by Jamie Begley
“Cole is not going, Penni. Quit bugging me about it.”
As she looked down the corridor, Zoey saw Casey, Penni and Grace’s friend, in the doorway of their office, holding a toddler who had a bandana wrapped around her neck.
Penni’s cajoling voice came from inside her office. “I’m only going to be gone for two weeks to visit Lily and Shade. Cole would love the scenery. It’s beautiful in Kentucky this time of year.”
“Cole is fragile. One hit on his head could be fatal. I’m sorry; I just can’t chance it.” Casey lifted her squirming toddler higher on her hip.
Zoey didn’t want to interrupt, sensing that Casey was becoming upset with Penni for refusing to take no for an answer.
“I would make sure to watch him every second,” Penni argued back.
“No, I would be worried sick about him.”
“Are you trying to imply I’m not responsible?”
“You’re not responsible; you’re accident prone. I prefer keeping him at home where I can keep an eye on him.”
“You might prefer it, but what about Cole? He wants to go.”
“Because you keep mentioning it to him every time you come over, which is why I’m here to ask you to stop! Stop putting the idea in his head!”
Zoey cleared her throat as she finally moved forward, trying to ease the escalating tensions of the two women arguing. She couldn’t see Penni from where she was standing, but she could see Casey, and she could see how upset she was becoming.
At the noise, Casey turned toward her, her angry face turning into one of greeting when she recognized her.
“Zoey, can you please tell Penni to mind her own business?”
“Morning, Casey. I would ask how you’re doing, but I can see you’re stressed. Take a deep breath. That helps when dealing with Penni.”
Casey gave a short laugh. “You can say that again. I feel like I’m hyperventilating trying to make her see reason.”
Penni poked her head around the door. “She’s exaggerating, Zoey. I’m not the one who’s being stubborn. I want to take her brother on vacation with me and Jackal to visit my family, and she refuses to see the possibility of him going. I—”
Putting her hand up, Zoey stopped the argument. “Penni, give me a second to talk to Grace. Then I’ll see if we can come up with a solution that you both will be happy with. Is Grace in yet?”
“In here,” a feminine voice came from inside the office.
Casey moved to the side, allowing both Zoey and Penni entrance into Grace’s office.
The toddler started squealing at Buster, and tried to jump out of Casey’s arms. Using the bottom of the toddler’s bandana, Zoey wiped the drool off Joy’s chin.
“She gets bigger every time I see her. Where’s Sky?”
Casey motioned inside the office. “Fascinated with Grace’s computer.”
Zoey rounded the doorway to see Grace seated behind her desk in the reception area with an adorable girl on her lap.
Grace’s eyes widened in shock when she saw who trailed after her in the office. “Is that Hannibal?”
“His name is Hannibal? I’ve been calling him Buster.” Zoey wasn’t happy with the name choice for such a sweet dog, yet she managed to hold on to her smile. Not to mention, Grace didn’t seem like the type to name a dog after a serial killer.
“I was calling him Roo before I gave him to Stump.” Grace swung her computer chair to the side to pat Buster’s head carefully while holding on to Sky to keep her seated when she saw the dog.
“Stump?” Zoey couldn’t place the name to anyone who had visited Penni and Grace’s office.
“A friend of my husband’s.” Grace managed to keep the excited child from falling off her lap. “You found him yesterday?”
“Yes, on my way into the building. He must have been trying to find you.”
“Poor thing. I was off yesterday. Where you trying to find me?” she said to the dog before lifting her eyes from Buster’s to hers. “I used to bring him and his brother to work with me until they got older.”
“He must have grown bigger since you gave him away. Penni didn’t recognize him when she saw him yesterday.”
“Much bigger. It’s been over a year since I’ve had him in the office. And his fur has grown darker, too.”
“You’ve cleaned him since I saw him yesterday.” Penni reached for Sky when the dog tried to jump onto Grace’s lap.
“The vet was supposed to call you to tell you that I had him. When I took him to the vet, he read the information on the microchip. They tried to contact you before calling me this morning. I was expecting you to call me before I got here.”
“I never received a call.” Grace reached for the cell phone laying on her desk.
“Maybe the vet called your husband.” Zoey grew as confused as Grace seemed to be.
“That explains it,” Penni hastened to accept Zoey’s explanation.
“It doesn’t explain why neither Ice nor Stump told me he was missing.” Grace’s anger became palpable in the small confines of the room.
“They probably didn’t want to upset you.” Zoey didn’t want Grace angry at her husband when she was about to ask for visitation rights. “I was wondering if—”
Zoey broke off as a child’s high-pitched squeal came from the doorway.
The women turned to look at the four men who were trying to fit into the room.
Zoey moved to the other side of Grace’s desk, trying to keep her mouth from dropping open at the leather-wearing bikers who dwarfed the room.
From the way the women were staring at them, Zoey couldn’t tell if they wanted to call the cops or if they knew them.
“Did you forget to mention that Hannibal was missing last night?” Grace’s irate question had the blond man giving Buster a fulminating glare.
“I was hoping to get him back before you found out.”
“That’s what Zoey was just saying.”
Zoey’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t said it the way Grace implied.
When the four men stared at her, Zoey could only stand mutely.
Grace pointed at the men in turn while Zoey tried to meet each of the men’s eyes in acknowledgment.
“Zoey, this is my husband Ice. The one standing next to Penni is Jackal. The huge one that Joy grabbed on to is Max, Casey’s husband. And the jerk who is trying to pull Hannibal away from me is Stump. Zoey rented the office next door.” Grace completed the last introduction with a glare.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Hardened features stared back at her in irritation.
Were these the same men whose wives were constantly extolling their virtues when they discussed them during their frequent lunches?
“She the one who dognapped Hannibal?”
“Excuse me?” Reflexively, Zoey tightened her grip on the Buster’s leash when the man tried to reach for it.
“You heard me. Now let go.”
Zoey numbly gave him the leash. “I didn’t dognap Buster. I found him in front of the building yesterday.”
“You refused to let the vet have your number so I could contact you.” The broad-shouldered owner tried again to get his dog off Grace’s lap.
Zoey tried not to become upset when the dog reluctantly jumped off to go to him.
“I told the vet that I wanted to return Buster myself. I didn’t want him to have to stay in the vet’s office last night and—”
“His name is Hannibal. Quit calling him Buster.”
“Okay….” Zoey could see the man was too angry to listen to any of her explanations.
“Stump, quit being rude because you were busted for letting Hannibal get away.” Grace’s eyes went back and forth between Ice and Stump.
Zoey just wanted out of the office and away from the conflict she had somehow created.
Buster’s owner was easily the tallest in the room. Casey’s husband was big, but Stump was taller and leaner. And with his brown hair pulled back in a ponytail tha
t highlighted his copper eyes under a stern brow, it had her feeling awkward at his glower.
“I didn’t let him get away from me. Tilda let him outside before I could stop her.”
“It doesn’t matter how it happened, only that it did. And to make matters worse, neither you nor Ice told me. Did you even bother looking for him?”
“Of course I did. I lost my job because I was searching for him.”
“That’s not why you lost your job,” Max told him, wiping his daughter’s chin.
At her father’s voice, Sky wiggled out of Penni’s arms to go to him.
Max picked her up, holding both girls in his arms. “Leroy fired you because he saw Zoey’s tweet.”
Zoey swallowed hard as she looked back at Stump. “You’re the one who splashed me yesterday?”
“You the bitch who’s been tweeting about nothing?” Stump fired back.
Zoey started to mentally chant her favorite mantra to keep from yelling at the man who not only used profanity in front of her but the children. She was beginning to dislike Stump the longer she stayed in the room that was now claustrophobic.
Penni stormed past Ice to stand in front of Stump, her hands going to her hips. “Don’t call her that!”
Grace and Casey looked just as upset as Penni, giving their husbands retaliating glares.
“Apologize now!”
Penni’s furious demand had Zoey wishing she could magically disappear. She made it a point to avoid heated arguments like these.
Taking a step to the side, she tried unobtrusively to place more distance between her and Penni and Stump.
“She got me fired for an accident! I didn’t even see her there!” Stump yelled back, despite Jackal moving to stand in front of his wife.
“A Predator never does anything by accident!”
“How did the Predators get dragged into this argument?” Jackal clenched his jaw at his wife’s accusation.
Grace stood, placing her hands on her hips, also confronting the men. “Because, obviously Ice and Stump tried to cover that Roo was missing.”
“His name is Hannibal!” Stump shouted out over Penni’s and Jackal’s heads.
“Can we please calm down? This shouting and yelling isn’t good for the children.” Zoey raised her hand to get the attention of the bickering adults.
Casey took Sky from her father’s arms. “Walk me to my car.”
“I need to get to work anyway,” Max commented as he docilely followed his wife.
Zoey bit her lips to keep from smiling at Max’s attitude. He had no intention of being drawn into an argument with his wife, unlike Jackal and Ice. However, Max, Casey, and their children leaving didn’t lessen the hostility between the other adults.
Before an argument could get started again, Zoey gathered her courage to deliberately walk toward Stump and the quarreling adults, placing a hand on Penni’s arm. “There’s no need for an apology. It’s just been a big misunderstanding.” Lifting regretful eyes over her head, she met Stump’s head-on. “I’m the one who should apologize. I was just trying to give encouragement to my followers not to let the dreary day get them down. If something I tweeted cost you your job, I’m truly sorry. I will call your former boss and tell him it was all my fault.
“And I should have left Hannibal at the vet when I found he was microchipped. I can understand your anger. Hannibal is a very lovable dog, so I can also understand your concern at not finding him. And I’m sorry for by my misguided attempt to keep him a little longer. I hope that you will be able to forgive me for the position that you are now in—having to defend yourself against your friends and your boss. Please leave the number of your boss with Grace. I have a client due, but as soon as she leaves, I will personally try to repair the damage I’ve done.”
Dropping her hand from Penni’s arm, she held it out to Stump. At first, she thought he wouldn’t take the peace offering, but then he finally reached out to take her hand. Instead of releasing his hand when he tried to take it back after shaking hers, she laid her other hand on top, squeezing his between both of hers.
“I’m sorry.” She raised her lashes, staring deep into his eyes to get the message across that she was sincere.
“The job sucked anyway, and I have Hannibal back.”
Letting go of his hand, she sank to her knees to pat the dog that had created all the turmoil. “Yes, you do. If you ever need someone to dog-sit or take him for a walk, let me know.” Zoey lowered her face to let the dog give her kisses on her cheek. “Be a good boy for Stump.”
Emotion clogged her voice as she rose. “It was nice meeting you, gentlemen. Penni, would you like me to close your door?”
“Please,” she snapped, then gentled her tone. “I appreciate you being so understanding, Zoey. Our husbands aren’t usually so obnoxious. At least, not in front of us.”
Zoey reached into the pocket of her skirt, taking out a plastic baggy then giving it to Stump, who stared at it in confusion. “It’s a doggy bone I bought for Hannibal.”
Stump took it, looking down at the dog that jumped on his hind legs, trying to reach for the bone.
Fighting back tears, Zoey maneuvered her way out of the office, softly closing the door behind her. She should have known better than to fall in love with the dog. She had never been able to keep anything she loved.
I am not going to be sad, Zoey mentally told herself over and over again until the ache in her heart subsided to a manageable level. “It’s a beautiful day. I will let not let this get me down.”
She had learned a long time ago that meditating could calm the turmoil inside her, and it wouldn’t fail her now. She found it useful to remove negative blocks, and there was a six-foot, five-inch male named Stump who needed to be removed before she stooped to dognapping.
4
“Did I just meet Hannah Montana’s doppelganger?” Stump said, staring at the closed door.
“You just broke Zoey’s heart. You know that, right?”
Stump turned toward Grace, who was giving him a recriminating glare. “How’s it my fault? I didn’t tell her to get attached to my dog.”
“You’re such an ass! Why did you accuse her of dognapping?” Penni’s sarcastic tone had him looking to Ice and Jackal for help.
Jackal took the hit for the team. “You’re being overdramatic, as usual.”
“I’m going to show you overdramatic when you’re sleeping on the couch tonight,” she snarled. “I consider Zoey a good friend.”
“Figures.”
Stump closed his eyes, unable to watch the brother step further into the shit he was piling on himself.
“What does that mean?” Penni narrowed her eyes at her husband.
“I can see why you’re both friends. You’re both fruitcakes.”
“I am not a fruitcake.”
Stump couldn’t listen to Jackal take the brunt of Penni’s anger any longer. “How did you become friends?”
“I met Zoey at my yoga class. I was the one who told her that the office across the hall was vacant.”
“What does she do?” he asked sarcastically, digging in deeper.
“She’s a life coach.”
“You called that one, Jackal.” Stump sealed his fate with the women who were looking at him as if he had just crawled out from under a rock.
“Zoey is not a fruitcake. She’s the most down to earth person you’ll ever be lucky to meet. Since when did you become such a big jerk? You used to at least try to be nice where women were concerned.”
“Casey wouldn’t agree with that statement.” Grace sat back down at her desk, her animosity just as palpable as Penni’s. “He’s trying to take the attention off Ice for not telling me that Hannibal was missing. Just so you know, it’s not working. Jackal won’t be the only one sleeping on the couch. And Stump, instead of making fun of Zoey, you should look into acquiring her services. You need all the help you can get.”
Ice leaned over his wife’s desk, his ice-blue eyes glaring back at he
r. “You want to have an argument, wait until we’re home—”
“That will have to wait.” Grace swung her chair back toward her desk. “I’m having dinner out tonight. I have a friend who needs some cheering up.” Grace gave her husband a haughty sniff of disdain.
“I’ll be late, too.” Penni folded her arms across her chest in a don’t-mess-with-me attitude toward Jackal. “Don’t wait up.”
“Is that so?” Jackal’s scarred lip twisted in a sinister curl.
“That’s so!” she snapped back. “Now, you three get lost. Grace and I have work to do.”
Stump was the first to move toward the door. He didn’t have to stand around, trying to kiss ass just to make up with the women. Thank God he had never lost his mind over a woman enough to put a ring on her finger.
Grace didn’t let him escape so easily.
“Stump, if Hannibal gets away from you again, that dog will be back in my house for good.”
“You can’t take my dog—”
“If you can’t take care of him the way I want, I will find someone who can, and I won’t have to search long and hard to find that person.” The chill in her words showed just how serious she was.
“I’ll… I’ll….”
“You’ll do what, Stump?” Ice replied coldly, straightening from leaning over Grace’s desk and turning toward him.
Stump wasn’t stupid.
“Nothing. I have taken good care of my dog. He slipped away from me once. It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t.”
He made his escape quickly before he ended up in a fight with Ice for telling his old lady exactly what he thought of her threats.
It took him getting off the elevator before he realized he had his bike. Frustrated at trying to figure out how to get to the club with Hannibal, he was tempted to take the dog back inside and give him to Grace. At least he was before he glanced down and saw Hannibal wag his tail at him.
“Now you’re happy to see me? You couldn’t have shown some enthusiasm when I was having my ass chewed off by those crazy women?”
Hannibal’s tail wagged harder as he brought his paws to Stump’s leg as if he wanted to play.
