“Brutus! What is he eating?”
She dashed over to the little dog who was wrestling with a steak nearly as big as he was. He’d managed to chew off a sizeable chunk.
“I didn’t give him that; did you?” she said, snatching it away from the animal. Brutus yapped his outrage.
“No, I didn’t,” said Tom, standing beside her. “Let me see it.”
She handed the steak over. Cautiously, he sniffed at the meat. “It smells okay.”
“Jerome might have given it to him,” she said.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” said Tom.
“Surely Jerome wouldn’t—?”
“We don’t know the guy, Maddy. Walter warned me about him. He specifically said that he didn’t want him inheriting, he thought so little of him.”
“He reminds me so much of Walter, it’s hard to believe ...”
“It’s in our best-interest to keep Brutus alive, but Jerome might have another agenda altogether.”
“If you think—”
She stopped mid-sentence. Brutus had suddenly gone quiet. She looked down. He lay on the grass with his legs collapsed under him.
“Brutus!” She dropped to her knees. The little dog raised his head, his button eyes glazed with pain and confusion. “Brutus, what’s wrong?” Her voice felt strangled with fear.
Tom grabbed his cell phone. “Call his vet.”
Maddy’s hands shook as she took his cell. “Oh God, I don’t know the number. It’s in the house. Brutus, I’m so sorry.” She felt paralyzed by terror and panic.
“Call nine-one-one.”
She started to punch out the numbers. “Does nine-one-one help dogs? Of course they help dogs.” She knew she was babbling but she couldn’t stop herself. Guilt. Fear. Anxiety. All were churning so fast in her head she could scarcely think.
As she punched the final number, Brutus hauled himself up from the grass. He staggered. Then started to retch so violently she could see the muscles straining under his fur.
She dropped the cell. “Ohmigod, Brutus.” Her mouth went dry with terror.
“Don’t panic,” said Tom. “If that steak was poisoned, this is good.”
“You’re right.” Maddy stroked Brutus encouragingly on the back of his neck. “Come on, baby. Get rid of that nasty stuff.”
After what seemed like an agonizingly long period Brutus barfed, expelling chunks of barely chewed steak. He retched until there was nothing left.
When it ended,Tom heaved an audible sigh of relief. “I never thought I’d be glad to see a dog do that. If the meat was poisoned, it wasn’t inside him for long.”
“Oh God, I hate Jerome. How could he have done this?” Maddy scooped Brutus into her arms and cradled him like a baby. She looked to Tom. “The vet. Now. C’mon.”
Was it the word “vet” that perked Brutus up? Maddy couldn’t be sure but the next moment he was wriggling and squirming. His eyes were as bright as ever and his tail thumped against her arm. He gave a put-me-down-now bark.
Maddy pressed kisses to his furry little head. “Thank heaven! But you still have to go to the”—she spelled out the word—“V-E-T.” Brutus twisted and turned to get out of her arms but she held him firm.
Maddy looked from Tom to the ground and back again. “Tom, the vet might want to inspect the ... the ... puke.”
Tom’s face went so green she wondered if he might be the next to perform.
“Quick. There are some doggy-doo bags behind the kennel,” she said.
Still holding the protesting Brutus, Maddy dashed inside her apartment to pick up her purse. When she came back out, Tom was waiting outside the door, a small plastic bag held at arm’s length.
She followed him, two steps to his one, as he strode up the side path toward the street. Only to bump into his back as he came to a sudden halt. She blinked at the flashes that exploded in her eyes. Then peered at the two men who stood outside the gate.
Tom’s arm restrained her. “Remember. No comment.”
She recognized the cameraman from the media posse at the church steps. The one who had made the offensive mistress remark. She didn’t know the other one.
He leered at her. “Cozy up to your boyfriend for me, Maddy. C’mon, give me a good shot.”
Horrified, intimidated, and sick with anxiety at the delay in getting Brutus to the car, she shouted, “Leave us alone!” She pushed open the gate. “Let me through. This dog has been poisoned. I have to get him to the vet.”
She didn’t have to hear Tom groan beside her to realize that it was completely the wrong thing to say.
Nine
Maddy was helping her friend Serena into a bathtub full of chocolate sauce when her cell phone rang. Darn! Since yesterday’s incident with the reporters she had been wary of answering it. But she had to pick up. She was expecting some last-minute props to arrive by courier at the studio and it was already well into the afternoon.
Her heart thudded into double-quick time when she heard Tom’s voice.
“You okay? No more harassment?”
“I left really early this morning to avoid them.”
Then her revved-up heartbeat nearly stopped at his news.
“The steak was poisoned? Jerome. I hate him.”
“We have no proof it was Jerome,” came Tom’s reasoned lawyer tones.
“Only a heck of a suspicion.”
She felt sick at the thought of what might have happened if Brutus—never known for his discrimination in choice of food—had eaten more than just a bite of the T-bone. As it was, the vet had dosed the little dog with charcoal to stop any poison absorption. Then, after a few hours’ observation, she’d pronounced him okay.
“Where is Brutus now?”Tom asked.
“With me. I’m on a shoot, and I brought him along. After yesterday I didn’t want to leave him home alone.”
“Good girl,” said Tom. Surprisingly, Maddy found herself basking in his approving tone, rather than bristling at being patronized as she would have done before he’d kissed her.
“Maddy,” complained Serena, sliding down into the tub, “this chocolate stuff is cold. Could you get off the phone?”
“Tom, I’m working,” Maddy said, not even attempting to explain what that work entailed, “I’ve got to go.”
“We need to talk about this, Maddy.” His tone was urgent. “Can we make a time to meet?”
“I’ll be finished here soon, why not come over?”
“Where’s ‘here’?”
Maddy gave him the address of the photographic studio in the SoMa District and then disconnected her cell phone.
“The ten-out-of-ten lawyer?” quizzed Serena. “The one who is hotter than hot? I saw him on TV with you outside the church.”
“Tell you later,” said Maddy in an undertone, aware of Joel the photographer by her elbow. Joel had tried to hit on her several times, and she guarded her privacy around him.
Actually, she wasn’t sure she wanted to share even with Serena the irrational, bubbling excitement she felt at the thought of seeing Tom again. It was too new, too unexplored.
“Right,” said Serena with a lift of her perfectly arched brows. “Later. And I’ll hold you to that.”
“C’mon, girls,” said Joel, “let’s get on with it. Serena’s boobs are nicely covered in chocolate and ready to shoot.” He leered and made exaggerated licking motions in Serena’s direction.
Maddy groaned and Serena pulled a face before they both laughed and told Joel to shut up.
It was great fun working with Serena. She was a part-time model, a part-time veterinary technician student, and Maddy’s best friend. They’d met when Serena was waitressing in a restaurant in North Beach where Maddy was sous chef.
When Maddy had come up with the girl-in-a-tub-of-chocolate idea to illustrate her “The Ultimate Chocolate Fix” feature, naturally she’d booked Serena for the job.
“Right,” Maddy said to her friend. “I’ll get the triple-choc brownie. I want you
to look at it as if—”
“As if it’s your lover, darling,” said Joel.
Tom climbed his way up the stairs of the huge old building, once a warehouse, now converted to photographic studios.
He managed to get past the heavily made-up girl manning the desk at the entrance of studio five. She had a pierced tongue that he’d found it difficult not to stare at while she spoke. In his dark business suit and carrying a briefcase he felt totally out of place.
The smell of cooking welcomed him as he made his way into the cavernous, white-painted room. Chocolate again. His mouth watered. How would Maddy taste to kiss when she’d been eating chocolate?
Not that he’d be kissing her again to find out, he told himself. He’d been distracted yesterday, but now he was back on track, his five-year plan firmly in mind. And he wouldn’t let himself forget it.
He hadn’t been too sure what to expect at Maddy’s “shoot.” He wasn’t surprised at the stainless steel, open-plan kitchen. Or the tall, white windows flooding the room with afternoon light.
But he sure as hell hadn’t been expecting to find a beautiful dark-haired girl reclining in an old-fashioned claw-footed bathtub full of liquid chocolate.Was she naked under there?
The tub was surrounded by photographic lights and reflectors. Maddy stood with her back to him peering at an image on a computer screen and discussing it with a short blond man whom Tom presumed was the photographer.
Tom cleared his throat to get her attention. Maddy spun around at the sound. He was gratified at the look of pleasure that lit up her face. “Tom! You got here so quickly we’re not quite finished yet. We’re having trouble with this final shot and—”
“Enough of the chitchat, Maddy,” cut in the gorgeous girl from the bath. “I want out of this chocolate ASAP. Let’s get on with it.”
“She’s worried that calories can be absorbed via the skin,” explained Maddy in the same teasing tone she used on him. “Guys, this is Tom.Tom, this is Serena and Joel.”
Joel nodded a terse greeting.Tom had the distinct feeling that Joel was guarding his territory. Who was he interested in—Serena or Maddy? It had better not be Maddy. He found himself ready to growl at the thought.Though lifting his leg to mark his territory might be going too far.
“Hi, Tom,” said Serena in a voice as rich and sultry as the chocolate she was bathing in, “I’ve heard all about you.”
She had? Tom felt like his jaw was dropping to the floor at the vision of the chocolate-coated goddess. With dark hair tumbling to her shoulders, smooth olive skin, and topaz eyes she was a picture of his “ideal woman” come to life.
So why did his gaze stray immediately to the slender redhead wrapped in a chocolate-smeared white apron?
Goddesses, he decided, could be quite boring when compared to a feisty, funny girl with freckles across the bridge of her nose, a girl whose kisses tasted of honey. Not that he was going to allow himself to dwell on how she tasted, how she felt in his arms ...
The photographer spoke, “I think we’ve got it this time, Maddy. I’ll shoot off a final set, and we can finish.”
Maddy nodded to another girl hovering behind the photographer. Tom noticed with a shudder that she was pierced not only through the nose but also below each eyebrow. “Amy, Joel’s assistant,” Maddy said briefly by way of introduction. “And over there in the kitchen is Jane, who is helping me with the cooking.”
She called across to Jane, “We’re ready for another brownie, please.”
All these people—and Maddy confidently in charge, her passion and commitment to her job shining from her. Tom found himself fascinated at seeing her in action in her world—a world so different from his own.There were not many opportunities in a law firm to work with chocolate-coated women.
Serena took the brownie and posed with it, her eyes heavy with mock desire as she held it to her mouth.
“Perfect, darling,” said Joel as he photographed her.
Tom turned to Maddy. “Can I ask what this is all about?” he asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
“Remember that brownie recipe I was testing the day I first met you?” she explained in a low voice, not taking her eye off Serena. “Hang on—Joel, stop.” She dashed over to Serena. “A piece of hair has fallen too far forward.” Gently she smoothed it back from Serena’s face. “That’s okay now, thanks, Joel.”
She stepped back to Tom. “Where was I? Yes, the brownie. It’s one of a series of chocolate recipes for a feature I’m calling ‘The Ultimate Chocolate Fix.’ We’ve photographed the other recipes like a regular food shoot but I wanted this one to be really spectacular. This is for the opening double-page spread. Don’t you think it will look sensational?”
Tom looked to the beautiful woman covered to just above her breasts in chocolate. “Sensational,” he echoed. With conviction.
“I’m glad you think so,” Maddy said. “I hope my editor will. You know I’m not permanent in my job at Annie magazine. I’ve been filling in for the regular food editor while she’s been on maternity leave. Now she’s decided to resign and stay at home with the baby, and I really want—”
“Done,” said Joel as he finished shooting.
“Hooray,” said Serena, “now get me out of here, Maddy.”
Serena started to rise from the tub, the chocolate sauce streaming from her elegant elbows.
Tom didn’t know where to look. So he did the gentlemanly thing and turned his back. Hmm. How would Maddy look in a tub of chocolate, the rich brown contrasting against the milki ness of her skin and her copper-colored hair? No need for a towel when she stepped out, he could lick it off her, starting first with ...
He tried to force his thoughts to something less arousing. And found himself wondering if all the hair on Maddy’s body was the same vivid color.Which was even more arousing.
Serena really was very naughty, getting out of the tub like that in front of Tom, thought Maddy. She knew her friend didn’t mean to be provocative. As a model, Serena was so used to being semi-naked in front of male photographers she wasn’t even aware of the effect she might be having on a so-serious lawyer. But Tom was different. And Tom was hers.
Tom was hers?
Maddy beat the errant thought out of her mind. Of course he wasn’t hers. She had to deal with Tom because of Walter’s unusual will. That’s all. The kiss had just been ... curiosity. Or that’s what she’d been telling herself for the last twenty-four hours.
So why did it twist her heart at the thought of him panting over Serena—as most men did when they first met her extraordinarily beautiful friend?
She could scarcely admit her relief to herself when Tom had immediately turned away the minute it looked like the chocolate mantle would slide away from Serena’s body. She couldn’t have borne it if he’d taken the opportunity to ogle.
She held up a large towel for Serena. “Wipe off what you can, then dash into the shower,” she advised her friend.
Serena leaned close. The smell of chocolate was overwhelming. “What a hottie! Definitely a ten,” she whispered. “And he’s smitten. I can tell.”
“Shush,” Maddy whispered, terrified Tom might hear. “He’s just a friend. Not even that. More an ... an acquaintance.”
Serena snorted. “So why are you blushing?”
“I’m not blushing,” Maddy lied, feeling her cheeks get warm, “but you’re dripping chocolate all over the place—and me. Could you please get into the bathroom?”
Laughing, Serena did so, leaving a chocolaty trail behind her that Maddy knew she was going to have to clean up. She also wasn’t quite sure how she was going to dispose of a bathtub full of slightly used molten chocolate.
Joel and his assistant had gone home to start editing the numerous pictures he had taken. Maddy was just about to tell Tom it was safe to turn around when there was the sound of frantic barking from the other side of the large double doors at the entrance to the studio.
The doors opened and in scurried Brutus, yappi
ng excitedly, trailing his leash, and heading straight for Tom.
“Sorry, Maddy,” said Will the studio manager, looking harassed. “I took him out for a walk, but as soon as I got back up the stairs, he started scratching on the door and—”
“That’s okay, Will. He must have sensed that his alph—”
“Don’t say it, Maddy,” said Tom, doing the growl-like thing again.
“—that his friend Tom had arrived,” amended Maddy.
Brutus leapt up and scrabbled at Tom’s legs. “Settle down, boy,” commanded Tom.
Brutus obeyed instantly and sat panting at his feet. He was wearing a jaunty red bandanna tied around his neck.
“Doesn’t he look cute in his necktie?” asked Maddy.
“Very cute,” said Tom dryly. “Good dog,” he said, leaning down to rub him behind the ears and unclip his leash. “I’m relieved to see he’s all right. If he’d eaten more of that meat, he would have been in big trouble.”
Maddy sobered. “That’s horrible,Tom. I’m still finding it hard to believe that Jerome could have been so ... so evil.”
“We can’t prove it, remember,”Tom cautioned. “The reporter and the photographer were hanging around, too.”
“Can’t prove what?” asked Serena coming up behind Maddy. She was now fully dressed.
Maddy filled her in on the poison T-bone episode.
Serena glowered. “That Jerome guy should be shot. He must know dogs are so greedy they don’t know what’s good or bad for them.” She pointed at Brutus. “Like right now. Watch him head straight for the spilled chocolate on the floor.”
“So?” said Tom. “Brutus eats cake.Why not chocolate?”
“Because it can make dogs sick,” said Maddy, lunging for Brutus at the same time as Serena swooped down and swept the little dog up into her arms.
Brutus, thwarted, strained back toward the floor, whimpering.
“Why not let him do mop-up duty?” asked Tom.
“Because chocolate is toxic to dogs,” said Serena.
Maddy stared at her. “Toxic? I know they shouldn’t eat it. But toxic?”
Love Is a Four-Legged Word Page 9