The Aussie Next Door

by Stefanie London

  Tilly looked up at him, her big brown eyes unwavering in their contact. It was almost like she was saying, I know what you were about to do. Don’t worry—I protected you.

  Without a canine running interference, he would have kissed Angie. And that would have been a huge mistake. Thankfully now the moment had been lost, and Angie was fussing with a throw pillow, avoiding looking at him.

  The awkward tension was back. It was probably for the best, though. Angie was trouble with a capital T, and even though he very much wanted to kiss her, it wasn’t a good idea. They wanted different things…needed different things.

  “Thanks, girl,” he whispered to Tilly, giving her a hearty scratch behind her ears.

  He would have to be more careful from now on, because it was clear he was attracted to Angie even more than he first thought. And when she got too close to him, his brain ceased to function properly.

  Or at all.

  “I, uh…should go.” Angie got up from her seat and hustled out of his apartment so quickly that she left the VHS player and all her tapes behind. The back door shut with a bang. Jace sagged back against the couch, his head spinning and his body feeling all wound up.

  Yeah, he really didn’t understand women.

  Chapter Nine

  So it turned out that Truffle had a problem. A humping problem.

  Jace’s morning had been turned upside down when his post-surf shower had been interrupted by aggressive pounding on his front door. His elderly neighbor, Mrs. Marsh, had stood on his doorstep, still wearing her nightgown and slippers, her hair wrapped in a silk scarf and Truffle on a leash.

  Turned out he’d escaped by jumping onto the couch, climbing up the back, and making a death-defying leap to the sideboard under the window, where he’d climbed out. That’s what Jace got for leaving the windows open at night. But the prison break–style escape wasn’t the worst of it. Mrs. Marsh said she’d found Truffle humping her beloved beagle, Archer. Or, in her words, bringing “the devil” into her home.

  Jace wasn’t exactly sure how a Chihuahua that was no bigger than a loaf of bread was able to bring the devil into anyone’s home, but he promised he’d do his best to prevent any further canine sexual acts. But as much as he wanted to keep his promise to Mrs. Marsh, he didn’t want to sully his internet browser history by Googling “dog humping.” Who knew what kinds of weird ads that would bring up on his computer? So he’d stuffed a few treats into these weird ball things that were in Eugenie’s bag of tricks that would hopefully keep the little guy occupied for a while so Jace could work.

  He’d been trying to figure out an issue with his currently storyline, Hermit vs. the Bridge, but he couldn’t find the right feeling. Yesterday, he’d sketched scene after scene, trying to get into Hermit’s headspace. But nothing was working.

  Maybe it was because he kept playing the “almost kiss” with Angie on loop, letting the image repeat over and over and over until he was sure if he reached out, he would touch her. He’d even started sketching out a scene with Hermit meeting a woman, but that just made him think about all the ways he could possibly screw things up with Angie, so he’d balled the paper in his fist and tossed it across the room.

  In the end, he’d started sketching Hermit stumbling upon a dog with an injured paw. That felt a whole lot safer than trying to put a romance subplot into his comic. After a morning of free sketching, he’d ended up with a funny scenario about Hermit finding a dog who also didn’t like people—a canine version of himself.

  He found himself chuckling as he worked. The dog—whom he’d decided would be called T, as in short for trouble—was lost. Nobody in the town wanted a dog who didn’t like people, so Hermit agreed to look after him for the time being. After all, he knew what it was like not to fit the mold. By the time the afternoon rolled around, he’d completed the draft and was inking on top of his pencil.

  All comic storylines took detours now and then, and Jace figured the introduction of a new character might boost interest for his readership. People on the internet loved dogs. So it was a strategic move in his mind. An acceptable diversion. But tomorrow, he’d have to get back to the real storyline.

  Speaking of dogs…

  He glanced through his studio’s open door, which looked out into the living room, where Truffle was humping the leg of the coffee table. The little guy was really going at it, too. He’d hooked his front paws around the leg of the table and his head jerked around with the movement.

  “You’ve got some pent-up energy, huh, bud?” He scratched his head. What was one supposed to do to discourage that kind of thing? Eugenie Landry had not prepared him for this. “Hey, enough!”

  Jace clapped his hands and Truffle trotted over, tail wagging like he was feeling pretty good about getting some.

  “Don’t look so damn pleased with yourself.”

  But Truffle continued to look very pleased.

  “All right, let’s go for a walk. See if we can’t burn off some of that energy.”

  At the sound of the W word, Truffle’s ears pricked up, and his tail wagged. At least if he was all tuckered out, then he wouldn’t have energy to foist himself on unsuspecting dogs or inanimate objects…hopefully.

  Jace narrowed his eyes at Truffle, who had taken up post by the front door and was patiently waiting. No wonder he was distracted from work—maintaining his routine was like pushing shit uphill at the moment.

  “You’re cute and all, but man, you’re a lot of work.” Jace crouched down by the front door to help Truffle into the harness he wore to prevent him from choking himself when he tugged on his leash. The dog slapped his tiny paws on Jace’s knee and looked up at him adoringly. “Okay, so you’re real cute. Still way too much work for me. Can you please stop humping things?”

  Somehow he doubted Truffle’s compliance. They headed out into the midday sunshine, leaving Tilly behind because she was happily curled up in her doggy bed and snoring like an old man. He’d take her out later.

  Jace’s house wasn’t far from the main strip, and the walk took him along streets he could draw purely from memory. The buzz of lawn mowers mixed with birds chirping and the ever-present squawk of seagulls was Patterson’s Bluff’s eternal soundtrack. Truffle stopped to sniff at each corner, dutifully marking his territory with a quick raise of his leg.

  Jace made it all the way down to the main strip before he had the sudden worry that he might run into Julia. For a moment, he’d been so wrapped up in looking after the dog, he’d forgotten the bombshell that Nick had dropped the other night. What if she was here now? Doing her groceries and walking around like this was her town when it wasn’t?

  The thought of it made him tense. The last time he’d seen her was the afternoon of their rehearsal dinner. She’d had her makeup done, her reddish hair piled up on top of her head. There’d been a strange energy about her—one of those things he was hopeless at describing. But he’d put it down to nerves about their big day. Totally normal, right?

  That was until he’d gone to the dinner with his family, as planned. She’d only invited her dad, since her mother wasn’t in the picture anymore. His parents, siblings, and a handful of their close mutual friends sat at the beautiful seaside restaurant, waiting…and waiting.

  And waiting.

  He’d called her at ten minutes. Then thirty. Then an hour. Julia wasn’t the most punctual person, so they hadn’t been too worried, initially. But by an hour and ten, his imagination had churned, convincing him that something bad had happened.

  The food had come out, but Jace couldn’t eat. When he’d gone home, he’d known it was over. Her side of the bedroom had been totally cleaned out…and there’d been a note.

  Dear Jace, I’m sorry to do this to you. But I can’t marry you. I think I’m in love with Trent. I have to leave.

  He swallowed against the uncomfortable lump in his throat that came whenever he though
t about that day—though he tried not to. But the shame and embarrassment were still so easily brought to the surface. He’d never gotten an explanation beyond her note, never heard from her again. Not that he’d tried to contact her. The whole thing had sent him further into his work. Further into his own world.

  Jace walked up the main street, pulling his shoulders back like he was a man who owned his space. Regardless of Julia’s reasons for coming back to Patterson’s Bluff, he wasn’t going to let it affect him. He’d moved on.

  “Hey, Jace.” Chloe gave a wave as she headed over to him. She had on her usual attire—hair in a messy bun, yoga pants, and a T-shirt that said you had me at namaste. In her hands was one of those reusuable Keep Cup-style coffee mugs. “Walking a cute little dog like that is a great way to pick up women.”

  He snorted. “If you knew the reason I was taking this guy on a walk, you wouldn’t say that.”

  Chloe laughed. “It was great to see you out at the twilight party the other night. I feel like it’s been ages. What have you been up to?”

  “Work. I’ve got interest from a comic syndication group in the US for Hermit vs. World.” He paused when she looked like she was expecting him to continue. What more was there to say about that? “Um, that’s comic-nerd speak for a really great business opportunity.”

  “That’s awesome. I always knew you’d do something with your art. And I’m usually the one making people have that glazed-over look.” She sipped the drink in her right hand, leaving a glossy pink imprint on the lid. “There’s only so much savasana one can take before people wonder if they’re dead. Sorry, yoga humor.”

  Jace didn’t quite get the joke, since his experience with yoga would have rivaled his experience with horny dogs before today. “The studio looks like it’s going really well.”

  “It is!” She grinned. Across the road, Unwind was bustling. A group of women with colorful mats stood outside, chatting. Through the front window, a class was taking place. People stood with their arms raised above their heads before sweeping down to bend in half. “I’m really pleased. I wasn’t sure the locals would buy into the whole yoga and meditation thing, but they’ve embraced me and apparently I haven’t embarrassed my mother too much.”

  “Is she still mad that you gave up on the family business?”

  “Uh, yeah. Understatement of the century. But being the black sheep has its perks. They don’t expect anything of me anymore.” Chloe rolled her eyes, but then something caught her attention, and she paused. His gaze followed hers across the street.

  Oh.

  At that moment, Angie came out of the yoga studio, wearing a pair of skin-tight lilac leggings that showed off her cycling-toned legs to perfection. On top she wore a black tank, and her hair was swept loosely into a ponytail that hung over one shoulder. A sky-blue yoga mat was tucked under one arm. She looked…radiant.

  “They’re totally vibing.” Chloe seemed über-excited. “I knew they would hit it off!”

  “Angie told me about her plan.” Elijah reached up to pick something out of Angie’s hair, and Jace frowned. “This whole thing is dumb.”

  Chloe stared at him long and hard. He knew he sounded jealous, but she didn’t know Angie was leaving soon. It was a dumb idea because she was leaving. No other reason. Absolutely nothing to do with the almost kiss.

  He watched Angie and her Romeo, who now had her giggling about something. Probably how many pizzas he could toss at once.

  Did they even sell pizzas in his restaurant? Jace wasn’t sure.

  “Oh shoot, my class is about to start. It was nice chatting with you, Jace.” She gave a wave. “You should come by sometime, stretch out your muscles. It’s a good idea when you’ve been sitting at a desk all day!”

  Over his dead body. Jace had as much flexibility as a lump of coal, and he wasn’t about to put himself in a situation to show that off in public. His gaze lingered on Angie and Elijah.

  Judging by the way she was talking to Elijah, smiling sweetly and toying with the end of her ponytail, she was definitely “vibing,” as Chloe put it. An ugly, foreign feeling surged up inside Jace that made him feel the exact same way as when he’d watched his brother flirting with her.

  Turn around and walk away. It’s none of your damn business.

  But before Jace fully thought through the consequences of his actions, he was crossing the road with Truffle leading the way. As soon as the little white dog caught sight of Angie, his tail started going a million miles a minute.

  Stop. You’re not going to get involved. Don’t be a hypocrite. Other people in this town meddle and you hate it.

  It was true. He came from a family of meddlers, and it drove him nuts. But maybe there was some meddling-specific chromosome that had been passed on from his parents without his knowledge, remaining dormant all this time and waiting for the right moment to strike.

  “Jace.” Angie looked at him with wide eyes, almost like she was a kid with her hand stuck in the cookie jar.

  “I was taking Truffle for a walk.” He raked a hand through his hair like he was totally relaxed and going about his day. The truth was, he had no bloody idea what he was doing. “How was yoga?”

  “Awesome.” For some reason, Angie’s voice seemed an octave or two higher than normal. “Super great, actually. Excellent.”

  Hmm. Three ways of saying the same thing. She did that whenever she was nervous.

  “Are you into yoga?” Jace asked Elijah.

  “Yeah, man. With all the firewood I have to chop for the pizza oven, my back gets real tight.”

  Jace resisted the urge to roll his eyes. How did he manage to say shit like that without coming off like a total douchecanoe?

  “But I could always use some tutoring.” Elijah shot Angie a flirty look, and her cheeks turned the prettiest shade of pink. “Any opportunity to expand my skills.”

  “I’m sure Chloe could help with that,” Jace said stiffly.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Truffle sniffing around Elijah’s leg. He’d done the same thing to the coffee table earlier that morning—inspecting his target. Jace really should put a stop to it…

  “I wasn’t talking about Chloe,” Elijah said, his eyes still trained on Angie.

  Angie laughed and gingerly stuck her hand in the air. “I volunteer as tribute.”

  Jace forgot the dog and stared at her hard. Was this one of those gray-area things he’d never understand, or did Angie really like this guy? He had no freaking clue.

  Just then, Truffle jumped up on his hind legs, hooking his front paws around Elijah’s calf. His hips started to hinge back and forth, and Elijah glanced down, a what the hell do I do now expression on his face as he and Angie looked down at Sir Hump-a-Lot.

  “What the hell?” Elijah stumbled back, and Truffle dropped down to the ground, looking mightily miffed that his sexy times were interrupted.

  “Truffle!” Angie snort-laughed. “So inappropriate.”

  “It’s a dominance thing,” Jace said to Elijah. “He tends to do that whenever he thinks he can overpower someone.”

  Angie shot Jace a raised brow, but she squatted to give the dog a scratch behind the ears before he could figure out exactly what she was thinking. Was the comment too much? He’d blurted it out without thinking, and Elijah seemed off his game now.

  “I’d better get going before any other animals decide to make love to my leg,” Elijah said. “But I’ll see you tomorrow, Angie. Looking forward to it.”

  Why would Elijah be seeing Angie tomorrow? And why did the thought of them meeting up make him feel a little ill?

  “You heading home now?” she asked, pasting on a big smile and acting like this whole situation wasn’t strange and awkward as hell.

  “Actually, I was going to take Truffle to the dog park. He…uh, needs to work off some energy.”

  “Want compa
ny?” she asked.

  “Sure.”

  Don’t mention the date. Don’t mention the date. Don’t mention the date.

  “So you’ve got a date with Elijah.” Shit.

  Maybe there was somewhere he could buy a verbal filter. Surely Amazon Prime would have something. At the very least, some electrical tape might work to keep his mouth shut.

  “Yeah.” She fiddled with her ponytail. “We’re grabbing a bite to eat. He seems like a nice bloke.”

  Jace didn’t even react to her use of “bloke” like he normally would have. “He has an unnatural amount of muscles, you know.”

  That’s the best you can do?

  Angie blinked. “Unnatural?”

  “It means he spends too much time at the gym,” Jace explained, trying to dig himself out of the verbal hole. “What does that say about a man’s priorities in life?”

  “That health is important.” Angie’s brows furrowed.

  “Some gym is good. Too much gym is bad.” Dude, that made literally no sense. “What I mean is that you want a guy to do things with you, right? Other than, like…” He tried to think of something weight-related. “Squatting.”

  Angie shook her head. “Somehow I don’t think we’re going to do squats on our date.”

  “And he’s a small-business owner.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “It takes up a lot of time.” Yeah, this sounded more legitimate. “He works long hours and has a lot of responsibilities for the people he employs. And, uh…legal stuff. Running a business is serious work, Angie. Very time-consuming.”

  “So you’re telling me that I should find a guy with no job and no hobbies?” She laughed. “I’m not sure that sounds like someone whose company I’d enjoy.”

  “No, well, not no job. But maybe…” Dig up. “Someone who works at home so he’s…around more.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Someone like you?”

  “Oh no, definitely not me.” If there was a time to shut up, it would be now. But Jace was on a roll, and he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “Like…Rob Halpert.”