Oh, yeah, he was starting to get to her. And it wasn't a one-way street. He was hard as a rock for her.
"You said you'd felt me sweaty before. You've seen me like this before." He shrugged. "Could you help me with my shoes before you go? They're laced pretty tight."
"No problem." She knelt at his feet and fumbled with the laces. "Take your time."
She glanced up and had to look past Mount Rushmore. She wet her lower lip with her tongue and he pulsed against the tented nylon. "Oh. My." Her fingers tangled in the laces and pulled them tighter.
"I think I have a fever."
"You've got a pulled muscle. It doesn't give you a fever."
"Well, something has. And you offered to take care of me. You should check because I'm very hot right now."
"Cold compresses work well on a fever."
"Not the kind I have. Cold showers sure haven't done a thing for it. Come here, Tammy. Touch me and tell me if I'm hot."
She started to put her hand against his forehead and he caught her wrist. "No. The best place to check for a fever is the stomach."
He placed her hand on his belly, just above the elastic waistband of his shorts and his jutting hard-on. "What do you want, Niall?"
Everything. You. He looked at her and let her see it in his eyes, on his face, the love he felt for her, the way she completed him. She could leave if she couldn't handle it. But if she stayed, he wanted her to know love was there. In him. Between them. "Touch me."
She slid her hand beneath his waistband and ran her fingers along his length.
"Taste me."
She pushed his shorts down, easing them over his erection. She tugged them off and threw them to the floor. Her clothes quickly followed his.
She knelt on the bed beside him and started to bend forward. "Wait," he said.
He grasped her thigh and pulled her across him, until she straddled his shoulders, facing south, her sex quivering before him, the heady scent of her arousal surrounding him.
Holding her hips with his hands, he leaned forward and swiped his tongue along her glistening valley. Her moan reverberated against his tip as she encased his length in her hot, wet mouth. "Let the feasting begin."
* * *
13
« ^
"I am running out of patience." Olivia stormed through the door and slammed it behind her.
Hadn't she ever heard of knocking?
"Go away." Tammy didn't bother to ask how Olivia knew the dog was gone. There were no secrets in Colthersville. Tammy blew her nose on a soggy tissue and buried her face in a striped silk pillow. She'd probably ruined the pillow. She didn't care. "This doesn't concern you and I want to be alone."
Olivia planted herself in front of the sofa, hands on her hips, bristling with attitude. "So sad, too bad."
"Don't you have anything else to do?"
"As a matter of fact, I've got a ton of stuff to do. I've got a couple of more presents to buy, decorations to get up for the library Christmas party tomorrow night, and I have to go to the grocery store so I can prepare Christmas dinner for my crazy, dysfunctional family in a few days. But I've got to prioritize and right now I've got to knock some sense into you, first."
Tammy was not up for this. The dog had been gone for two hours and she still felt raw and bleeding. "It's my life, Olivia."
"Ye-ah. And you are making a royal mess of it."
"I've been doing that for thirty-two years, so why all the concern now?"
Olivia handed her a fresh tissue. "The pity party ends now. Suck it up and turn on your brain." Olivia threw her hands up in the air. "I swear. We Cooper sisters are a mess. I came this close—" she almost touched her forefinger to her thumb "—to walking away from Luke. And he's, without a doubt, the best thing that's ever happened to me. I try not to think about how close I came to ruining my life. So, there is no way I'm going to stand by and watch you do something stupid like let Niall and that dog go."
Olivia only paused a second to catch her breath. Even if Tammy had a comment to make, she couldn't have squeezed it in. Olivia plopped down on the sofa beside her.
"Your other husbands were takers, Tammy. They wanted you. They wanted you to love them, wait on them, blow their minds with sex. But they didn't have anything to give. And whether you realized it or not, you wouldn't let them give you anything, anyway, because you wouldn't let them get that close. It was so obvious that night at dinner and then when you and Niall brought Bella out to the farm for a run—the man is so in love with you he can hardly see straight. And yes, he wants to take, but he also wants to give you back as much as he takes, or more. That's what makes him different from the other men in your life and that's the part you can't handle. The way he looked at you the first time I met him at your house—" she rubbed her arms "—it still gives me chills. I knew he was Mr. Right."
"I've worked so hard to get where I am."
"I know you have. I'm proud of you and no one's asking you to give that up. Tammy, you were still looking for you when you married Jerry, Allen and Earl. They tried to make you into what they wanted you to be and you let them, because you didn't know who you were. You've grown so much. You know who you are now, or at least you've got a good idea. You're not looking for yourself in Niall. You've found you and that's who he loves."
Olivia made it all sound so easy, but Tammy couldn't trust any of it. "I do love him. I love him enough to stay away from him. He'll find someone else. I can't stand to sit by and watch him fall out of love with me."
"First of all, he's not going to find someone else. He doesn't want anyone else. That's plain enough to see. Second, he's not gonna fall out of love with you, not if you can actually learn to let him love you, and I think you can. Third, how would you feel if I told you Bella slipped her leash and got hit by a car and Niall got hurt trying to save her?"
For infinitesimal moments, her heart stopped. No blood flowed through her veins. Her stomach clenched. The bottom dropped out of her world and she felt herself free-fall through a dark, cold void. She reined herself back. If. Olivia had said if. "I would say you were immeasurably cruel to do that."
Olivia appeared totally unrepentant. "No, the true cruelty would be if that happened without you, Niall and Bella having lived every day to the fullest together."
And the truth in that nauseated her, as well.
* * *
Trena stuck her head in the door of Niall's office. "That's it for the day, Doc. You need anything else before I go?"
Niall climbed out on a limb and asked the question that had hovered on his tongue the entire day. "Did that greyhound rescue group pick up Fair Game today?"
"They sure did. Picked her up this morning. She's such a sweetie, I predict she'll have a new home in no time."
Niall's heart sank and his stomach bottomed out. There hadn't been a thing wrong with the home she'd found except the stubborn, insecure woman who lived there.
He wouldn't let her do it. She'd distanced herself and people had let her. By God, he wasn't going to let her get away with it. He didn't need for her to marry him. He didn't need for her to move in. He just needed her to give them a chance. She loved him and she loved that dog and the two of them would wait a lifetime for her if that's what it took. Of course, he was hoping it didn't take nearly that long.
"Can you get me the phone number for the rescue group before you go?" he asked.
"Sure thing."
Trena returned within a minute and handed him a slip with the number and a contact name. Curiosity was written all over her face.
"I'm going to adopt Fair Game," Niall told her. "She's small-animal friendly—I tested her with Olivia's cat when we took her to run at their farm—so she should get along with my crew just fine."
A huge grin spread over Trena's face. "That is very, very cool." She shifted from foot to foot.
"Was there something else?"
"Max and I are having a little Christmas party tomorrow night and I was hoping you'd come."
Niall had met Trena's husband and liked him. And Niall thought the world of Trena. The more he was around her at work, the more she reminded him of Lydia. "Sure."
"Great. My sister will be there, as well. I'd like for you to meet her."
That had setup written all over it. He'd been too stunned to say anything the other day, but not now. The only decent course of action was to set the record straight. "You're one of the nicest people I've met in Colthersville and I'm sure your sister is just as nice and just as pretty as you are, but it wouldn't be fair for me to meet her."
"Oh, God, you're gay." She clapped her hand over her mouth, horrified. "I didn't mean to say that."
"Gay?" Niall leaned back in his chair and roared. He laughed until tears ran down his face, overreacting but desperately needing the physical outlet. He finally wiped his eyes and composed himself. Trena remained stricken. "No. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm a heterosexual."
"Oh, geez, I hope you're not gonna fire me over this. I really didn't mean to say it. It just slipped out."
Man, did she remind him of Lydia.
"Your job's safe. No one's fired. But I'd really appreciate it if you didn't share the gay theory with anyone else."
"Sure thing." She looked marginally relieved.
"For the record, I am totally, absolutely, out-of-my-mind in love with Tammy. And I expect to stay this way for a long time. The rest of my life, in fact. So you can see why it wouldn't be fair for me to meet your sister if she's interested in any kind of a relationship."
Trena mouth hung open, at a loss for words. A novel experience, he'd wager.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"But she said … you weren't … she didn't … I'd never have asked…"
"Tammy's got some issues she has to work through, but we're gonna get there." If she didn't kill him first for telling Trena, which was essentially making an announcement to the world in general.
She pulled herself together, another one of those grins blossoming across her freckled face. She leaned across his desk and high-fived him. "You go, Doc."
"Want to hang around, while I call on the new dog for Tammy and me?" he asked with an answering grin. It felt damn good to tell Trena he loved Tammy. Hell, he'd tell anyone who'd listen. He was mounting an all-out, no-holds-barred offensive. He might've lost a few battles, but dammit, he was going to win the war.
A woman answered on the second ring and he identified himself and told her why he was calling. And then she knocked the wind right out of his sails.
"But she can't already be adopted," he protested. "You just got her this morning."
"I'm sorry, Dr. Fortson, but she has been. Catherine's handling Fair Game's case and she settled it about an hour ago. Actually closer to forty-five minutes."
Forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes too late. "Can I speak to Catherine?"
"She's gone for the day and she took the file with her so she could fill out the paperwork and get it ready. The new owner's picking her up tomorrow morning."
Niall was desperate. "Listen, I'll pay twice the adoption fee, if you can talk the other owner out of the dog. Make it triple."
"Dr. Fortson, I know you're disappointed, but you know we can't do that," the voice on the other end gently chided him. "We have several other nice dogs that you could come by and meet."
"I don't want another dog. I want that dog." Bravo. He sounded like a three-year-old throwing a temper tantrum. "I'm sorry. It's just that Fair Game's special."
"I understand. I really do. It's terribly disappointing, but Catherine said the adoption was a Christmas gift, so I really don't see them changing their mind. I'm sorry."
"Thank you for your help."
"Merry Christmas," she said.
"Merry Christmas to you, too."
Trena shook her head when he hung up the phone. "It's okay, Doc. She'll love you with or without the dog."
Niall wished he felt as sure as she sounded. And it didn't change the fact that he loved the dog as much as Tammy did. "Cancel my appointments for tomorrow morning. I'm going to talk someone out of a dog tomorrow."
* * *
Tammy parked her car in the auto parts parking lot and stuck her keys under the mat. She climbed into the big truck with the 4X4 tires and three inch lift. Sure enough, the keys were in the glove box, exactly where Marty said he'd leave them.
She and her brother weren't particularly close, but he usually came through in a pinch. And it didn't hurt that it was Christmas. Marty loved his truck. She wasn't so sure he'd have loaned it to her in January.
She backed out and followed the directions she'd scribbled on a piece of paper out of town. She'd driven along Barn Owl Road
hundreds of times but it looked totally different sitting up high in the truck instead of low to the ground in her little car. Same view. Different perspective.
That's what Olivia had given her yesterday, a different perspective. And a healthy dose of backbone. Tammy had once told Niall regret was a waste of time, and she'd meant it. But she'd realized that she'd been living around the edges of life, afraid to jump in with two feet, and that wasted more than time. Sure, she could go along, keeping herself emotionally distant, safe, but what was the point? And that also included the arrogant assumption that she could guard her heart. Yet another fallacy. Somehow Niall and Bella had slipped past the guard and stolen her heart.
Olivia had shaken her up. Life was a one-shot deal, not a dress rehearsal. She was going to live it to the fullest and that included heartache and pain and loss but it included joy and happiness, as well. One didn't come without the other.
More content than she'd ever been in her life,
Tammy drove down the highway, singing Christmas songs along with the radio, the heater cranked and the window down so the cold wind whipped through her hair. Happiness stole through her, growing stronger moment by moment, chasing away the fear.
She belted out the final verse of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" as she pulled up in front of the green metal building. A couple of cars sat in the parking lot. A sign by the metal front door proclaimed this was the Southern Regional Greyhound Adoption Agency. Her hands shook with excitement as she pocketed the truck keys and climbed out.
SRGAA opened at 9:00 a.m. It was 9:01. Tammy walked into a small room with a worn metal desk and a couple of chairs. Barking and rooing echoed from the interior. Adoption forms and a tub of stuffed dog toys sat on a folding table against one wall. A door led to another room.
A short woman with a gracious smile and kind eyes emerged from the other room. "Hi, I'm Catherine. You must be Tammy."
Tammy shook her hand, "Yes. It's nice to meet you." She peered past Catherine to the room beyond. She'd missed Bella terribly in the twenty-four hours she'd been gone. "Can I see Bella … uh, Fair Game?"
"Go ahead and call her Bella. She's yours." Catherine smiled. "Sure. Come on back. She's in the first set of kennels off the adoption office. And I have the paperwork all filled out. Usually there's a seven-day waiting period but since you were fostering her already it'll just take us a few minutes and then you'll be on your way."
Tammy followed Catherine from the waiting room, through the adoption area—another desk and a couple of chairs—to the kennel area. Six chainlink stalls lined a wall. Each stall held a greyhound. All of them stood. A few barked.
Bella, in a middle stall, began to jump and bark, her long whip of a tail lashing furiously against the chain link. "Hi, sweetheart," Tammy crooned. "There's my girl. Let me fill out this paperwork and I'll take you home. I've missed you so much." She swiped away a few tears.
"I'd say she's glad to see her mom." Catherine smiled indulgently.
"I missed her." Tammy looked at the row of narrow, elegant faces lined up on either side of Bella and her heart ached. "I hate it that they'll spend Christmas here. I wish I could take them all."
"Someone will come over twice on Christmas Day to check on them. I'll be over at least once. They'll all find homes eventu
ally, and we'll keep them until they do. We're a 'no kill' group, so relax, all these guys are going to be okay." Catherine herded her back to a chair in the middle office. "Let's take care of this paperwork."
Catherine sat down on the opposite side of the desk. Just as she pulled out the paperwork, the outer door opened and the buzzer announced a new visitor. "If you want to read through these forms, I'll be right back." Catherine excused herself.
Caught up in the excitement and the paperwork, Tammy tuned out the other room—until the voice filtered through. She knew that deep baritone. Niall. A thousand butterflies fluttered in her belly, and her blood rushed to her head, leaving her light-headed. This would be a really lousy time to faint.
From where she sat, she couldn't see beyond the doorway. But she could hear and she listened shamelessly.
Niall introduced himself to Catherine, explaining he'd been the vet in charge of Fair Game. "I called last night but you'd already gone. I know you've found someone to adopt her, but is there any way you can work with me on this? I've grown very attached to her and someone I care about very much loves Fair Game. I'll pay extra. Please," he pleaded, desperation evident in his voice.
How could she have ever doubted this wonderful, sweet man who'd go to such lengths to bring her back the dog she'd been so stupid to let go in the first place? Tears flowed unchecked down her face, as if a dam had burst inside her. Tammy jumped to her feet and flew across the room.
"I think—" Catherine began.
Tammy launched herself past Catherine and into Niall's arms. She took full advantage of his surprise, bracketing his face in her hands and kissing him with every ounce of apology and promise she could muster. Once his initial shock wore off, he kissed her back. It was heaven in his arms, tasting him, feeling his body against hers.
"I see you've met." Catherine's wry observation ended their kiss. Niall lifted his head but kept his arms around her. It'd take a dynamite blast to move her. "I'm going to take a wild guess you're the one he wants Fair Game for," Catherine said.
"She's the one," Niall said with that smile, the one that made her weak-kneed. Good thing he had a tight grip on her. He looked down at Tammy, "Where's your car?"
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