Hush, Puppy

by Roxanne St Claire

  “Like Iceman.” She hissed the name of Maverick’s nemesis in the movie, making him laugh.

  “I don’t think I ever met a woman who loves Top Gun like I do.”

  “I didn’t say I love it,” she said. “I was mostly bored out of my mind during the flying parts.”

  He threw a sideways look. “You were all about the…other stuff.”

  “Like sweaty, shirtless guys playing beach volleyball? Um, yeah. And the romance.” She rolled the r and dragged out the word. “Kenny always wanted to fast-forward through the ‘kissing parts.’ Told me I was too young to watch. Meanwhile, the language could curl your hair.”

  “But all strung together in the best way.” He lifted his brows and leaned closer. “Want to watch it with me? I promise not to fast-forward through the kissing parts.”

  Her eyes shuttered as he said the last two words, her whole body moving a centimeter closer, the space as hot as the air around the fire, and just as sparky.

  “I’d like that,” she whispered. “Let’s drink wine and watch it in your media room some night when Destiny’s asleep. We can see who knows more lines. I bet I beat you.”

  “You’ll lose that bet.”

  She lifted her teacup to meet his beer bottle. “You’re on, Nice Man.”

  He closed his eyes. “Ice, not nice.”

  She pointed to him. “Good one for you, though, isn’t it?”

  He dropped his head back with a grunt. “Think of something else.”

  “Zorba?” she suggested.

  He lifted a brow. “Not bad. Beats…four-eyes.”

  She touched her glasses. “Wouldn’t dream of it. So tell me why you wish you weren’t so nice.”

  “Did I say that?” he asked her. “Or are you putting words in my mouth?”

  “You said being nice hasn’t worked in your favor, and that’s a quote. Why not?”

  He finally looked away from her into the firelight, feeling the warmth of the flames and the moment. It made him want to confide in her and then get her out of that chair and onto his lap.

  One thing at a time. “Sometimes, when you do nice things, you get screwed.”

  “They say no good deed goes unpunished,” she reminded him. “Give me an example?”

  “Well, I had an opportunity to be part of a major franchise start-up a number of years ago. You may have heard of ChiliHeads.”

  “That chain of spicy-food restaurants? We just got one near where I live.”

  He huffed out a breath. ChiliHeads had nearly 250 locations now and was one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the country. “I was going to be the chief operating officer of that company.”

  “Really? Wow. What happened?”

  “My dad got sick,” he said. “Someone had to run Santorini’s. Alex is a chef, and a brilliant one, but he wasn’t the right person for the job of managing that place. Yiayia had already retired, my mom never was in the business, and none of my siblings had paid that much attention to the business of the family business. We had to step in for my dad, and then he passed three years ago and…”

  “Here you still are.”

  “But so close to that dream again. This time, instead of a high-end concept that appeals to lovers of hot food, I’m going with something closer to home, the Greek deli.”

  “It’s a great idea.”

  He nodded, pulling himself from the regret of the road not taken. Life had happened, and he made the best of it.

  “What else?” she asked.

  He turned to her. “What else…what?”

  “When else has being a nice guy caused you great sacrifice?”

  He thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “Cost me a girl once.”

  “A girl or the girl?”

  Drawing back, he looked hard at her. “Why would you ask that?”

  “You’re what? Mid-thirties?”

  “Thirty-six.”

  “And you’re great-looking, good-hearted, funny, brilliant, and ambitious. You have a terrific family and no obvious fatal flaws, other than being too nice, if there is such a thing. My guess is there was one girl, and she broke your heart hard enough for you to stay single.”

  “Wow.” He gave an uncomfortable laugh, not sure what to do with how good all those compliments felt or how close she was to the truth. “You got all of that out of ‘cost me a girl once.’”

  She sipped her tea and let her eyes smile at him over the rim. “Am I right?”

  He reached for his beer bottle and took a pull. “Of course you are.”

  “Ahhh. Talk about her?”

  “Do I have to?” He didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about Paige Ashford. Not anymore. “We could go back to the great-looking, funny, and brilliant stuff. So nice to hear it from you instead of Yiayia.”

  She laughed. “Just give me the short version. How did being nice cost you? Because I have to say, it’s kind of a disconnect, unless she was one of those girls who has a thing for bad boys.”

  “Bingo. In her case, a former bad boy and also her ex. I knew she’d be happier with the challenge he offered, so I…stepped aside and let her off the hook.”

  “How hooked was she?”

  “We were engaged.”

  “Ohhh. Wow. That’s hooked. How close to the wedding?”

  He smiled at her. “You really want to know all this?”

  “Of course I do. How else am I going to help you figure out your call sign?”

  “Okay.” He laughed, sipping the beer again. “Not that close. But we were together five years.”

  “Long time.”

  “It was. But I wanted to get the whole ChiliHeads thing underway before we got married, and then…”

  She made a face. “So you broke up and had to give up your dream job?”

  “She was part of the business, too. It was all…” He tapped the bottle in his hand. “Mingled into one really sucky time of my life, followed by years of Dad battling cancer and then losing him.”

  “John.” Her voice was thick with sympathy. “I’m sorry about all that.”

  “Thanks, but it’s not like you haven’t endured your share of crappy curveballs life throws at you.”

  She held up a hand and gave a little wave, the gesture’s meaning loud and clear: She didn’t want to discuss her loss.

  “Anyway,” he said quickly. “It’s all on track now. I have a great plan for the future. Once I started running Santorini’s, the business really boomed. We were able to open two more locations, and I was back in the multi-restaurant game. Now, with financing, I can make Santorini’s a household name, which is even cooler than ChiliHeads, because it’s my name and my family’s heart and soul. I like this plan better, to be honest.”

  “Which grew out of your being noble and good and worthy and family-oriented,” she said, then added a smile. “Any of those sound like call signs?”

  “I’m looking for, you know, something with a little sex appeal.”

  “Oh, you got that.” The low, sweet, intimate way she said it made him draw in a slow breath to tamp down his response. Then she put a hand on his shoulder. “How does Shoulders sound for a call sign?”

  “Weak.”

  “These aren’t. Sounds like they are able to bear quite a bit of weight.”

  He just smiled, holding her gaze, setting his beer on the grass, and inching a little closer. Without a word, he reached up and touched the red frames, like both of them kept finding ways to make physical contact. “Speaking of sex appeal, these are hot.”

  Her lips curled in a half smile. “I’m starting to think you would say that no matter how I looked.”

  “True.” He lifted his shoulder. “I like you.”

  “You do?”

  He reached for the glasses again, sliding them off this time. “Yep. A lot.”

  She inched closer, too, the space between them definitely small enough for a kiss. “I like you, too.”

  “Well, that’s…convenient.”

  “And
complicated,” she added.

  “What’s complicated?” He touched her lower lip, not surprised that it was warm and silky smooth.

  “Living in the same house, working at the same place.”

  “Sounds pretty uncomplicated to me. Unless…” He drew back. “There’s someone else? Back home? Because…”

  “Because you’re so nice you’d stop right now if there was.”

  “You got ‘nice’ and ‘decent’ mixed up, sweetheart.” He came closer again. “If you’re a free woman who wants to kiss me, now’s your chance. If you’re not…”

  She closed the last bit of space between them, tilting her head to press their lips together. She tasted like English tea and July mountain air and everything sweet he ever wanted.

  Lifting his hand, he slid his fingers into her hair, almost moaning when the strands fell over his hand, as soft and silky as he imagined her hair would be. He added some pressure, angled his head, and let the first hot kick of pleasure shoot from his brain straight down to—

  “Mommy!”

  Maverick leaped off Summer’s lap with a noisy bark, making them both jerk away, yanked from the kiss.

  “Mommmmmyyyy!”

  “Oh.” She sighed the single syllable with a groan of disappointment. “So much for sleeping like a rock.”

  “New place. I’m sure she needs you,” he said.

  She slid him a look of frustration, a wry smile pulling. “Yeah, you’re right. But I was just starting to think I need you.”

  “Same.” He got up and snagged Mav, who was already wandering around the grass while Summer pushed up from her chair. When he had the dog, he walked back to Summer and stood close, just as the next cry came through the window.

  “Go get her,” he whispered, stealing one more kiss. “I’ll bring your tea.”

  “Of course you will.” She put her hand on his cheek, looking up into his eyes. “Nice Man.”

  He narrowed his eyes in warning, making her laugh as she spun around and darted up the stairs and disappeared into the darkness of the upstairs apartment.

  “Come on, Mav,” he whispered as he followed. “Let’s go be…nice.”

  * * *

  Summer’s whole body was still vibrating from that kiss. And from the tendril of doubt that had pulled at her heart when he’d asked if she was free.

  Yes, of course, she was. There was no man in her life, and she hadn’t had sex since Isaiah’s last leave. She was starving for the affection, her whole body aching and fiery with how much she’d wanted that kiss to go on and on and on.

  And she had come to Bitter Bark to find a man. A different man. She told herself she’d come to apologize for the way she broke things off with Travis and to get closure on their relationship…but was that the truth?

  Her mind drifted back to last week’s conversation with her sister-in-law. Summer considered Raven Jackson a friend as much as the sister she didn’t have, their relationship close from the day Isaiah brought her home to meet his family.

  Raven knew all about how Travis had contacted Summer after Isaiah died and knew that their interaction had progressed further than Summer wanted. She knew all about the ghosting and fully supported the idea of an apology and closure. But then she’d joked that he could be “a daddy for Destiny” in that sassy, Raven-like way that Summer loved so much.

  Was that what Summer had hoped, deep in her heart? That the man who’d first contacted her from Afghanistan and told her he had been Isaiah’s closest friend, the man who’d then been the source of such comfort in her grief, the man who’d once said he loved her…could be a man she loved back?

  She really wished Raven had never mentioned it, because the idea had been planted and Summer didn’t want it to take hold. She’d come to clear the air and ease her guilt over the way she’d disappeared on him.

  Still, she should tell John exactly why she’d come to Bitter Bark…at least before she made out with him some more by the fire pit.

  Guilt, that old familiar nemesis, crawled up her belly and settled like a stone in her chest. Was Summer ever going to get into a situation in life that didn’t have her writhing with the most unwelcome, uncomfortable, and unpleasant emotions a person could feel?

  She felt guilty because Isaiah chose to re-up for a second tour because of how rough things were at home. She felt guilty when she started a friendship with a man who’d been her husband’s closest buddy on the battlefield. She felt guilty that she’d ended that relationship without explanation. She felt guilty when she relied on her mother and guilty when Destiny asked for a daddy.

  And now she felt guilty for not telling John about Travis Shipley, even though there was nothing to admit other than she’d come to Bitter Bark to find him.

  What would John do? Nice Man would probably offer to help her find him…and now she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Which made her feel all kinds of guilty again, damn it.

  “Mommy!”

  “Hey, baby.” She switched on the lamp next to the twin bed, finding Destiny’s tear-stained face barely above the blankets. “Did you have a bad dream?”

  “Wh-wh-where am I?”

  “At a house in the North Carolina mountains, sweet angel.” She sat on the edge of the bed and inched the blanket down over her shoulders, then smoothed her wild corkscrews of hair. “Remember? We’re spending the summer in Bitter Bark, and you…” She leaned over her and kissed her nose. “Are going to Tails and Trails camp on Monday morning.”

  A faint smile pulled. “Where’s Mavvie?” she whispered.

  “I think he’s asleep, honey, like all—”

  A bark echoed from right outside the sliders, and Destiny instantly shot up. “Mavvie!” she cried. “Mavvie!”

  Mav barked again in response.

  “Can I let him see her?” John called from the living room.

  “Doubt we can keep them apart,” Summer replied.

  A few seconds later, John stayed behind the doorjamb and held Mav with two hands, poking his little head into the room.

  “Hi, Dessie,” he said in a high-pitched cartoon voice, making them laugh. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

  Des giggled and sat up more, reaching her hands out. “Mavvie!”

  John stepped into the room, keeping Mav front and center. “Here he is,” he said. “Ready to give you a nice lick on the cheek for the night.”

  At Summer’s nod, he set the puppy on the bed next to Destiny, who immediately smothered him with love and got plenty in return. While they had their reunion, Summer looked up at John with a grateful smile.

  His return look wasn’t exactly…grateful. It was intense and dark and, holy hell, sexy. All the feelings that had bubbled up down by the fire came roaring back to the surface.

  “Can he s-s-s-sleep with me?”

  Good question, Summer thought. Can he sleep with me?

  “Um…” John lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know if your mom wants that.”

  So, so bad. She shook off the sexy musings and turned her concentration to Destiny and the dog she held. “Honey, you can’t just sleep with…” She stole a glance at him, just in time to see his brow flick in interest. “He’s not yours to sleep with.”

  “But he could be.”

  Oh yes, he could. “No, he is John’s dog and…”

  “Why doesn’t he stay for a little bit?” John suggested. “Maybe until you fall asleep. Then your mommy can bring him back to me.”

  “I wa-wa-want him all night.”

  “Sometimes he has to go outside in the middle of the night,” John said without hesitation. “And I don’t think you want to go all the way down those stairs and stand out in the middle of the night while he does…”

  “Business,” she finished with a little smile. “Ew. No.”

  Summer laughed softly. “Then you can cuddle with him for a little bit, honey, then when you’re asleep, he goes home.”

  “’Kay.” She snuggled down in the blankets and brought Mav with her, curling him into her s
ide. “Night.”

  “Good night,” Summer said, standing and turning out the light. “Love you, baby girl.”

  “Love you, Mommy. And g-g-good night, nice man.”

  John closed his eyes and tried not to laugh. “Night, Destiny.”

  They stepped out into the hall as Summer closed the door behind her.

  “I can’t change her,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close so he could whisper in her ear. “But I can make you promise to never call me that again.”

  Laughing, she turned her face up to his, letting their lips brush. “I make no such promises.”

  They walked back into the dimly lit living room, and for a moment, they just stood very still, their arms around each other again. It felt natural, holding him like this and looking into his eyes. But if she let this go one more minute without telling him exactly why she’d come to Bitter Bark, she might wake up in his arms tomorrow—covered in guilt.

  “I was right,” she finally said.

  “Hmm?”

  “It’s complicated. Any time there’s a kid involved, it is complicated.”

  He frowned slightly. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that maybe I need a little time and space to…adjust to all this.”

  He studied her face for a long time, stroking his knuckles along her jaw, silent for a good many heartbeats. “It will not surprise you in the least that I will gladly give you time, space, air, and whatever you need until you don’t need them anymore. Then…” He dipped his head and gave her one more long, sweet, tender kiss that sent fireworks through her body and turned her knees to water. “You’ll find out just how nice I can be.”

  “Oh…okay.” She leaned back, her eyes still closed. “I’ll bring Mav down when she’s asleep,” she said on a sigh.

  “The door will be unlocked.” He added with a light kiss on her forehead, then stepped away and disappeared onto the darkened deck.

  She stayed right where she was, frozen in place, until his footsteps quieted and his sliding glass door rumbled to a close.

  Oh, Summer. You came to Bitter Bark to find one man and somehow found yourself falling hard for another.

  Chapter Nine