Nyght's Eve

by Laurie Roma

  Getting some sleep had certainly done wonders for him.

  Over the past couple of days she had begun to worry about Dare. It wasn’t unusual for someone staying at the boarding house to keep to themselves, but Hammer had also expressed worry about his friend when he and Kali had stopped by the cookout yesterday, making Evie even more concerned.

  There had been no sign of life from Dare for days since he had arrived. Hunter had assured her that Dare was fine, telling her that their guest had been eating at some point, as was evident by the missing food. Hearing that had allowed her to relax...a little. Because he was one of her cousin’s best friends, Evie felt personally responsible for Dare while he was staying with them. It might not seem that way to others, but Evie always felt a small amount of responsibility for everyone around her. It didn’t matter if they were guests at the boarding house, staff and volunteers at the rescue center, or the animals she rescued.

  It was in her nature to care for others—especially those who were hurting—and she had to struggle against the urge to check on him. When she’d met Dare, he had struck her as a man fighting some sort of inner demon, and she was glad that he could rest and relax in the sanctuary she had created for that very purpose.

  Evie felt a slight nudge against her leg and reached down to absently stroke the head of one of her four personal dogs that were usually with her wherever she went. She loved her dogs more than anything. Lancelot and Gawain were German Shepherds, while Percival and Galahad were Belgian Malinois. Both were strong, noble breeds, and were perfect for the search and rescue team they were all a part of. As always, all four dogs seemed to pick up on her mood, and Percival let out a plaintive whine at her inattention.

  “Evie, are you okay? Is something wrong?”

  Evie’s attention snapped back to the man standing in front of her, and she pasted a polite smile on her face. “I’m fine, Andrew. I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? You can tell me all about it.”

  She barely held back a sigh. This wasn’t the first time he had asked, even though she always turned down his offers. She had been friends with Andrew Carson since they were children. As an accountant, he was great, but as anything more...it just wasn’t there. Still, he persisted in pursuing her. He was a nice man, but she wanted more than nice. She wanted someone who understood her. She wanted passion, and Andrew couldn’t give that to her.

  “Thank you for the offer, but I’m working tonight.”

  Andrew frowned at her. “Honestly, Evie. You work far too much. All day you give yourself to this place. You deserve to take some time off for yourself.”

  It wasn’t the first time Andrew had said as much to her, and he wasn’t the only one to think it either. What people didn’t seem to understand was that it wasn’t just a job for her. It was a labor of love. Evie kept the smile on her face through strength of will. Nothing bothered her more than the patronizing tone of someone who didn’t understand what she did.

  The Beaumont Rescue Center had been her dream from an early age, and her family money had allowed her to build that dream into a reality. She enjoyed her work, and it gave her a sense of pride to take care of the dogs within her care, but the truth was they gave back so much more to her than she could ever give to them. It was difficult to put into words exactly what she felt seeing some poor, abused animal flourish into a happy, healthy dog. Every time she found one of her dogs a new home with someone it was like witnessing a miracle.

  She’d learned quickly after the center had opened its doors that dating wasn’t easy. What she did wasn’t a normal nine to five job, and men didn’t like the dedication she gave the center. On top of that, Evie was also part of a search and rescue unit that took turns being on call with other teams in the area in case there was an emergency. All in all, it kept her very busy, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “My SR unit is on call tonight. I like to stick close to home when the unit is on standby.”

  Andrew’s frown grew more pronounced. “You really do need to learn to delegate more. Can’t someone else cover for you?”

  Patience tested to the point of breaking, Evie lost her smile and eyed him coolly now. “No, I can’t, nor do I want to.”

  “I’m sorry, Evie. You know I just worry about you.” Andrew barely held back a wince as if he realized that he had screwed up, but the damage was already done. He tried to take her hand, only to have her pull back out of reach. His face paled slightly as one of her dogs let out a little warning growl.

  Placing a calming hand on her dog’s head, she took pity on Andrew and said, “Thank you for coming by today, Andrew. I’ll get you that paperwork as soon as I can.”

  Dismissed, he said goodbye then hurried off in the direction of his car, turning back as if to make sure her dogs weren’t following him. Unable to help herself, she bent down and pressed a kiss between Gawain’s eyes.

  “Shame on you, Winnie. You know you aren’t supposed to growl at our guests, even if they are annoying.” She let out a laugh as he licked her face in response to her gentle reprimand.

  “I’d say your little buddies there didn’t like the suit.”

  Evie’s head turned and she found herself staring up into Dare’s dark-gray eyes. “The suit?”

  “Him.” Dare gestured toward the car speeding down the road, heading away from them, but Evie was distracted by the sight of his muscular body as he moved. His shirt was thrown over one shoulder, giving her a view of his perfect body as he used it to swipe at the sweat on his brow. Good god, the man was built. He had a light dusting of dark hair on his chest that somehow made him even more appealing, and a tribal tattoo covering his left shoulder. When he raised his arm, his thick muscles flexed, highlighting a wicked looking barbed wire tattoo wrapped around his right bicep. She wanted to reach out and touch it. Hell, she wanted to reach out and pet his slick, golden skin like he was one of her animals.

  It just wasn’t fair for a man to be so damn good looking after a run. Breakers seemed to have more than their share of hard-bodied males, but Evie had never really gone for the strong, macho guys. Someone like Andrew had always been more her type, but Dare just looked so...delicious.

  Evie found herself comparing him to the man who had just left. While Andrew was a classically handsome man, he had nothing compared to the raw sex appeal of Dare. Andrew had a trim build, with hair almost the same shade of blond as her own. Dare’s hair was black as midnight and he had a body of a fighter. It was an intriguing contrast to the studious dedication she knew he must have to be a doctor.

  She blinked as she realized that he had spoken again, but she had no idea what he said. “Wh—what?”

  A slow smile spread across his handsome face and she felt lightheaded.

  Damn it. Focus!

  Taking a deep breath as she cleared her mind, she met his knowing gaze despite her embarrassment at being caught all but ogling him. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  “Thanks. For the food.”

  “Oh, it was nothing.”

  He shook his head slowly, not breaking eye contact with her. “Naw. It was appreciated, considering I barely had enough energy to make it to the kitchen, let alone cook myself something.”

  She smiled at him, relaxing a little. “I’m just glad to see you got some sleep. I stopped by Kali’s bakery again this morning when I was running some errands and was going to drop off a few things at the boarding house, but—”

  “What things? Pie? Did you get pie?”

  Startled by the vehemence in his tone, she lifted a brow. “Yes, I noticed that was the first to go.”

  Dare’s face darkened considerably. “That wasn’t me.”

  Evie let out a laugh. “Ah, I see. Hunter got to it before you did. He does have a thing for Kali’s pie.”

  “He’s a damn pie thief,” Dare muttered as he looked down at the four dogs wandering around his legs. Evie laughed and felt something inside her shift as he reac
hed down to rub one of her dogs’ heads. He did so with a firm rub and scratch that sent Lancelot’s tail wagging with glee. Evie gave a subtle nod and hand gesture to the dogs, and the others immediately started to vie for his attention.

  It had pleased her to see him at the center today, and watching him had given her a little insight into his character. Whenever she observed people working with her animals, she could tell things about an individual’s personality. Were they kind and patient, or temperamental and prone to complaining? Dare seemed to be at ease with whatever situation he was in. She’d been told by several people how he had treated a little girl’s skinned knee with the utmost care, and she’d witnessed little Carly’s exuberant expression when she had waved to him outside the center.

  Evie bit her lip as she held back a laugh thinking about the way Dare had started running away from the little girl as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. He might not be comfortable around children, but he had gained four admirers today whether he liked it or not.

  He was something she hadn’t expected.

  Dare bent over and took his time greeting all four of Evie’s big dogs while trying to will down his unruly erection that had popped up out of nowhere. All Evie had to do was smile at him and his body reacted. He’d never experienced such a strong case of lust at first sight.

  And it made her dangerous to his self-control.

  Her sunny hair was pulled back in a ponytail, allowing him a clear view of her beautiful face, and she was wearing jeans and a simple white shirt that clung to her curves. And her scent...man, she smelled like fresh peaches again. A spark of anger swept through him. She shouldn’t be able to affect him like this. He told himself there was nothing special about her, but knew instantly that was a lie. There was something about her that drew his interest, and made him want to know more about her.

  Trying to distract himself, he focused on her four dogs. They really were beautiful animals. Two of the dogs were German Shepherds, but Dare recognized that the other two as Belgian Malinois, a variety of shepherd dog he was very familiar with from his time overseas. Because of their acute sense of smell, the Belgian Malinois were often used by the United States Armed Forces as work dogs that helped detect odors of explosives, accelerants and even narcotics in the field. He could see why Evie would have two of them as her personal pets, considering the search and rescue work she did.

  A laugh escaped Dare as all four animals pushed against him in their plea for attention, their tails wagging wildly. “These are some good looking dogs you’ve got here.”

  “Thanks. That’s Lancelot, Gawain, Percival and Galahad.”

  “You named your dogs after Knights of the Round Table?”

  Evie shrugged. “Why not? It suits them.”

  “Four dogs is a lot of work.”

  She laughed. “I think of all the dogs at the center as mine. But these four are my friends and a joy to have in my life.”

  Dare took a few more minutes rubbing each of the dogs before he straightened. “So, about that pie...”

  Shaking her head, Evie chuckled. “Come on. It’s up at my house.”

  She and Dare walked towards her stone and glass house with the dogs milling happily by their sides. Her house was interesting. The center structure of the building was two stories and had a tiered roof, with two ranch-style wings spanning from the main structure. The large “U” shaped structure was modern in design, but all the buildings on Evie’s property worked well with the landscape.

  He knew he should probably put his shirt back on, but he liked how she had looked at him. He’d seen that same expression on other women before, but for some reason Evie’s blue eyes seemed to pierce straight through him. It ignited a fire of need that left him slightly uncomfortable, and yet strangely liking it. For some reason he enjoyed being around her. Simply being in her presence seemed to settle some of the sharp edges inside of him. But he couldn’t deny he wanted her, and that made things complicated.

  He was damaged and had no business getting involved with anyone.

  “This is a pretty impressive house,” he said, struggling to find something to fill the void between them.

  “Thank you. We’re pretty proud of it. I live in the main part of the house, and my cousins live in the wings. To the right is my cousin Francesca, and the left is Beckett’s home. You’ve met them, haven’t you?”

  “Yep, last time I came to visit.”

  “That’s right. I heard about it after I got back from my trip. Someone in Baton Rouge had adopted one of my dogs, and I went to make the delivery.”

  “Do you always do that? Check out the homes?”

  “We try to, unless we know the people. Since most of our dogs are pit bulls, we try and make sure that their new homes are safe, for the animals as well as the people around them.”

  “Hunter mentioned that you have to make sure the dogs can’t get out of yards and that the dogs get along with any other pets that the adopters may have before you leave them,” Dare said. “I knew some people feared pit bulls, but I never realized how misunderstood the breed really was.”

  “It’s a shame, because they truly are wonderful dogs.”

  “But you don’t own one personally?”

  She smiled at him and held out her palm facedown by her side without looking down. Dare was impressed when one of her dogs immediately pushed its head under her hand. “I do love pit bulls, but my guys are the best. Since we do search and rescue I needed dogs that were more suited to that kind of work.”

  She led the way up to the front of her house and the dogs ran inside ahead of them as soon as she opened the door. Practically hearing his mama’s scolding voice in his head, he took a moment to put his shirt back on before entering her home. He may have liked the way she looked at him, but he had a feeling being almost naked in private with her was not a good idea.

  Once they were inside, Dare was surprised as he looked around. For some reason he thought she would have had one of those feminine places where a man felt out of place, but that wasn’t the case. He should have known better. With four large dogs having the run of the place, Evie had decorated with style tinged with practicability. Like the boarding house, her furniture was large and looked exceedingly comfortable. There was a feeling of warmth that came from being in her living space, that was similar to how he felt being in her presence.

  He remained quiet as he followed her into a large, open kitchen that was almost identical to the set up at the boarding house, except for a different color scheme. The room was decorated in warm, earthy tones, and the cabinets had frosted glass fronts that added a modern touch to the deep gold of the marble countertops. Dare’s gaze narrowed onto the pie sitting on the center island, and he had to stop himself from sticking his hand into it.

  As if she knew what he was thinking, Evie pulled out a fork and picked up the pie, carrying it over to the breakfast bar. “So you can have a taste,” she said with an impish grin.

  Without a word, Dare slid onto one of the stools and stuck the fork in the pie. Evie shook her head as she set aside the plate she’d picked up and went to the fridge to get two bottles of water. Today was peach pie and Dare’s mouth watered at the first sight of the rich, golden fruit surrounded by flakey pastry. The first bite hit is taste buds like ambrosia. He closed his eyes, savoring the treat, then dug back into the pie for some more. When he looked up, he found Evie watching him with an amused expression.

  “You really do like your pie.”

  He grunted. “I do. Normally, I would share, but I’ve been pushed beyond my limits.”

  She laughed. “No need to share. I also got you some more soup and a few muffins. You can take those back with you with the rest of the pie.”

  “The rest? Honey, I’m eating this all right here.”

  Her eyes widened. “You can’t eat a whole pie.”

  “Watch me.”

  “That isn’t good for you.”

  “I’ll run it off later,” he replied around an
other mouthful. “I don’t have my wallet with me, but I’ll pay you back for all the food you’ve been supplying me with.”

  She waved that away as she moved to a large jar on the opposite end of the counter. She took out a few dog bones and one-by-one handed them out to her dogs, who took them and trotted off to lay sprawled out on the floor with their treats. “Consider it a welcome gift and thanks for helping out around the center today. But now that you are back on your feet, you are on your own for your meals.”

  “Fair enough. I was surprised how many animals you’re housing, but everything is so clean and well organized that you don’t notice it until you do a walk through the place.”

  She beamed a smile at him that made him almost choke on his pie. “Thank you. We try really hard to keep the place in excellent condition. The animals deserve it after all they’ve been through.”

  Dare’s mood darkened as he thought back to all that he’d learned that day. “Hunter and some of the staff told me a few stories. After all I’ve seen, I shouldn’t be surprised at the cruelty of some people, but I am.”

  “Well, thanks again for helping out today. We really appreciate any extra hands.”

  “I had fun,” he said, and was surprised that it was true.

  “You’re welcome to come by anytime,” she offered as she packed up the soup and muffins in a bag for him. He felt the dismissal, but something made him push for more time with her, even if just for a few minutes.

  “So, what made you open the rescue center?”

  Evie seemed pleased by his interest. They spent the next few minutes discussing her love of animals and how she wanted to help them recover in a safe environment while she sought to find them good homes. Everything she said had the ring of truth to it, but Dare sensed there was something she wasn’t telling him...something more to the story. Still, the conversation wasn’t strained or stilted, and Dare found himself enjoying her company as much as the pie. He drained the bottle of water after he ate the last bite and felt a little queasy having eaten the entire thing.

  “I cannot believe you ate it all. That’s just...”