SEALed With A Kiss: Heroes With Heart

by Low, Gennita

  The man in front of her shifted, bringing her attention back to him. “Sorry, thought I had another patient coming in.”

  Bill smiled at her, a little too friendly, and patted his dog on the head. The French Bulldog cringed under the attention and Willow cringed with her. “You know, Violet would probably appreciate being stroked on the head rather than pounded.”

  Bill’s expression hardened at the subtle correction. “She appreciates any attention she gets, believe me.”

  Willow didn’t like the way the man looked at her, but it wasn’t offensive enough to actually say anything about. “Hm,” she said doubtfully. “Well, she’s fine for another six months. Just watch how many treats you give her. She’s starting to gain a little weight.”

  She knew by the glint in his eye that she wasn’t going to like what was going to come out of his mouth.

  “I like my girls a little fuller figured.”

  It was all she could do to keep in a disgusted moan. It was too early in the morning for his gross come-ons.

  She put on her glossy doctor smile and turned away. Bill watched her ass the entire walk into the office, she could tell. Her ick factor was at an all-time high as she slammed the door behind her.

  Sue laughed at her disgusted face when she walked in. “I told you he was in rare form today. He called yesterday and just had to get his precious Violet in. Sorry, Willow.”

  She moved to lean against the counter. LoveBug, one of the cats who lived in the office, rubbed against her arm. Willow scratched her on the head. “You’re not a very good guard-cat. Why didn’t you swat him when he shoved you off the counter?”

  The little cat purred her answer, arching under Willow’s hand.

  “It’s okay, Sue. It’ll be a crazy day when I can say no to a pair of eyes like that. Violet, I mean. She’s such a cutie.”

  Her receptionist nodded. “She’s too good for her owner, I know that.”

  Wasn’t that the truth…

  Willow waded through the rest of her clients for the day, but she found herself looking hopefully out the window way too often. Had Flynn driven by for a reason? Had he thought about stopping when he’d seen her in the lot?

  She’d been thinking about the man a lot recently. Fantasizing. When Maya had left, she’d debated calling him to let him know, but she didn’t want to be responsible for hurting him. The man had been through a lot. She could see the ghosts in his eyes without him saying a word.

  As much as he appealed to her physically, she didn’t know if she wanted to deal with his emotional hang-ups. She had enough of her own.

  Maybe she could just screw him and get him out of her brain.

  She snorted. Right. Like that would ever happen.

  Flynn trudged up the dark path to his apartment building that night in a daze. He’d worked his regular shift, then gone for a five-mile run before sliding into his truck for the drive home. His hips ached like a son of a bitch and he knew he would be hurting even more tonight.

  When he saw the shape of the dog out of the corner of his eye, he thought it was Mace. His old buddy was always there to commiserate with his pain, jogging along at his side. But when the light caught on the brighter colored fur, he had to pause to look closer.

  For a moment, he thought he’d been hallucinating even that much, until Maya suddenly lunged at him from the depths of the bushes beside the building.

  Flynn sank down to his knees to greet the dog and looked around for Dr. James. She was nowhere to be seen. He’d never given her anything with his name on it, let alone his address, so how the hell would she know where his apartment was?

  “How did you get here dog?”

  Granted, he only lived a few blocks away from the vet’s practice. She could have run here. But how did she know where here was?

  Maya wagged her way around him, sneaking in stealthy licks when she could.

  “Sit,” he growled.

  Maya dropped to her haunches but her butt continued to wag and she whined at him for attention.

  Flynn shook his head, laughing. How on earth had she found him?

  Pulling his phone from his pocket, he paged through the contacts until he found the number for Dr. James’ answering service. He left a message that the doctor needed to call him, then waited. Within a half minute, his phone rang.

  “This is Dr. James.”

  Her throaty voice wrapped around his tired soul and he took just a moment to enjoy it.

  “Hello?”

  “Flynn,” he snapped. “Do you know where Maya is right now?”

  There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “No, I don’t. She ran off two days ago and I haven’t seen her since. Why?”

  “How the hell could you lose her?”

  “I didn’t lose her. She escaped. Jumped over the fence like it wasn’t even there. Took off like a bat out of hell, too. Wait. How did you know to call me? Did you find her?”

  Flynn paused and looked down at the dog. “No. I think she found me.”

  “No way. She tracked you down? Damn, she’s smart. Give me your address.”

  Flynn reeled it off without hesitation, then cursed his lack of discretion, but the doctor was already gone.

  “Well, I guess you can come in for a minute, dog. Come on.”

  He turned back up the sidewalk, waving the dog to follow him, but she bounded ahead and disappeared into the open stairwell of his building. When Flynn arrived at his door on the second floor, she waited for him.

  “Okay, dog, you’re freaking me out.”

  Unlocking the door, he swung it wide for her to enter. She did a circuit, sniffing here and there, before returning to sit in front of him, whining. Shaking his head at the manipulative female, Flynn moved to get her a bowl of water. He kept tins of dog food in his pantry for strays, so he grabbed one and dumped it into a second bowl.

  Maya had eaten two tins of soft food and curled up in front of the couch on the carpet by the time there was a knock at the door. Flynn crossed the room to open it. Dr. James stood on the other side, round hip cocked and an inquisitive smile on her face.

  Dressed in tight blue jeans and a black t-shirt that cupped her boobs to perfection, she was a vision. For the first time her long black hair was loose, hanging over one shoulder. She had a scrubbed look, pink-cheeked and fresh, like she’d just gotten out of the shower. His gaze drifted back to her breasts.

  Maya lunged across the room to greet her, but gave her the ‘I’ve been bad’ look that dogs had. Laughing, Dr. James leaned down to pet her.

  “You bad dog. You made me worry!”

  Flynn didn’t know what to do. Guests never came to his apartment and he realized as he looked around that he wasn’t really set up for entertaining. He had one couch and a well-worn recliner. And more electronic equipment than any one man needed. Well, she wouldn’t be staying long.

  “Did you bring a leash?”

  The doctor looked at him with an odd expression on her face. “No, I didn’t actually. I just came over to check on her, make sure she hadn’t hurt herself when she’d been on the streets. I’m not taking her back. She’s made her decision on where she wants to be.”

  A shiver of white-hot fear rolled down his arms. “She can’t stay here.”

  “Why not?”

  He shook his head, unable to give voice to the five million reasons why it would be so wrong to put this dog with him. “What about her puppies? She can’t leave them and I certainly can’t take them.”

  The doctor grinned, her white teeth flashing. “She weaned them herself last week. They’d been eating soft food since they were a month old anyway. It was easy to find adoptive homes for them.”

  Panic poured through him, sending a wave of heat over his body. The puppies had been the biggest reason why he couldn’t take the dog. Fuck.

  “I’m not set up to have a dog.”

  She lifted a sleek brow in question.

  “I’m not, damn it. I have a job. What’s she going to do when I
’m at work?”

  “You can bring her to my office for a while. Until you get into a routine.”

  He blinked at the easy answer, then looked at the dog lying on the carpet. Her head lifted when he made eye contact. She was extremely sensitive to the people and the environment around her. Flynn got the distinct impression she knew they were talking about her.

  He shook his head, scrubbing at his beard. “Dr. James…”

  “Willow,” she interrupted. “I think we can get rid of the doctor part. You’ve been bringing animals to me for a year now.”

  “Willow.” Flynn didn’t like how easy it was on his tongue. He cleared his throat. “I can’t have a dog. Seriously.”

  She smiled at him softly. “Then you better tell her.”

  Flynn turned away from the two of them, scraping his hand through his hair. Emotion boiled through his gut and, if he was honest with himself, excitement as well.

  The dog had curled up on the floor but continued to watch him.

  “I don’t think you’re going to pry her away from you.”

  He glanced at the woman standing in his doorway. He probably should have invited her in, but he didn’t know if he wanted her in his space. She already invaded his dreams too much.

  Willow apparently took his silence as agreement because she turned to leave. “If you bring her by the office in the morning we’ll watch her for you. I’ve missed her the past couple of days anyway. Maybe we can share custody.”

  Flynn found himself nodding as she pulled the door closed behind herself and left. He caught a glimpse of her amazing ass before she was gone.

  Man, what incredible game you have, Flynn. Only woman that had been in his apartment in years and he made her stand in the doorway.

  Limping to the recliner, he eased down into it. Maya continued to watch him. She seemed to understand that her presence there was tenuous at best.

  “What the heck am I going to do with you?”

  Willow laughed softly as she jogged down the steps. The look on Flynn’s face had been priceless. It was obvious he’d just gotten back from the gym, or something, because he was dressed in jogging shorts and a fitted blue t-shirt. The slight tang of his sweat drifted in the air, taunting her to inhale more deeply, and his dark hair was damp at his temples. What was it about a sweaty man that was so damn sexy?

  Maya, on the other hand, had looked extremely satisfied with herself.

  It was amazing that the dog had found Flynn. Yes, he only lived a few blocks away apparently, but still. The dog needed to be trained for search and rescue work. Talent like that should not be wasted.

  When Flynn pulled into the lot the next morning a few minutes after eight, Willow had just let herself into the building. She watched as Maya jumped out of the truck and kept pace with Flynn as he walked toward the door.

  Flynn seemed to be limping, though.

  “Are you okay?”

  He looked up as soon as they came through the door and seemed surprised to see her there. “I’m fine,” he snapped. “Are you sure you can watch her today?”

  Willow nodded, leaning over to pet the happy dog. “I can. We’ll keep her in the office or I’ll put her in one of the kennels. She won’t slip away again. How did she do last night?”

  Flynn scowled at her. “Fine. Why do you let her sleep in bed with you?”

  Willow jerked back in surprise. “Her? I don’t even let my own dog sleep in bed with me. Maya stayed on the porch the entire time I had her.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why? Did she get into bed with you?”

  Just uttering the words sent a tingle through her body. Damn. Could she be jealous of a dog?

  Flynn’s scowl became even more fierce before he turned away. “I should be here by five. Don’t lose her.”

  Laughing at the non-answer, she watched Flynn walk out the door, cross the lot and climb into his truck. Maya whined. “Don’t worry, sweet girl. He’ll be back.”

  And he was, right on time. They settled into an odd schedule over the next couple of days. After the first day of pacing, Maya soon realized that he would return for her, so she settled in as one of the ‘locals’ as Sue like to call them; the animals that nobody wanted that ended up staying long-term at the office. LoveBug the office cat, Tom the mouser that liked to stay out back around the kennels, and now Maya. Occasionally Willow brought her own dog Guinness over to socialize when her appointments ran long.

  On Thursday night she locked up the office and walked the dogs out to the exercise lot. It was after seven and Flynn hadn’t arrived to pick Maya up yet, so Willow thought she’d run her through some exercises to see how she did. Leaving Guinness at the fence with a firm order to stay, she led Maya to the center of the lot. Willow knew the dog was strongly food motivated, so she wore a little belted pocket around her waist, full of soft treats.

  Maya seemed to understand she needed to pay attention, because she sat patiently and did everything Willow requested of her. The basic sit, down, stay were no-brainers. The dog did them quickly, and Willow realized she was responding to hand movements as much as to her voice. Somebody had put in some training time with her.

  Willow pulled a tennis ball from her pocket and threw it across the yard. This was a game that Maya loved. Literally, she would chase the ball for hours on end.

  Once again, Willow wondered if Flynn would consider using her for Search and Rescue work. Though she was a little old, she had the natural prey drive that was needed for the tough work.

  Willow paused to think, wondering how she could get her into the program. That was when she realized she was being watched. Flynn stood at the back corner of the office braced against the wall, long legs crossed, sunglasses over his eyes. The evening sun glimmered on his hair, and his arms were crossed over his bulky chest. The immediate twist of arousal in her belly made her turn away. The man was too good looking for his own good.

  Maya spotted him then and took off, leaping the four-foot fence to run to him.

  Willow shook her head and waved her hand. “Did you see that? That’s how she took off to find you!”

  Flynn shook his head at the dog, grinning, and rubbed her.

  “Did you see what else she was doing?”

  He nodded without looking up. “I did.”

  “She has incredible drive. You ought to think about training her. She needs a job desperately.”

  His grin faded. Even beneath the beard, she could see his jaw tighten. “Then somebody else will have to give it to her. I’m not.”

  Willow frowned, planting her hands on her hips. “Well, maybe I’ll train her then.”

  His chest jerked, as if she’d wounded him with her words. “I think that would be best.”

  Well, hell. She’d only said that to make him realize he should train her.

  “She’s not my dog. You should do it.”

  Flynn shook his head, finally meeting her eyes. “I can’t.”

  There was something in his voice that made her pause, mouth open, before she laid into him. It wouldn’t do any good to fight with him about it, not if he wasn’t open to the job. She had a feeling Flynn whatever-his-name-was had more knowledge about training than he was letting on.

  But the pain she heard in his growl made her back off. She walked closer to the fence, calling her Lab mix to her side. “This is my dog, Guinness. I’ve had him for about six years now, and he’s a state certified Search and Rescue dog.”

  Flynn pushed away from the wall to step toward the fence, but his right leg suddenly collapsed beneath him. He caught himself, but the grimace on his face told her he had to be in pain.

  Willow clenched her mouth shut, unwilling to be snapped at if she asked if he was okay. Her body thrummed with the need to leap to his aid. Wrapping her palms over the chain link fence pipe, she waited for him to look at her. “Can I get you some ibuprofen? Whiskey?”

  One side of his mouth tipped up. “I might take some ibuprofen if you have them laying around.”

  Willow tur
ned for her house, hoping that he would follow. Guinness jogged at her side as she slipped through the gate and turned right on the path, toward her house. She couldn’t hear his footsteps behind her, so she wasn’t sure if he would actually come in or not.

  She retrieved four pills from the bottle she kept in the kitchen cupboard, along with two bottles of water from the fridge. Flynn had let himself into the porch and was trying to lower himself into the patio chair. He kind of plopped down at the end, as if his legs gave out, and he bared his teeth in pain. Willow held the items out to him, hoping he would take them and be fine. She was surprised he let her see him like this at all. He was normally all bad ass. Turning, she sat in the chair opposite from his.

  Curiosity badgered at her. “Did you get hurt today?”

  Maya’s head rested on his thigh and he stroked her. “A bit. It was my own doing though. I just came back from a jog.”

  Willow frowned. “If it hurts that much, why do you do it?”

  “To make sure I still can.”

  She shook her head at his reasoning. “Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should.”

  One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Agreed. But I have to.”

  The hidden smile slipped away as his eyes flicked to the left, then back. Okay. That was a bit strange.

  “How did you get into the search and rescue work?”

  Willow blinked at the question he threw at her. Was he actually trying to engage in conversation? Or throw her off the track?

  “Well,” she sighed, “I was hiking the Devil’s Head Fire Lookout several years ago and got involved in a search. That was before Guinness; before I even thought about doing SAR work. But there was a team there that just impressed the hell out of me. Waded into that dark forest and brought that hiker out within a couple hours. Most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. I was bitten. I adopted Guinness from a local shelter and we’ve been going ever since. Twenty-two searches later and we’re a solid team. We get called every couple of months. Found a few people. One little girl who stops into the office every once in a while to bring me a homemade card. It’s very satisfying.”