Tallulah Trouble

by Casey Hagen

  “Yeah, about that…” he said, dragging out the words like Lumbergh from Office Space. “I’m sorry for hooking you into this. Kate made sure on the plane that I knew how mortified she was that I even asked. She’s worried about how this reflects on her.”

  Grazi thought back to the conversation on the beach with Abby and smiled. “She’s not the one who suggested it. If it reflects badly on anyone, wouldn’t it be you?”

  “That was my point,” he said.

  “Listen, you guys have another week. Don’t waste any more thought on my staying here with Hank. You saved me from tearing apart my closet three times and refolding the clothes in my dresser four. I would have gone nuts at home and likely went back to work early.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. I’m working on my vitamin D. It’s been good for me.”

  “Okay, look, I have to go, but when we get back, if you feel the need to reassure Kate, I won’t hate it.”

  “Message received. Now go cause some trouble.”

  “You know it,” he said.

  She smiled as the line went dead.

  The minute she hung up the phone, it rang again.

  “Dammit, Sebastian. You have a hot woman there who wants you to diddle her. Why aren’t you getting on that instead of pestering me?”

  “Chief? It’s not Sebastian,” Isaac’s amused voice said through the line.

  She knocked her forehead against the wall by the phone base. “Yeah, I got that.”

  “I feel the need to point out what a good sister you are for encouraging your brother to get some. My sister would not be so kind.”

  “I hate phones. I was willing to do just about anything to get him to shut up, even if it meant sacrificing my pride and puking a little in my mouth.”

  A silly smile crossed Grazi’s face while she listened to Isaac’s deep laugh on the other end of the line.

  “So, how goes it with Hank?”

  “He’s got it down. He also might have a bit of whiplash from turning to give me his attention every five or so feet when we walk, but he’ll mend.”

  “Yes, he will. Are you ready for another lesson?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  “How about this afternoon?” he asked.

  “Okay.”

  He scoffed. “Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”

  “Sorry, I’m a bit distracted,” she lied.

  “How about I come by at three. Does that work for you?”

  “I’m free and bored to tears, so yes, it works,” she said.

  “I’ll see you then.”

  “See you then,” she murmured as she hung up the phone and tried to squash her disappointment.

  All the kisses, sexy words, and calling her chief, but no mention of anything more than training.

  Fine.

  She’d put out her own fires then.

  She took a step and froze.

  No, she wouldn’t. Hank ate her vibrator. What was once a smooth, rather phenomenal piece of hardware now looked like Freddy Krueger’s face with skin hanging off.

  Her brother owed her the money for a new one because that sucker hadn’t come cheap.

  Uh, on second thought, no. Her brother buying her a vibrator might just rob any future ability to have an orgasm.

  And she liked her orgasms.

  A cool front whipped through the state, slicing the humidity down to manageable levels, and by afternoon, the unseasonable chill in the air had goosebumps rising on Grazi’s skin.

  They’d broken seventy, but after being in the south for so long, seventy was really just one step above needing a windbreaker.

  She dug out her most comfortable blue jeans and a thin, black scoop-neck sweater she hadn’t had the chance to wear yet.

  She cut off the tags, slid it over her head, and wrangled her thick hair in a bun before securing it.

  By the time she made her way out to the living room, three had rolled around and all she had to do was wait.

  Hank snuffled in his sleep. Lying half on and half off his dog bed, his legs twitched and pumped as though jerkily chasing something in his dreams.

  She’d worked him hard in the past couple days. So hard that he hadn’t had the energy to be nearly as much of a nuisance.

  Sure, he still sloshed his water and lay in it. He licked the sliding glass door every chance he got. And he still occasionally jumped up to set his paws on the counter.

  But they were working on it.

  Anytime he tried to jump on her, she used the technique Isaac taught her and distracted him into focusing on her.

  It cost her a treat, but the furball no longer felt her up.

  Now, no one felt her up.

  The peal of the doorbell had Hank shooting to his paws, roused out of a dead sleep. She followed him to the door, grabbed his collar, and cracked it open to find Isaac smiling on the other side.

  He’d thrown a plaid button-up over his standard T-shirt and jeans, leaving it unbuttoned, and rolling the sleeves up to his elbows.

  How did the man look like a combination of most likely to succeed, biker, and hot lumberjack all at once?

  “Graziella,” he said by way of greeting.

  “I was kind of digging the whole ‘Chief’ thing,” she said.

  “I’ll still use it, but right now…” he dragged his finger over her exposed shoulder where the sweater had shifted, “you’re Graziella.” He traced over her collarbone and nudged her chin with a grin before letting his hand fall away.

  “You’re a tease.”

  “What?” he said with a laugh.

  “You heard me. You and your flirting and all light touches, kisses, and those piercing stares, but the minute things get really interesting, like they might just lead somewhere, you have one foot out the door.”

  He glanced around his feet. The ones both firmly planted quite literally out the door.

  “You know what I mean?”

  He stepped in and slid his arm around her, walking her back a few steps before flipping the door shut. Hank danced around them, no interest in the open door, but only in getting doggie rubs.

  “You’re right. So let me make it up to you,” he murmured against the sensitive curve of her neck. He nipped her there, then soothed the bite with his tongue.

  Shocks pinged through her sensitized body. Her hands curled around his flexing biceps, anchoring her during the onslaught of sensual attention.

  “How do you intend to do that?” she said, tilting her head, giving him more access.

  He pulled back and smiled down at her. “This lesson will only take ten minutes. It’s more teaching you and you teaching him. Why don’t you come to my place after for dinner? I’m not much of a cook, but I’m phenomenal at ordering Chinese.”

  “You throw in a pu pu platter for two, and I’m yours.”

  “That’s all it takes, huh?”

  “I’m a simple woman. What you see is what you get.”

  “It’s a deal. Come on, let’s get to that lesson,” he said, giving her ass a light swat which made Hank dance around even more and nip at his hands.

  “I don’t think he likes you touching me.”

  “Yeah, the guy gets to second base with you, and he thinks it’s forever.”

  “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

  “No, I don’t think I am. I’m going to tell your brother, too, so he can regale all his baseball buddies with the story.”

  “Traitor.”

  They bantered as though they planned to be together, neither of them talking about the herd of elephants in the room: his ex-wife, his reluctance with Grazi, her life in Georgia, her career, and his comfortable corner of Tallulah, where he belonged.

  And maybe they didn’t need to. A few kisses and intense attraction didn’t translate into forever.

  Truth was, now that she had a few days to think about it, after talking to Ned and the morning on the beach with Abby, doubts crept in about what to do. She’d been ridi
ng high on the connections she’d begun making in town, connections she hadn’t come close to forming in the past decade living in Fort Benning.

  But it meant following through on retiring her Army life and acknowledging that while she wouldn’t have chosen a different path, the Army hadn’t given her everything she wanted. She wanted to fight in combat, and those avenues had only begun opening to women recently.

  She’d missed it. She’d been born at the wrong time to make her Army dreams come true.

  And maybe that’s what she really had to come to terms with. She needed to grieve something she’d wanted so much she could taste it, but had been robbed of because of something as simple as her place in history.

  “Where did you go there, Chief?” he asked as he grazed her cheek with his knuckles.

  She shook her head and smiled. “Nowhere.”

  “Liar.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe I’m just not ready to say it out loud,” she said, laying her hand over his, pulling his palm to her mouth, and pressing a gentle kiss into the center.

  “I can respect that. Come on. Let’s go teach Hank a thing or two,” he said.

  She snagged the leash from the entry table and looked at Hank. “Sit.”

  Hank clumsily smacked his rump on the floor and cocked his legs out to one side, making her laugh. “Good boy,” she said, clicking the leash to his collar and ruffling the fur behind his ears.

  “I’m impressed,” Isaac said, slipping the leash from her grip.

  “I can do stuff,” she said with a tilt of her head and flutter of her lashes.

  “I see that.”

  They headed for the front walk, treats at the ready.

  Isaac stopped.

  Hank didn’t.

  Isaac reached down and wrapped an arm around the dog before he could completely choke himself.

  “Come on, buddy. Let’s make that the last time you hang yourself from that particular noose, huh?”

  He pushed to his feet and handed her the leash. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to walk, but when you start to feel him pulling, almost before he starts, I want you to use the technique I taught you to get his attention. The goal is to keep him from pulling altogether. I don’t care if you have to gain his attention twenty times in the next forty feet. Every time he does as you ask, you give him a treat and praise.”

  “Okay. Come on, Hank,” she called and started down the walk.

  A butterfly fluttered at the edge of the grass, and the leash tightened. “Hank! Right here,” she said.

  The dog whipped around, and his gaze went right to the hand with the treat.

  “Not bad. Do me a favor. Next time, don’t even say his name. Just say ‘right here’ and don’t worry about the hand motion. I want to see what he does.”

  “You’re the boss.”

  “Hmmm, nice of you to notice,” he said.

  “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  “Which one?” he asked, sliding his hands into his pockets.

  “Either.”

  He rocked back on his heels and shrugged. “Too late.”

  “Of course it is,” she said with a laugh.

  “Come on, Hank,” she said as she pinned Isaac with a stare.

  They made it about six feet this time before a lizard hopped across the concrete in front of him.

  Grazi was ready, and the second tension stirred on the leash, she spoke up. “Right here.”

  Hank whipped around and stared at her hand.

  “Holy shit. He did it!” She dropped down onto her knees and wrapped her arms around him. “We’re going to survive this week, after all.”

  Hank snuffled and licked at her right hand.

  “Oh, shit. Sorry,” she muttered, giving him the treat.

  “He’s a smart one. I think you guys will have this down in the next few minutes. Now keep going,” Isaac said.

  She made sure to follow the same routine each time and as they progressed, the distance between infractions increased until finally he made it the last quarter of the walk without her having to get his attention once.

  Back at the brick pavers of the walkway, Hank stopped, sat, and glanced back at her right hand.

  “Do I give him one more?” she asked.

  “Yup, he’s been a good boy.”

  Grazi dropped her hands to her hips, keeping the leash looped around her hand. “Well, damn. I’ve been good. Where’s my treat?”

  “I plan to give you your treat later,” Isaac said with a wink.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It’s Not All Sunshine and Roses

  ISAAC TOOK GRAZIELLA’S HAND AND kissed her knuckles. “Good job, Chief. Ready to eat?”

  She’d walked Hank up and down the sidewalk three times. More than once he spotted curtains fluttering back into place at a few of the surrounding houses. No doubt, Mrs. Rowan, Mrs. Bigsby, and Mrs. Forand all had gotten their fill of info to spread through the gossip train.

  They probably had a phone tree reaching every last corner of Tallulah Cove. At least this might halt their efforts to set him up with their single granddaughters. Something about the idea of sitting across from one of them at Sunday brunch, the telltale twinkle in their eyes knowing he spent the night inside their granddaughter, made his dick want to shrivel up and run clear off the island.

  She smiled up at him and laid a palm on his chest. “I’m starving. Do you mind if I bring Hank? I hate to leave him here. He’s been doing so well; I don’t want him left to his own devices. He always ends up gnawing my underwires. I know the crate isn’t bad, but I cringe at the thought of putting him in it.”

  He took her hand in his, linking his fingers with hers at their side. “You don’t have to ask. Lila has a calming effect on him. I’ve never had a problem with Hank in my house.”

  “Thanks,” she said, snagging her purse from the entry table and slipping it over her shoulder.

  Hand in hand, with Hank in tow and walking without incident, they headed for his place.

  She squeezed his hand and gave him a side glance. “So, when are you going to tell me about your ex?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “Wow, you heard about that, did you? This town works fast.”

  “Just one person and I can tell you, she doesn’t like your ex at all. I get the feeling, after talking to her, that this whole island might want to see her head on a spike,” she said.

  “It’d be a total waste of energy. She’s not worth it,” he said.

  “That, I also hear,” she said, giving him a reassuring wink.

  They turned up his front walk. “I screwed up. It’s that simple,” he said with a shrug. “And that part is on me. She was fresh out of college. Sweet face, sunny smile, petite, polite, and full of enthusiasm. On the outside, she was like this perfect, shiny Red Delicious apple. But on the inside, she was rotten to the core and full of worms.”

  She slowed to a stop before his door. “Don’t you think that’s her fault?”

  He smoothed his thumb over her wrinkled brow. “I’m old enough to know better. I was blinded by what she represented, what we could be together. I was building this nostalgic, Norman Rockwell type image in my head, and I tried to make my life fit. That’s my fault. Maybe, had I not been trying to attain perfection, I would have seen what she really was before she set off a shitstorm that robbed me of everything.”

  “Do you like your life here?” she asked with an inquisitive tilt of her head.

  “Is that a trick question?”

  She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I’m completely serious.”

  He stopped and stared down at her, his gaze going right to the swell of her high cheekbones, her full pink lips, and those warm eyes, all framed by wild waves breaking free from their restraints.

  He’d bet makeup rarely ever touched her skin. She walked the world, unadorned and honest. It took him a good decade and a lot of shitty experiences to appreciate it.

  Birds chirped around them. Sun streaked t
hrough the trees, penetrating their pores and heating them from the inside out. Dragonflies surfed the fresh breeze tumbling down the street.

  Somewhere, maybe a street over, kids squealed in delight at the faint call of the local ice cream truck.

  Did he like his life here?

  It wasn’t what he’d envisioned. It’s not what he had planned and tried to execute by marrying Amy. But…

  A smile took him by surprise, and he pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to her lips. No tongue. No open mouth. Maybe it was just a way for him to snatch a sliver of that Norman Rockwell picture after all.

  But this time, with the right woman.

  “Yes, I love my life here,” he murmured a fraction of an inch above her lips.

  She ran her finger over his bottom lip, sending a shiver through his body as if he’d just grabbed onto a live wire. “So, what did she take?” she asked.

  He let out a self-deprecating laugh. He had to wonder if Graziella wasn’t just destined to cross his path and give him the firm kick in the ass he needed to get out of his own way. “You’re a smart woman, Graziella.”

  “Yes, well, it’s amazing the clarity one has when they aren’t living the situation,” she said with a laugh. “Now if I just had my shit together, I’d be all set.”

  His phone went off in his pocket. “Hold that thought, I need to take this.” He slid his thumb over the screen. “Hello?”

  “Isaac, my boy. Sherlock isn’t doing so good. He’s not eating or drinking. I think it’s time. I don’t want him to start suffering because he’s starving,” Mr. Colson said, his voice wobbling.

  Heaviness, like one of those lead blankets at the dentist, settled over him. “I’m on my way,” Isaac said.

  “What should we do while we wait?” Mr. Colson asked.

  “Just stay with Sherlock. Keep petting him. Talk to him. Make sure he knows he’s not alone. His suffering will be over soon,” Isaac said quietly before hanging up.

  “Isaac?” Grazi said, laying a gentle hand on his arm.

  “I hate to do this, but I have to do a house call.”

  “Please, do what you need to do. It’s okay,” she said, backing away.

  He reached out and snagged her arm. “Wait! Why don’t you come with me?”

  She sucked in a breath and narrowed her eyes. “Ooooh, yeah, I don’t know about that. This seems like a private moment. They might not appreciate—”