by Elle Casey
Fear throws a lance into my heart. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you. But not because I don’t love my nieces and nephew.”
She smiles knowingly. “Agreed.”
“All right, so I went to the bar, ran out into the alley after a gunshot splintered a table I was standing near . . .”
“A gunshot?!” My sister grabs my arm, her nails digging into me.
I hold up my free hand to stop her from freaking out. “Wait, just save your questions ’til the end.”
“May, oh my god, you were shot at? How can you expect me to not react to that?”
I carefully peel her hand off my arm. “Just . . . give me a chance to tell you the whole story, and you can react all you want.”
“Fine. But I reserve the right to completely freak out when you’re finished.”
When I’m done regaling her with the details, Jenny just stares at me. I remain quiet, giving her time to process. Then her gaze shifts to rest somewhere over my shoulder.
“Holy macaroni,” she finally says, her voice a little breathless. She’s staring out of the plate-glass windows at the front of my studio.
“Ho-whee macawoni,” Sammy repeats. “Ho-whee macawoni on a thtick.”
The bell on my studio door dings as it’s pushed inward. I stand, suddenly nervous when I realize who’s there. I pull on the bottom of my blouse, trying to stretch the wrinkles out of the cotton.
“Hey there,” Ozzie says, his eyes scanning the space as his body fills the entire entrance.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jenny stands in a hurry next to me. “Hey there,” she says before I can respond. She pulls her shirt down over her love handles and then nervously brushes her hands off on her butt. “And who might you be? The dog sitter?”
He frowns briefly at my sister before turning his attention to me. “Brought your dog back.”
“What’s his name?” I ask, teasing him to get past the awkward moment.
“Mutt.” Ozzie keeps a straight face, but I could swear I see a hint of a twinkle in his eye. He puts Felix on the ground and stands. Felix takes off running toward Sammy.
“Fee-Fee!” Sammy yells, bending down to hug the dog. He knows he’s not supposed to pick him up, but that rule does not forbid strangling hugs. Felix does his duty and accepts the affection without biting.
“His name is not Mutt; it’s Felix.” I gesture to Jenny. “And this is my sister, Jennifer, and her son, Sammy. Jenny, this is Ozzie.”
We all look over in time to see Sammy stuffing Felix into a sparkly purse and hiking it over his arm. Felix’s butt and back legs are hanging out over the edge, his head nowhere to be seen.
I run over to intervene as my sister takes control of the conversation.
“So let me guess . . . you’re the guy who rescued my little sister last night, is that right?”
“I gave her a place to stay.”
She folds her arms over her chest and nods her head slowly. “Aaaand you babysat her dog for her.”
“Actually, I walked her dog for her, and she took off before I got back.”
I come back to the grown-ups. “I’m really sorry about that. I had a shoot scheduled, and I couldn’t miss it. I didn’t know where you went.”
“Oh my god!” Jenny yells, her face a mask of horror, as she steps back a few paces while staring at the windows again.
A big orange head and a smear of drool are at my front door.
“Sahara!” Ozzie yells. “You were supposed to stay in the truck!”
Jenny runs over and grabs Sammy, lifting him up high in her arms.
“Hey! Put me down, Momma! I wanna pway!” He strains toward the floor, but she holds him with an iron grip.
“What is that thing?” she asks, clearly terrified.
I walk over to the door and open it up. “That thing is Sahara, Felix’s new girlfriend.”
The giant dog walks casually into the studio, looking around until she spies Felix licking his privates in front of the meadow background I had up for the family who was just here getting portraits done. Sahara walks over and flops down on the sheet Felix is on, resting her head on her paws.
“Oh my goodness. That’s kind of cute, actually.” Jenny slowly slides Sammy down her leg. “Is it safe?” She looks at Ozzie. “Is it kid friendly?”
“It’s not an it, it’s a she,” I say. “And I would guess she is.” I look at Ozzie for confirmation.
He’s too busy frowning to confirm or deny. I get the impression he’d like to say she’s a child-eating monster, but Sahara would probably just fart and fall asleep in response and make him look silly, so he says nothing. Smart man.
He sighs in defeat. “Come on, Sahara—time to go.”
I grab my camera and walk over to where the dogs are. They’re too cute not to grab a couple shots of while I have the chance. Felix is turning circles in the spot just next to Sahara’s belly, trying to make the perfect doggie bed on the sheet. Once he’s settled, I start pushing the button, making the shutter go off several times.
“Want me to turn on the lights?” Jenny asks.
“Yes.” I’m moving to get a better angle. The expression on Sahara’s face is priceless. She’s in love.
“No. We have to go,” Ozzie says.
“It’ll just take a second,” Jenny says in a hushed tone. “Just wait and see. My sister’s a genius with the camera.”
My cheek and nose are pressed up to the back of my Canon. “I like how you qualified that with the word camera.” A snort escapes me.
“Well, you did pretty terrible in physics. I think to get a solid genius rating, you need to do better than that.”
“That was high school, and I got a C, not an F.” I pull the camera away and change over to another setting before putting the viewfinder to my eye again. “I got an A in college, so let it go already.” She’s never going to let me live down my one bad grade ever.
I look down at my screen and scroll through the last few shots I took. Wow. I could put these in a calendar. They’re definitely going on my website.
“You don’t mind if I use these for ad work, do you, Ozzie?”
He doesn’t answer, but I keep on shooting. The lights come on, and it’s even better. “Oh man. I’m in heaven right now.”
Suddenly a big black thing comes into the frame, and then my autofocus kicks in, and I realize it’s a butt. A very fine butt, actually. I take a couple shots just for the fun of it. Ozzie is bent over, trying to convince his dog it’s time to go.
“Up, Sahara, up.” He pulls on her collar, but she’s not budging.
“Turn around for a second, would you?”
Ozzie stands to argue, and I catch him in the perfect light and get a few shots off before he steps out of the frame.
I pull the camera from my face. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t come here to get photographed, I came here to give you your dog back and escort you home!”
The room goes silent.
“The reluctant knight in shining armor. I like it.” Jenny is grinning from ear to ear.
We both scowl at her. Me, because she’s making it look like I’ve got goo-goo eyes for him or something, and him, I don’t know. Maybe he’s angry he’s still stuck with me.
Jenny moves first. “Anyway, have fun, kids. I have to get Sammy some lunch before he goes all hypoglycemic on me.” She scoops him up—dress, heels, and all—and heads for the door. She grabs her purse on her way out.
“I thought we were having lunch together,” I yell as she exits.
“Better get your escort to take you. I have errands to run. Ciao!”
I’m about to open my mouth to respond to Ozzie’s obvious displeasure over having to rescue me again, but I snap it shut in a hurry when the smell hits me.
“Oh my god.” Grabbing a nearby shirt that Sammy got off the rack of clothing, I push it over my nose.
Ozzie’s nose scrunches up as he realizes what’s happened. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Sahara! What’s
gotten into you?”
“If I were to guess, I’d say sausage.” I wink at Ozzie over the shirt.
He tries to stay mad, but he just can’t. His face flushes just the slightest bit, and his expression relaxes. “It’s impossible to stay cool when she does that.”
I punch him playfully in the arm. “Don’t worry about staying cool around me. It’ll take a lot more than a dog fart to scare me off.”
My entire body freezes up as I realize what I’ve just said. To Ozzie. With all his muscles. And his black shirt and tight jeans. Oh. My god.
It’s only when he tips his head back and lets out a huge laugh that I can finally breathe again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
So this is your place.” Ozzie walks through the foyer just inside my townhouse’s front door and into the living room with an assessing eye. I can’t tell if he likes what he sees or not, his expression neutral. His offer to make sure things were copacetic at my place was too tempting to turn down. I’m going to pretend I said yes because I was worried about my home security and not because I wanted to see him stretch his T-shirt out some more with those muscles of his.
“Yep. Home sweet home.” I pass through the living room and go into the kitchen, pulling out the dog food from one of the upper cabinets and pouring two bowls full—one large and one tiny. Sahara wolfs her portion down in about five seconds and lets out a large burp after as she collapses to the floor. Felix takes a few kibbles, carries them across the kitchen, and eats them in the corner of the room before returning for more.
“What’s he doing?” Ozzie asks, staring at Felix with a bemused expression.
I watch with him, charmed by my baby’s idiosyncrasies. “We call it doggie takeout. Felix never eats at his bowl. He considers it crass.”
Sahara sits up on her haunches and watches Felix go back and forth, back and forth. It’s almost comical the way her head moves like she’s watching a tennis match in slow motion.
Ozzie scans the room behind him. “Anything look out of place?”
It takes a few seconds for his meaning to sink in. “What? Why would it be?” Where before I was entranced by our adorable dogs, now I’m afraid. The events of last night come rushing back to the front of my mind.
He shrugs. “You never know. Just being sure.”
I rest my hand on the counter to keep from falling over. I feel a little dizzy. “Are you suggesting that the person who tried to shoot me could have come here?”
Ozzie leaves the kitchen and moves toward the stairs. “I’m just going to look around if you don’t mind.”
“No, of course. Look all you want.” My mind is racing. I didn’t come home last night, so how would the shooter know where I live? He wouldn’t, right? I don’t have any advertising for my business on my car. I was going to put something on, but then I couldn’t bear to cover up the brilliant red paint. I figured when I got tired of the car a little, I’d put a sign on it. Now I’m glad I didn’t. Anonymity has its benefits, especially when outrunning murderers.
Footsteps sound above my head. “Is everything okay up there?” I yell.
“I guess. No strange men lurking around.”
“Ha-ha!” That wasn’t funny at all. He should know better than to joke about me being attacked. What kind of security expert is he, anyway?
I go up the stairs in a hurry, wondering if I remembered to make my bed or not. Believe it or not, the fear that my lackluster housekeeping will be discovered is overtaking my fear of being stalked by a murderer, especially after seeing how pristine Ozzie’s place was. Yes, I have problems, obviously. I’m going to blame it on Ozzie’s muscles. He’s wearing another one of those tight BSB Security shirts again. Don’t they make them in his size?
When I get to my room, I’m disappointed. Of course I didn’t make my bed. Now he knows that I’m messy, and I sleep on sheets covered in flowers. He probably hates that, being the black-satin type. For some reason, that bothers me. Then the realization hits me like a bus; I want him to like everything about me, even my sheets. I’m insane, or at the very least, sexually deprived enough to have become completely irrational.
He comes out of the bathroom that adjoins my bedroom and stops in the doorway. “You left some diamond earrings on the counter in here, and in my experience, even someone who’s not normally a thief, but who comes into a home with bad intentions, will pocket something like that. I think you’re okay.”
The breath I was holding comes flying out in a long, loud stream of air. “Oh, thank God.”
He frowns. “Are you seriously that worried?”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
He shrugs. “No, but I live in a secured warehouse.” He looks around my bedroom. “You don’t have any security here, do you?”
I shake my head. My decision to save that money seems really stupid right now.
“I’ll send someone over.” He leaves my room without another word.
I rush out behind him, afraid to have him disappear so soon. “Someone? Who? Why?”
He’s practically running down the stairs. “Thibault. Maybe Toni. They’ll hook you up with some basics just to put your mind at ease.” He turns his gaze to the kitchen when he reaches the bottom of the stairs. “Sahara! Let’s go!”
Ozzie and I are both standing in the foyer. Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover the atmosphere. He saw my bedroom. He saw my sheets. He went into my bathroom, and for sure there was a box of tampons on the counter. He’s sending someone over to hook me up. He’s so hot it makes me ache in dark places. Ack!
The dog ambles out of the kitchen and through the living room, meeting her owner by the front door.
“Is there anything else you need?” Ozzie asks, and for the first time he’s looking me dead in the eye and waiting for my answer. Time stands still as I fall under the trance created by his bright green eyes. My blood starts to boil, but not with the angry kind of heat; it’s something else entirely.
Yeah, Ozzie, I think to myself, I need something. Something I haven’t had in a really long time. Sex, and lots of it.
Ozzie tilts his head. “You okay?”
I shake my head, trying to yank it out of the clouds. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Really.” I put my hand on his arm in an effort to calm myself and distract him from my crazy reaction to a simple question.
Oopsy. Mistake.
I can feel the warmth there and the muscles moving under his skin. I have to clear my throat so I can talk normally. It only works a little. “Thanks for everything, Ozzie. Really. You’re a prince among men.”
He doesn’t pull away from me. He should, but he doesn’t. The heat grows between us in the spot where our skin is touching.
“That’s what I do.”
I laugh and smile. “Rescue damsels in distress?”
“No, the right thing. I do the right thing, much as it might pain me to do it.”
Ouch. Talk about a cold shower. Wow, did I read that moment wrong or what?
My hand falls from his arm as I suffer the ache of embarrassment. “Sorry I was so much trouble.”
His expression goes confused for a second, and then he reaches out for my hand, taking it in his huge one. The warmth kicks in again, double time. He’s holding my hand! I’m sixteen again!
“No, no, I didn’t mean you’re a pain.” He shakes his head and jiggles my hand a little. “Dammit, I’m screwing this up.” He sighs heavily and starts again. “What I’m trying to say is that making sure you got home safe was the right thing to do. And even though I have about ten other things I should be doing right now, I’m happy to be here making sure your home is secure.”
I grin. It’s not a marriage proposal, but I don’t want one of those anyway. “Wow, Ozzie. That was almost sweet.”
He drops my hand and frowns. “Call me if you run into any trouble.” He turns around and opens the door without another word.
I panic, thinking this is the last time I’m ever going to see him. Quick, Brain! Think of something charming and
witty and interesting to say!
“Was it the flowered sheets?”
I have no idea why those words just burst out of my mouth. Sleep deprivation. It’s a terrible thing. Terrible, terrible, awful.
He pauses on the front step and slowly turns his head. “Flowered sheets?”
“Is that why you’re running away? Because my flowered sheets are so awful?”
Yep! That’s me! I keep talking when I should shove a shoe down my throat. My face burns bright red as I realize there is no coming back from this one. It’s like I’ve never been around a man before. How long has it been since I’ve had sex, anyway?
“I actually liked the sheets.” He smiles awkwardly, as if he’s just as confused about that as I am. As if he didn’t just charm me from my toes to my nose by not mentioning how whack-a-doodle I am.
He walks down the steps and over the stepping-stones to the driveway, without another word. Sahara almost knocks me over when she bounds past me to catch up to him.
I watch him climb up into his truck and reverse out of my driveway after Sahara’s safely in the bed, and I wonder if I’m ever going to see him again, all the while definitely hoping that I will.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I’ve got popcorn on the stove when my doorbell rings. “It’s open!” I yell over the sound of the kernels bursting.
The door shuts and footsteps follow. Only when I notice that they’re heavy and coming fast do I realize that I probably shouldn’t leave my door unlocked and just tell people to walk in when there could be a murderer on the loose. I grab a knife out of the block on the counter and turn around to confront my visitor.
“Smells good in here.” When Thibault rounds the corner and takes my knife into consideration, he slows. “Whoa.” His hands come up in surrender. “I come in peace.”
My racing heart begins to calm in seconds. “Oh, hey. It’s you.” The knife goes down to waist level.
“Yeah, it’s me. Who were you expecting? Ozzie?” He chuckles at his own joke, but I can’t tell if he’s hinting that I like Ozzie and was hoping he’d come by or I want to stab him. I put the knife back where it belongs before responding.
