you away from her.” In mere seconds, Dorian had the dog a mile away from Amber’s cabin.
Amber called and called Star from her backyard, not daring to venture off her lot, but she couldn’t see or hear him anywhere.
“Star!”
Tears misted her eyes, afraid she’d made a horrible mistake in letting him out. “Oh God! I hope a bear didn’t get him!” But she knew she hadn’t heard anything. She realized she wasn’t getting anywhere and went back to her cabin. She’d left her cell phone on the kitchen table. She picked it up and called Paul.
Away from any interference, Dorian, still holding the dog’s muzzle tight with one hand and gripping his haunches with the other, eased him down on his feet. He let go of the dog’s body and the dog tried to pull away, but couldn’t free himself of Dorian’s grip. “Now…mutt,” Dorian said, “look at me!” He locked his eyes into the angry eyes of the dog, but it didn’t take long and the anger faded, as Star saw something in Dorian’s eyes that made him whimper. Dorian focused his will into the dog. “You and I are going to be good friends…You won’t growl at me anymore! And you definitely won’t try to bite me! Got it?” Star snorted and whined but wagged his tail. “Okay…I think we have an understanding here. You’re the big bad dog…but I’m an even bigger bad dog!” He loosened his grip on Star’s mouth and Star let out a happy bark and wagged his tail. Dorian gave him a loving pat on his head then. “Much better. Now, I think I can take you home.”
Dorian wasn’t in any hurry now in returning the dog. He wanted this to play out in his favor. Instead of streaking through the forest, he ran a normal pace for a while, letting the dog run alongside. When they reached a reasonable proximity to his own cabin, Dorian diverted the dog to his place, taking him inside and feeding him a steak that needed to be eaten or cooked before it got bad. Soon as the dog finished, Dorian said, “Okay…guess it’s been a reasonable length of time. I’ll take you home now.”
Star let out a couple of yips and jumped up and down, obviously understanding.
“Okay…boy, let’s go.” Dorian opened the door and they headed down the trail.
Paul was just pulling into the drive and Amber was standing there in the light of the porch waiting for him to get out when Dorian and Star came up from the back. Paul saw them immediately as he stepped out of his truck. He nodded in their direction as he spoke to Amber, “Looks like Mr. Lodovico found Star for you.”
“What?” she swirled around just in time for Star to leap up and greet her with a joyful but very wet lick across her face.
“Thought he might belong to you,” Dorian said, walking up. “I just got home a little while ago…was gone for a bit. Heard him barking out in the woods. Not sure what he was after, but whatever it was must have eluded him. And he’d managed to get his collar caught on a broken branch. Had to free him. Anyway, he seemed glad to see me…And you’re my closest neighbor…So thought I’d try you first.” He looked at Paul, who was observing him intently. “Stevenson…” he gave a respectful nod.
“Lodovico,” Paul replied, observing him with fixed, leery eyes.
“I can’t thank you enough!” Amber said, as she petted her exuberant dog. “I thought he was gone for sure…That’s why I called Paul.
”Dorian flashed a smile. “Hey...You can always call me when I’m home. I’m generally around close.” His eyes cut to Paul, who wasn’t looking nearly as happy as Amber.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Amber replied. “But Paul here was so nice to leave the store and come out to help me look for him.” She smiled thankfully at Paul. But he was eyeing Dorian curiously and didn’t seem to hear her. “Paul?” she said.
“Oh!” he said, attention turning to her. “No problem…I’m just glad you got Star back.” He realized he must appear rude and reached out and offered his hand to Dorian, who took it with a quick shake.
“Well…Guess all’s well that ends well,” Dorian said, releasing Paul’s hand and dropping to his knees and giving Star a hug. Star, in turn, licked his face. “Okay…I like you, too.” Dorian bounced up then and nodded briskly. “Have a good one!” And he swiftly walked off.
Amber noticed that Paul seemed preoccupied, chewing his bottom lip, as his eyes remained on Dorian disappearing into the overgrowth. “You don’t like him, do you?”
Still facing in Dorian’s direction, he closed his eyes momentarily, sucked in air and then sighed halfheartedly and turned, giving her a forced smile. “Not really sure how I feel…There’s something strange about him.”
“Well, Star obviously likes him,” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “Yeah… I guess that says something. Dogs usually have good instincts about people. And he seems to really like Lodovico. Guess the man can’t be all that bad.”
“Well…he’s certainly come to my rescue a time or two.”
Paul scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, dropping his arm down. “I guess maybe I’m a little jealous.”
She was surprised by his confession. “But why?”
He took her in his arms. Star whimpered. “Not hurting her, Star,” he said. Then to Amber, “I want to be the one to come to your rescue! That’s why. I like you a lot, Amber…And guess I don’t really like the idea of you living so close to someone who might possibly be a rival.”
She couldn’t contain her grin. “You are jealous!”
“Admittedly.”
“No reason to be.”
“Ummm…not so certain about that. He really seems to have eyes for you. And I hate to admit it…but he’s good-looking.”
“And so are you. But what makes you think he likes me?”
“The way he looks at you.”
“You must be imagining it, Paul. He hasn’t made any moves towards me…in that way.”
“Maybe not…yet.”
She hung her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on his lips. “Nothing to be jealous of.”
“You say that…but I’m not so sure. I’ve noticed how all the women around look at him when he comes in the store. Even Judy talks about how hot he is…And…I have noticed you looking at him.”
“Just looking, Paul! That’s all. Yes…he is very easy on the eyes. But so are you! I love your green eyes and the way your bangs spill over your forehead.”
He squinted, surprised. “You do? I’m always trying to push them out of the way.”
“Don’t…sexy.”
That brought on a pleased grin. “Really?”
“Really.”
They stared into one another’s eyes for several seconds, but Star was getting anxious for attention and began barking. Paul kissed her tenderly in spite of the dog. When they broke away, Paul asked, “Okay if I come over later? Sally’s running late tonight, and Judy’s watching the store until I get back.”
“Definitely,” she answered, smiling auspiciously. “And Sally’s already coming back to work?”
“Said she was. But she’s not staying in the same place now. She’s staying with a couple of friends for a while…and her cat, too.”
“Good!”
“Later then.” To Star, “Now you be good…And don’t go running off again.”
Star woofed.
Paul climbed into his Ram. “That almost sounded defiant,” he said to Amber.
She chuckled. “Yeah…It did.”
Paul waved then and left. Amber took Star back into the house.
There was something with this Dorian Lodovico that Paul definitely felt uneasy about, although he couldn’t put his finger on it.
For one, he didn’t like the way the man seemed so sure of himself – not that that was a bad thing in general – but he was just a little too cocky for Paul’s likes. Paul had to question himself. Was he that jealous? Was he that insecure that he was jealous of someone he hardly knew? Or was there really something not quite right about the man? He had always been easygoing and tried not to be judgmental. So was he being judgmental with Lodovico just because he could be competition
? Or was there really and truly something wrong with the man? These things he knew he needed to sort out for himself.
He really liked Amber…Liked her more than any woman he’d ever met. He felt that if he had a chance in hell with her…he didn’t want to blow that chance by overreacting and being jealous if there was no reason to be. And he didn’t want to lose the chance of being with her to Lodovico, if Lodovico was after her. Something in his gut told him that he was.
“Dammit!” he said to himself and beat his fist on the steering wheel. “Don’t screw this up!” He glanced upward out his windshield. “God! Please don’t let me screw this up!” He was home now and pulled in alongside the building.
Sally was just arriving too, earlier than she had said; something Paul wasn’t unhappy about. They met at the door. She had a bandage on her neck but greeted Paul smiling as though nothing unusual had transpired.
“You sure you feel up to working, Sally?” he asked, holding the door open for her.
“Damn right! Not gonna let some freak keep me in hiding for the rest of my life. I love working for you and Judy…One of the bright spots in my life.”
“And you’re a bright spot in ours, Sally,” he said, stopping to give her a hug before going on back into his living quarters.
Dorian popped a beer open and sat down to his little bar. He needed to act fast. Paul wasn’t wasting any time in trying to win Amber’s affections.
They hadn’t made love yet. That he was pretty sure of, but all his vampire instincts told him that it was getting really close.
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