Her heart rocked in her chest as she cleared her throat and grabbed her not-so-happy cat. “I’ve got to get back downstairs. I’m late for an adoption, and in your way.” She nodded to both men. “Nice to see you again, Noah, and nice to meet you, Nico.”
She didn’t stick around for a response. It was way past time she left. Cradling Rescue close, she rushed through the apartment then down the stairs.
Things were bad. Real bad.
It was tough enough fighting her attraction to Noah when he lived several states away. Now the situation was twice as tough with him living across the dang hall from her. And then there was the other new development. A dangerous one. The heat in his gaze that charged the air around them.
How was she supposed to resist the irresistible man when he didn’t want to resist?
***
Noah’s pulse leveled out for the first time since walking into his bedroom to find the sweetest, curviest ass he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing, and discovering it belonged to Layla. The one girl he’d always wanted but couldn’t have…the one who unknowingly brought him back to Dallas.
“Damn, Noah. You’re in trouble man.” Nico snickered, slapping his shoulder again, taking way too much pleasure in his unfortunate situation. “That hot woman is Layla? The friend you moved down here to watch, as per your former captain’s request?”
“Captain.”
“What?”
“Captain Stewart is my captain again, now,” he corrected. “And yes. Layla is the reason I’m here.” Apparently someone was calling her and hanging up. Leaving notes on her windshield. The shop door.
Apartment door.
His gut twisted tight every time he thought about what could happen next. The acts were getting more and more brazen and apparently the police had no leads. The cameras in the building conveniently filled with static during the acts.
“And you’re supposed to watch over her and not touch her?”
He nodded.
“Not going to happen.” Nico grinned. “You two had so much chemistry going on in this room when I walked in even I need a cold shower.”
Noah snickered but didn’t reply on his way to the door. His feelings for Layla were the same, genuine and strong. He’d always liked his fun-loving neighbor, but during his freshman year in college, he started to see the high school sophomore as more than his young neighbor when she started dating his friend’s younger brother.
“What took you guys so long?” Jeremy asked, sitting on the back of the open van, bringing Noah’s mind back to his task. “You get lost?”
Nico grinned. “More like sidetracked by Noah’s hot neighbor.”
“Hot neighbor? Really?” Now Jeremy grinned. “So is she a roommate of this Layla you came down to watch?”
Noah opened his mouth but Nico beat him to it.
“She is Layla.” Nico chuckled. “There’s no roommate. And man, the sexual tension and heat between those two was so strong I almost texted you to run across the street to Station 58 to grab me some turnout gear.” He pulled out his phone and held up a…photo of them?
Jesus, the idiot took a picture of him holding Rescue while Layla leaned close to pet her cat.
Jeremy rose to his feet with a grin. “I’m not surprised. Why else would a guy drop everything and move halfway across the country on a moment’s notice? There had to be something going on between them.”
Noah shook his head. “There’s nothing going on.”
At least, not yet.
“But you’re not denying the chemistry thing?” Nico put his phone away and slid him a glance as they grabbed the boxes Jeremy stacked at the edge.
“Nope. I’ve always felt the chemistry whenever she’s around.” Noah just respected the promise he’d made to her grandfather over a decade ago.
“She has a huge crush on you, but she’s too young. I’m trusting you to look but don’t touch, son.”
For a good year, he’d kept that promise, but the more she grew up and stared at him with yearning in those mesmerizing whiskey brown eyes, the harder it was to respect. Especially when he came home from his first deployment in the guard. Layla had flung herself at him, holding him so tight he discovered first hand just how much she’d grown up…and out.
And damn, there was no way he would be able to resist her sweet curves and her sweet smile, but her grandfather had been there, stark warning in his shrewd eyes. That was the day he knew he had no choice. He had to get the hell out of dodge, or in his case, Dallas. So a quick call to Nico—whom he’d met during deployment—to put him in touch with the Pennsylvania National Guard had gotten the ball rolling, and within two months he’d left the DFR and transferred to the guard up north.
“Well, should make for an interesting…uh…babysitting detail.” Jeremy didn’t laugh or snicker, just stared at him with an almost apologetic expression.
Noah nodded and headed inside with another box. Interesting barely scratched the surface of what the detail would be, but Noah didn’t want to think beyond that. He had a truck to unload and apartment to set up—tonight—come tomorrow, he didn’t want to worry about moving in he wanted to concentrate fully on his job and his…detail.
Chapter Two
All afternoon, Layla helped out in the café, needing to stay busy as she tried every trick in the book to keep her mind occupied and off a certain hot firefighter soldier and his king size bed sitting above her at that very moment.
Noah? Seriously? He was the new tenant?
It boggled her mind that fate would send him to the listing for the apartment. Her brain hurt just thinking about it.
Maybe she should book a session to play with the cats and do some of her own destressing.
When the lunch crowd cleared out, she left the café in the capable hands of her two employees Wade and George, the ladder stammered and turned red whenever she talked to him. Poor guy, she knew all about crushes—her face appeared under the word in the dictionary, thanks to Noah.
Stopping at the desk in the hallway between the café and cat room, she smiled at one of her other employees who managed appointments via the phone, internet and walk-ins.
“How’s the room?” she asked the twenty-one-year old.
Jade was smart, efficient, and surprisingly a little shy for someone who dyed the tips of her black hair an emerald green. It was kind of an attention getter, and looked good on the petite beauty, who tried to hide it under a zip up hoodie. Guys hit on the poor girl all the time. Usually Kelly, one of the other employees, came to her rescue.
“Quiet,” Jade replied. “Only two patrons in there, but their time is almost up. And Tanya is in the office with another who’s interested in adopting.” She smiled and her green eyes sparkled, living up to her name. “The old man might be getting his forever home.”
“Mr. Bojangles?” Layla’s heart leapt. “That’s wonderful.”
The nine-year old ended up at a shelter after his owner passed away last month. Older cats were usually passed over in favor of kittens, therefore in danger of being put down. Early on, she got the word out to the local shelters about Coffee Cats, and one had called her about the big friendly black and white tuxedo.
“I know.” Jade nodded to the two patrons who walked by on their way out after their session ended. “Kelly’s back there with them, starting the process.”
The sweet, and also smart and efficient college junior interning for her was a wiz at, well, everything. Computers, phones, bookkeeping, handling cats, and working the counter in the café. Layla definitely wanted to hire the girl full-time when she graduated, but the personable brunette with pretty blue eyes and a killer brain would most likely be scooped up by one of Dallas’ big conglomerates.
“Between the adoption this morning, and now the start of this one, it’s been a great day.” She knocked her knuckles off the counter. “Let’s hope it spills into tomorrow.” And her personal life, which had just been turned on its ear. The muscles in her neck were still bunched tight
. “If anyone’s looking for me, I’ll be in the cat room.”
Since there was a lull in patrons, and she needed a chance to regroup, Layla entered the cat room and immediately smiled. God, how could she not? She loved these animals. A very sweet gray and black striped tabby that loved to jump up on high surfaces and meow to be petted greeted her as soon as she walked in.
“Hey, Tiger. How are you?” She ran her hand over his sleek fur, and a deep rumble immediately commenced in his chest. The antsy male walked back and forth by her on the hip-height bookcase she had built to border the room with a few offshoots that led to a shelf running the whole top of the wall. Some of the cats enjoyed the high perch, like Tiger, who apparently decided he’d had enough petting and left her to race up a ramp to the top to join Sassy, a poofy petite version of a Maine Coon who allowed people to pet her, but under no circumstances could anyone pick her up or she’d screech so loud it sounded like you were ripping her tail off. “Hi, Sassy.” The very intelligent female blinked a hello from the top deck at the south corner, while a smoky gray cat with a white belly, paws and a splash of white on her nose—jumped up on a red plastic chair by her knee. “Well, hello, Puddin, how are you?” She turned her attention the friendly cat with fur so soft and fuzzy it felt like a chinchilla—a patron favorite. The cutie loved to be petted, and even crawled up on laps.
But Layla wasn’t ready to sit just yet. There was one more regular left to greet. The most even-tempered cat by far, a fluffy red tabby—another favorite amongst the patrons—ambled over to sit on his hind legs and beg to be petted. “I wouldn’t forget you, Mango.” Laughing, she bent down to oblige, using two hands to scratch under his big chin.
All four were staples at Coffee Cats and not up for adoption. Tiger and Sassy belonged to Jade, and the other two were Kelly’s. The cats went home with their owners every night. All the adoptable cats and kittens lazing and playing in the room came from the humane society.
“Aren’t you a good boy,” she cooed at the purring cat still pushing his face into her hand for more scratching.
“Jesus, Layla!” Noah appeared behind her out of nowhere, setting her heart rate to infinity and beyond. “Quit bending over or put on some damn shorts.”
“Don’t bother on our account. We don’t mind. Do we, Jeremy?”
Shoot. She straightened. A little too late. He wasn’t alone.
“Yeah. You look fine to me.”
Heat rushed into her face as she turned around to find three gorgeous men in the room, one frowning directly in front of her, and two smiling by the door, their big bodies eating up the spacious cat room.
Testosterone dripped off the trio in spades.
“Jeremy Mercer, ma’am. Nice to meet you.” The blue-eyed hottie nodded from across the room.
Wow. They grew them nice up north, too.
She met Noah’s dark gaze. “Sorry. I keep forgetting how short this dress is on me even though Christie and I wear the same size. It’s not that short on her, but then again, she’s only five-six, and those two inches make a big difference in the length of clothes.” Great. She was babbling, a condition she only seemed to incur whenever the younger Donovan brother was near.
She’d been babble-free for a decade. He was in town a few hours and she was already resorting to her old jabbering ways.
A smile tugged his lips. “Here I thought you were doing it to give me a heart attack.”
She smiled despite herself. “I can think of a few…” Dammit. That train of thought was immediately halted when it dawned on her she was speaking out loud. “I swear, Noah…you make me stupid.”
“Layla.” He lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re many things, but stupid is not one of them.”
While her throat dried to rival the Texas dessert, her pulse shot to Mach One at the heat in his eyes and intimacy of his touch. What in the world was going on with him? Was this some kind of game he was playing in front of his buddies? Her gaze shot to the two men studying them with interest, possibly even mild amusement if their slight grins were any indication. But they didn’t appear to have a hidden agenda.
God, she hated men with hidden agendas. Men who weren’t truthful about why they were hitting on her.
And because her mind couldn’t process the fact Noah was outright flirting—with her—she switched her focus. “Did you three come in to pet some cats?”
Noah smiled. “Not exactly.”
Jeremy shook his head, eyeing the cats with more than a little trepidation. Poor guy must’ve had a bad encounter at one time. Shame. Cats made one of the best companions if matched correctly.
“No.” Nico smirked. “These aren’t exactly the kind of—”
“Don’t finish that if you value your teeth,” Noah cut off his friend and pinned him with a hard gaze.
The smirk grew on Nico’s face as he held up his hands. “Calm down. I was going to say cats.”
“Sure you were.” Jeremy snickered.
Fighting a grin, Layla walked over to Sassy, who came down from her perch to collect her petting, which consisted of a full body pet, from nose to tail and back again. Fast. The vocal feline spoke her appreciation and the unique sound echoed around the room of cat beds, cat trees, tables and various assortments of chairs.
“Wait?” Noah blinked. “Is that cat purring and meowing at the same time?”
She turned around with a gasp. Damn, when did he acquire ninja skills? And why hadn’t she felt him…wait…she did. Every hair on her body always stood up when he was near…like now. Her mind was toast today. She’d felt him but hadn’t noticed because her dang body hadn’t stopped feeling him, still vibrating with awareness since their rendezvous in his apartment.
“Yes,” she replied when her brain decided to make an appearance. “That’s what she does.”
“I never heard a cat do that before.” He reached out to take over the petting, his mouth curving when Sassy started to thank him. “Interesting.”
“Yes, it really is.” Nico cleared his throat.
She turned with Noah to stare at the men smiling by the door.
“Hi, remember us?” Nico waved. “The two schmucks you lured down to Dallas with promises of pizza and wings and beer after we moved your ass in?”
Layla laughed. Noah’s friends were good-natured and funny.
“You’re not going to wither away.” Noah shook his head, lips twitching as he turned to face her. “That’s why we’re here. Want to join us?”
Her heart rocked into her chest so hard she almost had to step back from the percussion. Stopping in to ask her for direction or a recommendation was one thing and made sense, but asking her to join them?
What in the world?
The man was really acting out of character. He never, ever asked her to go anywhere with him when he was in Texas. Now he was here, living next to her, staring at her with heat in his gaze as if he wanted to eat her up, and asking her out, well, not exactly on a date, but to eat with him and his friends.
God, she wanted to say yes. It was all like a dream come true. So, that was exactly why she shook her head.
“Sorry. I can’t. I have work here to finish.” And a heart to safeguard. “I’d be happy to recommend a few places to you though. There have been a few new ones that opened since your two-day stay last year.” And that had been at his family’s ranch, nearly an hour away. So, chances were the guy really had no clue where to eat.
“That’d be great. Thanks.” He nodded, not bothering to hide the disappointment from his gaze. “Maybe next time.”
Jesus, he was going to ask again? She’d never be able to keep resisting.
This wasn’t good.
She made a non-committal sound and led them from the room to grab a pen and paper from the check-in counter in the hall. Before she could introduce the men to Jade, Kelly, and Tanya now all seated at their desks, the men beat her to it.
“And if you ladies have any problems, you let Noah know. He won’t
mind,” Jeremy said from out of the blue.
Weird. Probably some kind of testosterone thing. Big man in the building. Little women need help. They could take care of themselves. They’d been doing it for months now.
“Yeah. Just knock on my door.”
She stopped writing to reel back. “Not if you’re just off rotation.”
He nodded. “Even then. If you need me, knock.”
Lordy, her knees were knocking each other right now. The warm concern in his eyes stole her strength.
“Why don’t you write down your phone number and we’ll make sure Layla puts it in her phone.” Tanya slid a piece of paper and a pen across the counter to the grinning man.
The look she slid her blonde partner held absolutely no concern or warmth. The woman was always dragging her out on double dates, or trying to set her up.
“Here you go.” She handed the list to Noah.
He nodded, exchanging papers. “Thanks.”
She folded his number to shove it…shoot, nowhere to shove it.
“Well, in case we don’t see you before we leave at the crack of dawn, it was nice meeting you, Layla.” Nico held out his hand, a genuine smile on his handsome face.
“You, too.” She shook it then turned to take Jeremy’s outstretched hand. “Have a safe trip.”
“Yes, ma’am. Will do. It’s nice to know we’re leaving our buddy in good hands.”
She opened her mouth to tell the guys things weren’t like that between them, but Noah’s admiring gaze told her he was, indeed, interested. Holy smokes, the guy was giving her heart a great workout. It pounded the heck out of her chest again.
Clenching her jaw tight, she nodded and waved then watched as the men disappeared out the back door. Once it shut, she blew out a breath and shook her head.
“What in the world?”
“It’s called chemistry, Layla.” Tanya winked and Jade nodded.
“Yeah, you two have enough to start a fire.” Kelly fanned herself. “I don’t even swing that way and I’m ready to go home and crank up my vibrator.”
Dallas Fire & Rescue_Whine and Rescue Page 2
