by my hotel,” he said. “Especially now that I have no shoes.”
“Oh, dear,” she said. “Sorry about Ruby’s accident.”
“If you can call it that. Looked pretty darn purposeful to me.”
She sighed. “It can take a while to stabilize a rescue.”
“And no longer than a moment to ruin a man’s shoes.” Flynn shook his head. “We can’t leave these here for your summer tenant to find. Point me to the trash. And then I’ll help you load the car.”
“I can do it myself,” she said.
He lifted a brow. “Gotta earn my ride, Sweet Stuff.”
Sami wrinkled her brow. What had he just called her? She decided to ignore it. She found the car keys, tossed them to him and suggested he leave the shoes by the outside garbage can. Then she hurried to finish getting dressed. She’d left her clothes for the road unpacked the day before. Gazing at the St. Charles U T-shirt she’d planned to wear with her shorts and then over at the sexy slip of a dress she’d worn the night before, she started to smile.
Sami packed the T-shirt and the dress and fished through her suitcase in search of the bikini top she wore at her parent’s pool when no one else was around. It was scantier than scant. Beginning to hum, she bent at the waist, arranged the wisp of fabric around her breasts, and tied the string behind her neck. Then she pulled on a soft, nearly sheer chambray shirt, still humming.
She wasn’t interested in Flynn. The last thing he was after in life was true love and commitment. But she thought it would add spice to the drive to see if she could trip him up on the challenge she’d issued last night.
Sami spritzed a hint of her fragrance into the air and waved her arms. She disliked too strong a scent, especially in a closed vehicle. But the exotic formula would be enough to distract and possibly entice Flynn.
She zipped her suitcase, shoved her feet into deck shoes, and headed toward the door, calling the dogs.
Flynn leapt out of the car at his hotel, hoping no one recognized him exiting a car holding the equivalent of three child seats. He’d been amazed when Sami fastened each of the dogs into a harness. In his current life, based in Los Angeles, the only dogs that traveled with their people were the spoiled bits of fluff that fit into a Gucci bag and went everywhere their neurotic owners did, including shopping and dining. In his early years, of course, dogs were large and rowdy and rode around in the backs of pickup trucks.
But those years were a world away.
Flynn hurried through the lobby and into the elevator. As kids, he and Sean had had dogs. His mother still had two. If Sean hadn’t been so fond of four-legged fur balls, he would probably still be walking the planet. Flynn jammed his hands into his pockets and willed his grief to go away, at least enough for him to function.
He tossed his belongings into his suitcase and collected the items from the bathroom, shoving them into his Dopp kit. He was on the road enough, despite his aversion to flying, that he had his packing system
down. Shove it in, zip it up, hit the road.
After a quick stop at the front desk to check out, he headed outside. Instead of Sami waiting in the car, he found her and all three dogs milling about, the beagle and Lab’s leashes held in Sami’s left hand. The Corgi, naturally, required a hand all to itself.
“Adorable,” a lady was saying, patting the Corgi on the head. “This one is so cute he should be in the movies. Or commercials.”
Sami was smiling and nodding.
Flynn stared at both women. That dog wasn’t trained or trainable. “Ready to go,” he said, opening the hatchback of Sami’s Honda and squeezing his bag inside.
Sami went through the routine of strapping the dogs into their harnesses. Only the Corgi voiced an objection. Flynn tipped the valet and climbed into the passenger seat, wishing he was the one behind the wheel.
To his surprise, Sami headed quite sedately out of the hotel drive. She even waited for a bus to pass by that he would have bet she would normally have peeled out in front of. “Not feeling up to snuff today?” he asked.
“Would I be correct in assuming that statement was an observation as to my calmer driving techniques?” She slowed for the light at the intersection.
He nodded.
“Perceptive,” she said. “That trait is to your credit.”
“Why, thank you, ma’am,” Flynn drawled.
She smiled. “I am always more cautious when I have my animals with me.”
“They rate above humans?”
She shrugged. “Humans can generally look after themselves.”
“Hmm.” Flynn considered her comment. “Did you have pets when you were a kid?”
“Are you kidding me?” Sami looked over at him, but her sunglasses hid the expression in her eyes.
“Just asking,” he said.
“Emile and Nathalie were not what you would call touchy-feeling parents,” Sami said, zooming around a slow-moving car, but less frantically than he’d seen her do the evening before.
“You always call them by their first names?”
She nodded, seemingly intent on merging onto the interstate. “Their preference,” she said, laying on the horn.
