by Rachel Lacey
Flowers in hand, he knocked on her front door. A dog barked from inside.
Olivia pulled the door open a few seconds later, wearing jeans and a T-shirt that read Tofu Never Screams, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God. Look at you.”
Well that wasn’t the reaction he’d expected, and now he felt a bit overdressed. Usually Olivia was decked out in one of her cute dresses while he wore jeans. He held the flowers toward her. “These are for you.”
She took them and buried her nose in their depths, a blissful smile on her face even as her eyes welled with tears. “They’re beautiful. They’re perfect. Thank you.”
She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I lost my job.”
“You what?” He followed her inside, where only one dog greeted them in the living room.
“I got fired.” Her eyes flashed, a mixture of hurt and anger.
“Shit. Why?”
“Apparently there were complaints about me.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
“Complaints?” That was ridiculous. Olivia was nothing but professional at work. “What kind of complaints?”
“He didn’t say.”
“That’s bullshit. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, know any place that’s hiring convicts? Because I need a job.”
“What are you looking for?”
Her chin went up. “That would be helpful to know, wouldn’t it?”
“Christ, Olivia.” He touched her cheek. “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t you dare feel sorry for me.” Her tone was hard, but with the faintest quiver that filled him up with all kinds of warm and mushy things.
“Never.” He wanted to wipe the hurt off her face, to do something for her the way she’d helped him when he was feeling low. But he had nothing.
So he kissed her.
Olivia kissed him back hungrily, her body pressed to his, all soft curves and the scent of wildflowers. He backed her against the kitchen counter.
“You’re dressed like you had bigger plans for tonight than to seduce me,” she whispered against his cheek.
“I made us a reservation at Torino’s. I’ll cancel it.” He lifted her onto the edge of the counter.
She slid forward, pressing against his erection. “I could still get dressed.”
“Or I could get you undressed.” He skimmed his hands beneath her T-shirt.
“What time is our reservation?” she asked breathlessly as his fingers slid inside her jeans.
“Seven.”
She hooked her legs around him. “Let’s do both.”
He nibbled her neck. “Both?”
“You undress me.” She lifted her T-shirt over her head. “And then I’ll get dressed.”
Well shit. He didn’t need that invitation twice. He lifted her from the counter and carried her upstairs to her bedroom, where they scrambled out of their clothes and fell onto the bed. Twenty minutes later, and a whole lot sweatier, Pete lay panting beside her, his body humming with satisfaction.
“God, that was perfect,” she whispered, her arms around his neck, legs still entwined with his.
Perfect. He rested his forehead against hers, completely blindsided. It had been perfect. Everything about her felt perfect. Except nothing about this was. It was about as far from perfect as a relationship could be.
She gave him a quick kiss and rolled out of bed. “We’d better hurry if we want to make our reservation.”
“Right.” He shook his head to clear it.
He joined her in a quick shower then went downstairs while she fussed with her hair and makeup. He rummaged through her cabinets until he found a vase, put the flowers in it, and set them on her kitchen table. Her dog followed him around, wagging her nub of a tail.
Ten minutes later, Olivia came down the stairs, breathtaking in a pale green dress and strappy sandals, her hair long and loose over her shoulders.
His throat went dry. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks. You look pretty dashing yourself.” She crossed the kitchen to him, dodging slobbery kisses from her overzealous boxer.
Pete pointed at the dog. “Where’s the other one?”
“Scooby got adopted,” she said. “So only Bailey the un-potty-trained remains.”
He grimaced. “Sounds like there may be a reason for that.”
“I know, I know. Merry said the same thing. I just haven’t had time to work with her on it, but I do now, so she’s about to get her little butt trained.”
She gated the dog in the kitchen and followed him out to the Forester. He drove the short distance to Torino’s, where they were seated in a romantic booth in the corner. Olivia sat across from him, still glowing from their romp under the covers, a ray of sunshine in the dimly lit restaurant. He couldn’t figure why everyone else in the place didn’t turn around and stare.
She sipped from her glass of wine. “Catch any bad guys today?”
He shook his head. “Hunted for a couple of them though.”
Someone had broken into Cathy’s Card Boutique and dumped a bucket of purple paint over the Halloween card selection. A stupid prank that was causing the property owners a huge headache, not to mention the fact that they were going to take a financial hit.
This was one more act of vandalism in the already long list of incidents plaguing Dogwood this fall. He didn’t like it, and neither did the sheriff. There was a lot about the recent goings on that Pete didn’t like, but he would put his misgivings aside until tomorrow. He took a sip of his own wine. It was bold and spicy, like the woman across the table.
“Did you always know you wanted to be a law enforcement officer?” Olivia asked.
“Since I was a teenager.” That was the short answer. The long answer was that he’d decided to become a cop the first time he’d seen his dad come stumbling in the front door, high as a kite, car keys dangling from his fingers. He’d wanted to be the one to put his father in jail, where he couldn’t disappoint Pete or Maggie by forgetting their birthdays and missing family events, where he couldn’t hurt their mother with his lack of a steady job and frequent drug-induced rages.
Instead, Pete had been the one to put his father back on the street, to get high and drive one last, fatal time.
“I envy you that,” Olivia said. “Knowing what you want from life.”
“What did you dream of being when you were a little girl?” he asked.
“For a little while, I had a secret dream of being a vet. I wanted to help sick dogs and cats, but then I realized I’d have to go through veterinary school and dissect all kinds of dead animals. Plus, I’m not really into bloody, medical stuff.”
“And your parents wanted you to be a lawyer.”
Her brows bunched. “Well that dream is over. McKellon would probably never take me back after all this time with a criminal record.”
“Maybe it’s just a way of clarifying things for you.”
“Everything happens for a reason. I know.” She took another sip of her wine. “I just wish I knew what came next.”
“What do you want?” he asked.
The waitress interrupted them then to take their dinner orders. Olivia ordered linguine with roasted vegetables in a lemon and caper sauce. He went with traditional lasagna. She made no comment on the meat content of his dinner choice.
“You asked the million-dollar question,” she said after the waitress had left. “What do I want? Not what my parents want or my so-called friends in the animal rights group. What do I want?”
And that question spoke volumes. He saw the turmoil in her eyes, and also the anger. It was obviously eating her up that she hadn’t figured it out yet.
He shrugged. “It’ll come to you when it’s meant to. Whatever it is, you’ll be great at it.”
She took his hand across the table. “Thanks. In the meantime, I’ll pro
bably look for another job waiting tables or something similar. Maybe the Dogwood Diner is less picky about the criminal history of their employees.”
“Is that why you were fired?”
“I think it must have played a part. Tom told me he didn’t hire people with a record. But he also said there had been complaints.”
And that was the part that was sticking with Pete. A really dark, cynical side of him remembered that the sheriff had once gotten Tom Hancock’s daughter out of a sticky situation. Linburgh needed to keep Halverson happy, which might include hurting Olivia.
He didn’t like to think ill of his boss, but he’d seen Linburgh play dirty in the past. Tomorrow Pete would do a little poking around and see what turned up.
In the meantime, he and Olivia stuffed themselves on pasta, polished off their bottle of wine, and strolled hand-in-hand down Main Street to check out Halloween decorations. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d dressed up, but he loved the ambience of fall—the pumpkins, colored leaves, and tacky decorations with winking lights and fake spider webs.
“This is my first Halloween in a house,” she said, her body pressed close to his against the chill of the evening. “I probably should have stayed home and bought candy for the trick-or-treaters.”
He pulled her closer. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
Here and there, a few kids were still out. He spotted Darth Vader and some newfangled action hero running across the town square.
“Be glad you didn’t know me when I was a teenager.” Olivia giggled. “When I was fifteen, I dressed up as a slaughtered chicken and snuck out of the house. I passed out PETA pamphlets at every doorstep. I didn’t get much candy that year.”
“Fifteen is too old for trick-or-treating anyway, but I guess the candy wasn’t what you really wanted.”
“No. I was just going for shock factor.”
“Animal rights has always been your passion then.”
She looked up. “Yeah.”
“Then you need to find a career that lets you follow your passion. It’s the only way you’ll be happy.”
* * *
Olivia absorbed the truth of his words. Of course, she’d love a job that let her follow her passion for animal rights. “But there aren’t many paying jobs.”
He looked down at her, his dark eyes serious. “One is all you need.”
Well, shoot. When did he turn into a philosopher?
They reached his car, and he opened the passenger door for her. She swooned a little inside. Who said a strong, independent woman couldn’t still enjoy a little chivalry from time to time? Thank goodness she’d decided to go out with him instead of moping around at home.
No moping. It just wasn’t her style.
Pete climbed into the driver’s seat and turned to her. “Is Bailey social with other dogs?”
“Totally. Just prone to accidents and a bit short on manners.”
“I was just thinking, if she and Timber got along, it would make things easier. You know, no rushing home to the dog.”
“Oh.” She finally caught up with his train of thought, and she liked what he was thinking. “You mean like if we stopped by your place right now to get Timber?”
“How do you think that would go over with Bailey?”
“She’ll be fine, although she might pee on the kitchen floor in her excitement.” And she was only half joking about that.
Pete made a face. “How is it that you haven’t potty trained that dog yet?”
“I’m never home.” She sighed. “I suck at dog ownership. To my credit, the kitten is totally trained.”
“Oh yeah?” He laughed as he pulled onto the road. “And let me guess, she trained herself while you were keeping her locked up in the bathroom.”
She rolled her eyes. “Pretty much.”
They pulled into the driveway of his townhouse, and she followed him inside. Timber greeted them in the kitchen, howling and letting out ear-piercing squeaks to show his joy at their presence.
“Just wait,” she told him. “You’re going to have a sleepover with a girl. It should be very exciting.”
* * *
Pete woke in Olivia’s bed with her hair in his face, her scent wrapped around him like a warm cocoon. He felt refreshed. In fact, he hadn’t woken a single time during the night, not to make love to Olivia or for any other reason.
Her hair tickled his nose, and he reached up to brush it away. Something sharp poked his finger. Ouch. And what he’d thought was Olivia’s hair didn’t feel right at all. What the hell?
He felt another prick, then pain everywhere in his hand. “Fuck!”
He lurched upright to find the little white kitten hanging from his index finger, biting and kicking for all she was worth. Olivia lay blinking up at him from the other side of the bed, not nearly close enough for her hair to have been in his face.
It had been goddamn kitten fur.
“Hallie, stop it,” Olivia mumbled, swiping lazily at the kitten with one hand while she buried her face back into the pillow. “What time is it?”
Good question. He rolled over, looking for a clock. “Seven thirty.” And a good damn thing the kitten had woken him, because he was on duty in thirty minutes. “Don’t take this the wrong way, babe, but I’ve gotta run.” He pulled her in for a kiss, and damn she was sexy first thing in the morning, all rumpled with sleep.
“Work?” She snuggled in close, reminding him they were both naked. And he wanted her.
A dog barked downstairs.
“Shit.” He pulled back. “I forgot Timber was downstairs.”
“Leave him here,” she said.
“Really?” He slid out of bed regretfully and headed for the bathroom.
“I’ll keep him. Plus it means I get to see you later.” Her smile held all kinds of promise.
He stepped into a two-minute shower, then shaved and dressed in his uniform, complete with Kevlar and belt. He’d brought it with him last night, planning to get ready for work at her place, then drop Timber off at home on his way to the sheriff’s office.
Olivia still lay in bed, watching. “You look sexy in uniform.”
“Thanks for watching Timber. Wish I didn’t, but I’ve got to run.”
“Go,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.” He kissed her and jogged down the stairs.
He’d been taken off the Halverson case, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t keep digging into other aspects of the goings on in town. It was pissing Pete off royally that he hadn’t figured out who was behind all the vandalism yet. There must be an angle he hadn’t explored.
It was time to ask some more questions, see if he couldn’t shake loose what was really going on in Dogwood.
* * *
Olivia watched him go, hoping he’d still be in uniform when he came back later. Because she had all kinds of naughty ideas about how to take it off him. The dogs were barking downstairs. She’d left Bailey in her crate overnight since the dogs didn’t know each other, so hopefully they weren’t getting into trouble, but with those two, who knew?
She went into the bathroom to freshen up, then pulled on her robe and walked downstairs. Timber sat at the gate, alert and maybe even a little bit unsure about being left here in a stranger’s house. He whined in that high-pitched shepherd squeak that hurt her ears.
“Your dad’s coming back,” she told him. “It will be more fun to spend the day with me than being home alone, right?”
She went through the gate and patted him. He spun and whined, following her as she went into the dining room to get Bailey out of her crate. Bailey barked and wiggled, but her crate was dry. Well how about that?
Not wanting to push her luck, she put them both out back, then sat on the deck with her arms hugging her knees. Merry had taught her enough to know that she couldn’t leave two dogs unsupervised together until they knew each other.
Another thing Merry had told her was that keeping Bailey in her crate would help with pott
y training. But Olivia had been gone so much of the time she’d felt bad keeping Bailey crated. Now she was second-guessing that decision. And also she’d be home more now, at least until she found a new job.
She’d put in a few applications yesterday, and today would be more of the same. She needed a new job. Like, yesterday. She had bills to pay, and while she was sure Merry would give her leeway on rent until she got back on her feet, that wasn’t Olivia’s style.
While she waited for the dogs, she typed “animal rescue” into the job search engine and opened the search area to the whole United States. Fifty-three jobs came up. Fifty-three paying jobs helping animals in the whole country. Wasn’t that sad? Maybe later, just for fun, she’d submit her résumé for a few of them.
Timber finished his business in the yard and came to press his face in her lap with a squeak. He looked up at her with those rich chocolate eyes. They were alive with personality, twinkling with mischief.
“You’re a whiny one, aren’t you?” She stroked his fur, and he licked her arm. “I like you though. There’s a lot of spirit in your eyes. You’ve got a story, I can tell. And hey, you got kicked out of K9 school. So we’re both rejects. Kindred spirits.”
He wagged his tail and shoved his head further into her lap. Bailey trotted up the steps and shoved in for her own share of the love.
“So I kind of get why people keep dogs,” she said. The wholehearted affection was pretty cool. The level of care, not so much. Then again, she was thinking about kids sometime in the future, so…
“How about breakfast?” She herded them inside.
She fed them and exercised them, then got ready for her day. She kept Bailey in the bathroom with her while she showered, Timber downstairs in the kitchen. Then she crated Bailey before she left on her job hunt.
She wasn’t terribly worried about remaining unemployed. There were plenty of job openings in Dogwood or nearby Raleigh at businesses who could care less that she’d been convicted of vandalism. But she wanted something at least semi-enjoyable. She was good with customers. She was smart. She had a bachelor’s degree for crying out loud. So what if it was in Political Science?