“He’ll love this puppy.” Chad gave Harley a rubdown. “Good luck when Jenna finds out you let out her surprise.”
“I won’t need any luck.” Larry picked up Harley and held him close to his heart. The pain inside was worse than all the burns he had suffered, but he couldn’t let the guys know. He had to put on a tough face. He was not a man to be pitied, and he would never let any woman hurt him again, ever.
He climbed the steps to the chief’s office, high on the second floor.
“Hey, what’s up?” Connor looked up from his computer. “You still have Jenna’s puppy. Is he toilet-trained yet?”
“He’s doing great. Holding it almost all night, and hasn’t had an accident all weekend.” Larry sat on one of the easy chairs in Connor’s office.
“I can’t believe my sister has you suckered into taking care of her dog.” Connor shook his head as if amused by Jenna’s ingenuity or ability to get people to do whatever she wanted.
It wasn’t amusing to Larry.
“Actually, she got this puppy for you.” Larry all but grunted. “I’m hoping you’re ready for another firehouse dog.”
Connor’s eyes clouded over and he heaved a sigh. “That sister of mine. Meddling. If she wasn’t so pretty and perky, I’d strangle her myself.”
“I think she means well. She wants you to be happy. She was going to surprise you for Valentine’s Day, but I figured you should be prepared.”
Connor let Harley sniff his fingers, and the puppy licked his hand, dropping drool on the carpet.
“I guess I could take this dog,” Connor said. “If it makes Jenna happy."
“Do you think Harley would be happy here?”
“You named him already? Cool. I like Harley.” Connor picked up the puppy and rubbed his ears. “He’ll be great.”
Larry’s shoulders slumped, and he felt the entire weight of his grief descend on him. Harley had a home, but it wasn’t with him. He shouldn’t have let himself get attached.
“You look like you’re going to miss him,” Connor said. “Want to take care of him a little longer, at least until Jenna decides to surprise me?”
“No, he’s properly trained.” Larry stood so quickly, he bumped his shoulder on a standing lamp. “I’m sick and tired of Jenna popping over to my place to see her dog while I do all the dirty work. Feeding him, wiping up his spills, taking him out for potty breaks and cleaning his fur.”
“Thought you liked the dog.” Connor crossed his arms and regarded him like a best buddy should. “Thought you liked my sister.”
“I’m not over Shelly,” Larry lied.
“You looked plenty over Shelly when I saw you yesterday walking through the park with Jenna.”
“Jenna’s boyfriend turned up today.” Larry hated the grit in his throat threatening to choke him.
“Which one?” Connor glowered. “You want me to punch the lights out of him, I’ll be glad to lead the charge.”
“Don’t worry. I already did.”
Connor laid his hand on Larry’s shoulder. “Man, I’m really sorry for you. Jenna means well, but she has no clue the effect she has on people.”
Chapter Eleven
Jenna packed Gustave into a taxi. She stood in front of the open door while the cab idled. “I’ll call you later, but I have things to take care of.”
“Sure you don’t want to have dinner with me?” The photographer leered at her.
“I can’t. There’s still too much to do. I’m a one-woman show here. The models are flying in and I have to get everyone fitted and make the final adjustments.”
“I came a few days early, hoping to spend time with you, ma chérie,” the photographer crooned.
“I can’t. Quint’s covering the show. You understand.” She pecked him lightly on the cheek. “I absolutely need a fantastic write up from him.”
“But the photos, you need a bang-up look-book, no?”
“Yes, but since this is my solo show, it all hangs on the reviews. That’s what the buyers will be looking at before they order the look-book.” She patted his hand. “Also, we agreed to cut it off. You said, if I ever found a man for my heart, you’d let me go.”
“For Quint? No way.”
“Not Quint. Not Max, either. Someone you don’t know. You promised.”
“I’m a good man. Not a jealous bone in my body. See you, then.” Gustave waved good-naturedly. “And don’t think for one minute I believe that beast was your hired bodyguard.”
He sat back and gestured for Jenna to shut the door, so she did.
Turning quickly, she ran toward the firehouse. She had to catch Larry and explain. No matter how “good natured” Gustave acted, the man was a jerk. If suing Larry and having him arrested would add to the drama and excitement of his life, he’d do it without a second thought. Only now, since he hadn’t had Larry arrested, and the only witness was Jenna, he didn’t have much of a case. A bruised jaw was all that marred his Hollywood handsome face.
She huffed and puffed as her boots clomped down the sidewalk. Maybe she should have called a cab herself.
Chad and Jackson were on the driveway polishing a firetruck, but she dashed by them with a hasty wave. Larry had said he would be headed here. She had to catch him. No way would he answer his phone or his door to her. She’d seen the shuttered look on his face and the way he’d closed his heart to her. She couldn’t let him go. Not today. Not ever.
She breezed through the lobby and ran smack into Connor.
“Have you seen Larry?” she sputtered as he grabbed her shoulders to keep her from pitching forward.
“He was just here.”
“Woof, woof, wooohhfff.” Little Treat’s bark raised her hope.
Jenna turned toward the puppy and swung her head back and forth wildly. “Larry? Larry? Are you here?”
“He left.” Connor stood behind her. “He left Harley with me. Told me everything. How you planned to surprise me with a date with a model and spring the puppy on me.”
“He did?” Jenna’s hands flew to her face. “And what happened? Do you want Harley?”
“Do you want Larry?” Connor grabbed her by the arm and led her toward his office. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”
“Why, what did he tell you?” She clambered up the steps, understanding why her brother wanted to talk in private. Several heads had turned her direction and men had stepped out of the lunch room when she’d run into the station yelling for Larry.
Connor shoved her into his office and shut the door. “If you’re effing around with Larry, sister or not, I’m going to kill you.”
“Me? You’d turn against me?” Jenna couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Yes, you. Larry’s a good man. He’s the best. He’s not one of your fash pack gigolos. Guys who pat themselves on the back, preening and pretending they’re somebodies when they’re a bunch of lowlife scum.”
“He’s the best,” Jenna wailed, holding back her tears. “He’s the best, but I had to pretend he was my bodyguard. Gustave was going to sue him for punching him. He still might.”
“So you crushed Larry to protect him?” Connor’s frown deepened. “You don’t know Larry at all. He doesn’t need your protection and he doesn’t want it.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him. Did he go home? Tell me where he went.”
“I don’t know. He left Harley. He said you were giving him to me and he didn’t want you to have any excuse to go bothering him again, so he gave him to me early. Sorry to spoil your surprise.”
“He doesn’t want me bothering him?” Jenna swiped angrily at a few tears that leaked.
“No, and if I were you, I’d leave him alone.”
“I can’t. I only have a few more days before I have to go to London. I have to see him and explain.”
“Don’t hurt him any further.” Connor all but growled. “Pretty women like you think life is all about you. Larry will be fine after you leave.”
* * *
L
arry wandered the streets, not looking forward to returning to an empty apartment. Why had he left Little Harley? That had been a stupid thing to do.
He’d go back to the fire station and retrieve him, but then he’d have to run the gauntlet of all his crew mates. He wasn’t in the mood for the ribbing or teasing he was sure to get. Not when the hole in his chest made it hard to breathe.
He strode past the Love Bean coffee shop and didn’t bother looking inside at all the happy people chatting with their friends. He’d believed Jenna cared about him, or at least could have been a friend, but the way she’d dismissed him hurt to the bone, and no friend would ever have done what she did.
“Larry? Larry!” a female voice called, sounding too much like Jenna.
Larry lengthened his stride and hurried down the sidewalk.
“Larry.” The footsteps clip-clopped after him. “Slow down. Is everything okay?”
It was Melisa, of course. Jenna would never have worried whether things were okay with him or not. She was too self-centered. Even Connor agreed, telling him that Jenna was considered the most beautiful of the three girls in her family and had always been put on a pedestal by her parents—especially her father, who regarded her as the apple of his eye.
He slowed and turned to greet Melisa. She rushed up to him, her cheeks rosy and her hair frizzy from the damp fog which had descended over the city.
“I thought it was you, but where’s Jenna’s puppy?” Melisa held her arms out for a hug.
Larry hugged her, almost lifting her from her feet. “I left him with Connor. He’s all potty-trained.”
“Oh, I thought it was going to be a surprise Valentine’s gift, not that I agreed with it,” Melisa said. “Well, that’s good, right?”
“Yep, all good.”
Her eyebrows pinched together with concern as she looked up at him. “You look like you lost your best friend. Maybe you should have kept Harley and asked Connor to pick out his own dog.”
Of course, Melisa knew how much he loved Harley. He’d brought him to school every day and kept him in the basement during school hours, but had him follow him around after hours to do his chores.
“Yeah, well, he was Jenna’s dog. Her decision.” He slumped his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Jenna’s been acting weird. I doubt she thought this thing through,” Melisa said.
“She hadn’t,” Larry admitted. “I don’t think women like Jenna ever think about anyone other than themselves.”
“Whoa, wait. That’s a mighty big generalization,” Melisa said, touching his arm. “You want to go to the Love Bean and have a cup of coffee and tell me about it?”
“I shouldn’t.” Larry shut his mouth. This was stupid. Getting Jenna’s brother and now her sister involved in the mess was not cool. “I’m sorry what I said about her. It’s over now. Connor has the puppy, and I’m going home.”
“You don’t look happy about it.” Melisa was always observant, being a kindergarten teacher.
“I’ll miss the puppy, but he was never mine.” Same way that Jenna had never been his either.
“Well, maybe you can get another one.” Melisa stopped in front of her apartment building.
“Larry! Larry!” This time, it was Jenna calling.
He could recognize the strain and desperation in her voice, like that of a rubber band stretched to breaking point.
Cars honked and tires squealed as Jenna streaked across traffic to get to them. There was nowhere Larry could hide. He couldn’t duck into Melisa’s building nor could he cut across the street. He had no choice but to face her.
Jenna threw herself at him and smashed into his chest. Out of reflex, he wrapped his arms around her. He was too weak to turn away, too pathetically under her spell to let her go. She’d drain the last drop of blood from his heart, and still, he’d hold on. He knew he deserved better, but right now, he’d take anything she could give, because beauty always won. It was what every man was programmed to desire. It was also what made women like Jenna the way they were—alluring and dangerous. This was emotional suicide, but truly, had he anything better?
Chapter Twelve
Jenna had Larry right where she wanted him. On his couch, although the bed might have been better, underneath her, and hot and hard.
They’d been making out ever since the sun went down, and as long as she kept his lips busy kissing her, and his hands busy touching and petting her, she could believe everything was okay.
Men weren’t really that hard to figure out. A warm meal, a hot body, and sleep, and they’d forgive anything.
She slipped her tongue from his lips and smiled at him, stroking his hairline and nuzzling his nose. “We’re okay now?”
“Yes, more than okay.”
“Glad to hear that. I really, really want you.” She pouted slightly, tilting her head down and putting on large doe eyes. She rubbed herself against him and watched his eyes half-close with desire as he gritted his teeth, resisting.
“I want you too.” His voice rasped between hot breaths.
“Then what are we waiting for?” She moved her hand down the center of his body. “I know you’re able. It’s whether you’re willing.”
“I am. I need you, but … but, we should wait.” His voice stuttered, full of frustration.
“Why?” She plied him with an innocent question, rolling her eyes pleadingly.
“Because.” He made no further explanation. Lifting her, he slipped from underneath her and placed his hands over his crotch to hide his condition from her.
What could be holding him back? What was he hiding? Could he be scarred even down there?
“You sure are a big tease, Larry D,” she drawled in a mock Southern accent. “Make a girl all hot and horny. What’cha hiding?”
“You’re going to be gone soon. Next week, you fly off to London.”
“So? There’s still a little less than a week to go.”
Larry pulled his shirt back on and stood. “I don’t want to be like those other guys. I’m not taking my place in line or joining a club.”
Chills showered over Jenna’s scalp. “You’re not like them, Larry. You’re different.”
“Sure, say whatever you think I want to hear.” He rubbed the back of his neck with both hands and sighed.
“What?” She twisted herself off the couch and grabbed his hips to help her stand, making sure to slide her entire face, chest, and stomach up against him as she rose to her feet.
She was a bad girl, but she sure as heck wasn’t teasing him. If he wanted her the way she thought he did, he wouldn’t hold out long.
He held her back stiffly. “I can’t have you loving me and leaving me. I’m not made that way.”
“You want me to tell you I love you first?” She stared into his warm, brown eyes, the same color as the puppy’s.
“Do you?” His deep voice croaked.
Why did he look so hopeful?
“What if I said I did?” She parried his question, while aching to feel something, to know the answer.
“I’d say you were lying,” he pronounced this with all dignity, sweeping her hair from her face. “Love that isn’t tested isn’t love at all. It’s just a fleeting emotion, not reality.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Good, then I’m not lying either.” He tapped the tip of her nose. “I want to date you first before sleeping with you. I want it to mean something more than what you’ve experienced before.”
“How do you know you’ll mean more?” Jenna bristled at his implication that she had never experienced anything worthwhile. Although truth to tell, any sex she’d had was mutual utility—a scratching of backs and an exchange of favors.
“I’ll bet my heart on it.” He kissed her gently on the lips.
“My soul.” He moved his lips to her forehead, then whispered in her ear, “and my life.”
Jenna blinked, unable to contain the surprise and joy flooding her veins. “That is the most
romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”
What had she done to deserve him? No man had ever poured his heart out for her. They hadn’t cared, for the most part, other than what they could get from her.
Was there something Larry wanted from her? It wasn’t sex, that was obvious. Bragging rights? Being seen with a fashionable woman?
But then, he didn’t seem to be the type. Hadn’t he also liked her sister, who was a shy kindergarten teacher? It wasn’t as if he wanted to be in the fashion show—not like the other firefighters, especially Chad and Jackson, who were striking poses every time she saw them at the station.
Larry wasn’t speaking. That was another thing she liked about him. He was comfortable with letting her space out, whereas she oftentimes filled in the quiet spaces with gibberish. She closed her eyes and pressed her face into his chest, hugging him tighter.
“What do you want from me?” she finally verbalized. “What do you see in me that’s worth all this?”
He slid his hands into hers and pulled her back down onto the couch, putting her in his lap sideways. “I don’t want to want you. That’s the truth. As for what I see in you? A brave, courageous woman who’s a go-getter. You’ll get whatever you want and you have so much energy it tires me.”
That didn’t seem exactly like a great endorsement. He didn’t want to want her? Did it mean he wanted her or not?
“Why me? Why not someone else? You liked my sister and I’m nothing like her. Connor told me to leave you alone, that he’d kill me if I hurt you. Being with me is complicated—my life is one giant complication after another, and I’ve already hurt you. I have so much to apologize for, from accusing you of touching me improperly that first night I came to your place, to pretending you were only my bodyguard. I don’t know if I’m the best sort of woman for you. My sister would have been better. She’s kind and sweet and everything considerate.”
“She and I weren’t meant to be.” Larry patted Jenna’s cheek. “And in case you’re wondering if all I want is your beauty, you’re wrong. Beautiful women are a pain in the neck, back, posterior, and everything in between. Your type gets away with murder. You can’t help it because everyone forgives you or lets you walk over them.”
Valentine Hound Dog: The Hart Family (Have A Hart Book 2) Page 7