Must Love Pets: A Romance Box Set

by Theresa Weir

  That did him in, because instinct told him that he was. Perfectly safe. He sighed deeply to release some of the gathered heaviness in his chest. “The money ran out and I had to support my sister. It was my father’s greatest wish she go to Princeton. I couldn’t let him down. I took the job thinking it would be temporary.”

  “And got sucked in.”

  “I’m good at what I do.”

  “But does it feed your soul?”

  “The current situation is what is important right now. We need to figure this out.”

  “Now you’re being evasive, which is okay. I understand how scary it must be to discover you lost your way on the path to where you wanted to be. It’s never too late to find your way back.”

  He looked down, unable to admit anything either to himself or to her. Saying it out loud would make it much too real. He wasn’t ready to go that far.

  “Maybe analyzing my job should take a back seat to your immediate problem. A decision has to be made, or this is going to get too real, too fast.”

  “And we’re back to me. I see this isn’t the time for this discussion.” Her disappointed sigh twisted in his gut.

  She looked up at him through thick sable lashes. “I have made a decision. I’m going to go talk to Kristen and end this. She’s had enough time to see reason.”

  “Brooke, appealing to her won’t work. She’s not going to change her mind.”

  “I have faith that she will.”

  “You are being naïve.”

  “It’s worth a try.”

  He pulled her tightly against him. “Why won’t you just settle out of court?”

  “Because Kristen wants me to fire Rachel.”

  “Rachel?”

  “She’s the groomer. She’s got two kids and no husband. She’s barely making ends meet as it is. I will not fire her.”

  Drew bowed his head and realized this was even worse than he thought. “This is what she told you, fire her or she would ruin you?”

  “Exactly. But I’m going to explain the situation to her. She can’t be that heartless.”

  “Brooke, she is that heartless. Maybe you can help Rachel find another job.”

  “That’s not an option. I know what it feels like to be abandoned without support. My parents could have cared less about me. They gave me Roscoe so I would learn responsibility. What a joke! They didn’t know the first thing about responsibility. But they taught me well. Rachel has no one to help her.”

  “And you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for her?”

  She bit her lip. “Tell me the truth. Can she really take everything I own over a bad grooming? The fur will grow back, for mercy’s sake. It’s not like she’s permanently scarred.”

  Drew sighed. “She has a lot pull, Brooke. She has judges in her family and very influential friends. Roger is a very prominent attorney, and he also has influential friends. Even worse, he dotes on Kristen. Spoils her. I think in the back of his mind he’s afraid of losing her, so he indulges her. Together they have a lot of money, and that buys a lot. I don’t think her threat is an idle one.”

  Just then he heard a weak bark. Brooke sat up in bed her face alarmed. “Roscoe?” she called, but the dog didn’t come into the bedroom.

  “Roscoe, come,” she called again, but still the dog didn’t materialize. She climbed out of bed, hastily slipping into a robe. Drew followed her, collecting his clothes from the foyer and dressing quickly.

  “Oh, no,” Brooke said softly as she knelt beside Roscoe, who lay inert. “Oh, God, no.”

  Drew rushed over and knelt beside the dog and felt his throat. “He’s still alive. Do you have someone you can call?”

  “Yes.” He scooped up the dog and followed her to the foyer. She found her basket. Dumping out the stuffed dog and sunflowers, she came up with her phone.

  She ran to the bedroom as he heard her talking to the other person on the end of the line. When she came back out, she was fully dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.

  She grabbed up her wallet and keys and they left the apartment, Roscoe a silent, warm weight in his arms. He hoped the dog was going to be okay. He was kind of getting fond of him. And he already had an inkling that the loss would devastate Brooke. She didn’t need that on top of everything else.

  She told the cabbie, “St. Marks,” and rattled off the address. She put her hand on Roscoe’s head. “Hang on, honey.”

  Once inside the hospital he saw a woman with streaked purple hair pacing in front of the reception desk. As soon as she saw them, she indicated an exam room and had Drew set the old boy on the table. An attendant came in, and the small room filled fast.

  He backed up, not wanting to leave Brooke, but both the vet and Brooke were too busy to worry about him. Nevertheless, he took her hand and held it while she worriedly looked on.

  The attendant picked up the dog.

  The woman with the streaked hair said, “We’re taking him to the back where Dr. Scott is going to examine him. We’ll get blood, set him up with an IV and oxygen, while you and…” She looked at him.

  “Drew.”

  “Drew?” Her jaw dropped and she looked him up and down, taking in his costume. Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes narrowed. “You can stay here.”

  “Poe,” Brooke said, her voice strained with love for her dog.

  “We’ll do everything we can.”

  He felt her body shake, saw tears fill her eyes and slip down her cheeks. She nodded and leaned back into him as if he was a lifeline.

  He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against his chest.

  “Let’s sit down,” he said gently, steering her to one of the benches in the room.

  “I can’t lose him. He means everything to me.”

  “He’s still alive, Brooke. That’s something.”

  She nodded and turned her teary face to his. He brought up his hand and brushed her cheek, leaving a faint trail of moisture there and on his thumb.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he was blindsided by the hard surge of tenderness he had only ever felt for his sister. Only the feeling was different, it was mixed with poignant need to sink into her sweetness, get lost in her touch. The loneliness he hadn’t realized was there until now was a hollow ache that filled with her and pulsed in cadence to his beating heart.

  The world had been his enemy. His responsibility was his shield, the money his armor, and his fear his sword that would deflect even the most terrible foe. But Brooke was showing him he’d walled off his heart to everything. Including his sister. Even the comfort that another human being could offer.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she said softly.

  He nodded. He was a fake, a fraud, and he had no right to the gentle look in her eyes. She nestled her head into his shoulder and his conscience twisted like a corkscrew, boring into his heart. After another thirty minutes passed, Poe came back into the room. She didn’t have a happy look on her face, but he suspected that had more to do with him and the way Brooke was snuggled up to him.

  “He’s stable.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” She rose, alarm wobbling her voice.

  “He has developed diabetes. His blood sugar spiked and he went into a coma, but we gave him insulin and stabilized his blood sugar. We want to keep him here overnight, though, just to be safe.”

  “He’s going to be okay?”

  “Yes,” she rubbed Brooke’s arm and gave him a distrustful look out of those darkly lined eyes. She looked more like a raven than her mad poet namesake. “He’ll need his blood sugar monitored from now on. Are you up for that?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll take care of him.”

  Poe looked at him then said to Brooke, “Can I talk to you privately?”

  Brooke threw him an apologetic look and followed Poe out of the room. Through the open door he watched her have a whispered conversation, with Poe glancing at him several times. He really couldn’t blame Brooke’s friend. If he was her, he wouldn’t trust him
either. His gut twisted. Frustration, regret, anger…one dark emotion chased another, ripping through him until they were a bitter taste in his mouth.

  What the hell was he doing?

  He ran his hand through his hair as the desperate thoughts scraped at too-raw nerves.

  Finally Brooke came back to him, and they left the hospital while he felt Poe’s eyes boring into his back.

  Brooke was silent in the cab all the way back to her place. Torn between staying and leaving, he followed her back up to her apartment. It seemed empty without Roscoe, and he could see in her anxious eyes that she felt it, too. Much more poignantly than he did.

  He couldn’t forget the way her friend looked at him. The mistrust in her eyes. And, even now, he wasn’t sure he deserved to kiss and touch Brooke. He wasn’t sure of his own motivations.

  “I don’t blame your friend.”

  “For what?”

  “Not trusting me. I’m on the other side. The enemy.” She looked despondent and distracted, and he understood that. He should leave her alone, but the look on her face pulled at his heart. She said nothing, just looked down and picked up a red ball, turning it over in her hands.

  He stepped forward and her head jerked up. He grabbed her arms. “Are you listening to me? Kristen could utterly ruin you if she gets a sympathetic judge. Negotiate with me and I’ll do my best to mitigate, but if you refuse to do anything, Kristen has already won.”

  She pulled away from him and walked to the bank of windows. The traffic noise was muted, the city alive with lights.

  “Please don’t make me take this to court, Brooke.”

  “Why? Because you’ll have to do everything you can to win? Even if it ruins me like Kristen wants?” She folded her arms across her chest and let the red ball fall. It bounced on the hardwood floor and rolled away to smack against the wall.

  He threw up his hands. This situation was almost unbearable. He had tried to stay disconnected from her, but that hadn’t happened, hadn’t been possible. She was comfort and sizzle, sassy and sweet. And, he wasn’t worthy of her.

  “I would have to crush you,” his voice broke, his shoulders tightening while his hands formed into fists. He tried to breathe around the thick lump in his throat. “Roger wouldn’t accept anything less. Although, to be truthful, he doesn’t want the publicity.”

  “Yes, let’s be truthful. By all means. I told you before I knew your ploy. You were trying to manipulate me with your charm. I might be naïve in your cynical book, but I’m not stupid.”

  “Seducing you into bed…”

  She held up her hand. “We both got…caught up. I’m well aware that it wasn’t your plan, but I participated willingly. You were trying much too hard not to get involved that way for me to believe you seduced me to get me to settle. But we did it, and now we have that connection. I’d like to think I’m a good judge of character. I would never use emotional blackmail to get you to change your mind about the lawsuit. It’s not really up to you. But, my hands are tied. I cannot settle out of court, Drew, and now you know why. A woman’s livelihood is worth the effort and my time. I simply cannot and will not turn my back on her for something so frivolous. I know too well what that feels like.”

  Why did she have to look at him like that? Like she was going to wrap her arms around him and comfort him. Him! She was the one who needed the comfort.

  “We’re back to Kristen again.”

  Her face softened, her brown eyes compassionate. “We are. But you’ve opened my eyes. I see that I was procrastinating. I have to talk to her, but I hate confrontation so much I usually remain passive rather than do anything. But in this case I will have to move out of my comfort zone and go speak to her. Get her to see reason or strike some kind of bargain with her. I might not have been willing to emotionally blackmail you, but I have no qualms about her.”

  The daggers in her eyes made him wonder if this little lamb wasn’t a match for Kristen’s she-cat snark after all. A purely unintentional rough laugh escaped his lips.

  “What’s so funny? You don’t think I have it in me?”

  “No, I think you are one of the most stubborn women I have ever met. Like a mama bear protecting her cub. But I have to remind you yet again. Kristen can’t be swayed by emotion. The Botox certainly won’t let her show it. I think they removed her heart the last time she had a tummy tuck.”

  “I’ll get through to her.”Geezus, her optimism was just as irresistible as her dark eyes and wealth of silken hair. His body vibrated from his urge to join with her again. Cool your engines, man. She was the better person. He didn’t want this responsibility. The weight of responsibility for one human being on his shoulders was enough. Nausea tumbled in his gut. He would have to face her in court.

  “We’re at an impasse.”

  “I have to ask you. What’s your stake in this? Most lawyers I know would rub their hands together with glee at a big settlement for their client.”

  She deserved an answer from him, but he was reluctant to give it. This would change how she thought of him. A heaviness settled on his shoulders, pressing down on his chest.

  He must have revealed what he was feeling on his face.

  She closed her eyes and turned back to the windows, bringing a trembling hand to her temple and brushing at the heavy hair there.

  “I’m not going to like what you have to say. I guess I don’t have anyone to blame but myself.”

  “I’m sorry, Brooke. I didn’t know…”

  She kept her back to him and remained silent. He had no idea if she was truly seeing the vista before her, or if her thoughts were entirely inward at the moment. She had to process a lot tonight, and despite her few lapses, she’d maintained extremely well. He didn’t know her well enough to know her breaking point. Maybe she didn’t know either. But from the steady set of her shoulders, it was clear she was a rock during a crisis.

  “You have a hidden agenda.” Her tone was flat, unemotional, stating facts rather than asking questions.

  “I do have a hidden agenda. Roger likes to pit us against each other at the firm. He says it builds our competitive edge. He made me play a game of squash to win this case.”

  She turned around then and marched closer to him as her hand gripped the lapel of his tux.

  “A game?” The heat of anger glittered in her eyes.

  There it was. The breaking point. And he’d pushed her to it.

  “You think this is a game?”

  “I did, Brooke, but now—”

  “Don’t gloss it over. Don’t try to snow me, not now.”

  He should have respected her more.

  “I was offered a partnership if I could get you to settle out of court.”

  Her eyes went wide and she froze to the spot. “I see. My livelihood stands in the balance, and all you thought about was a partnership.”

  “I’ve worked hard…”

  “Yes, you have. So it makes perfect sense you would choose your job over m-m-helping me.”

  Any chance he had with her was gone. It was in the tight line of her jaw and in the deep, dark depths of her eyes. Even as she tried to conceal her hurt, he saw it.

  He’d taken something special and crapped all over it. The circumstances were impossible. His decision had to be to turn his back and walk away, because the step he would need to take to earn the right to stay, he couldn’t take. He was almost to his goal, and he barely knew her.

  And because he couldn’t take the risk, whatever chance he would have had with Brooke died before it was really born.

  He barely knew her. So why did it hurt almost as much as the night he’d lost his parents?

  Chapter 7

  Okay, she hadn’t seen that coming. She really hadn’t. For some reason, she had believed he was a knight in shining armor who had wanted to protect her from the big, bad Viking bitch. But that wasn’t the case. Nothing like being a fool.

  He was going to turn his back on her, just like her parents had, which left her with
nothing but self-recrimination and a familiar sense of betrayal.

  Which left her standing there with no idea what to say. Or do. So, she did what she normally did. She took the coward’s way out.

  She brushed by him and walked to her front door and opened it. Running her hand down her jean-clad thigh, she forced herself to look at him. “I think it’s time you headed back to the opera.”

  “Opera?” he repeated, his voice toneless.

  She shouldn’t give him the slightest of edges. She inhaled, holding the breath for a second and then releasing it to feel calm settling over her.

  He looked at the open door like it was the portal to Hades and didn’t move. Her heart faltered, but then hardened, screaming at her to raise her guard and give him not so much as a toehold to latch on to. “That’s code for anywhere…” She trailed off only for a second, looking away and then quickly continuing, proud of the steel in her voice, “…but here. And I’d like you to keep your professional distance. There isn’t any point in pursuing anything beyond a strict adversarial relationship. It’s best we stay focused on the business we have between us. And nothing else.”

  Her control was amazing. She didn’t even feel the sharp needles of pain stabbing in her heart. She was a rock in a crisis, always had been. And maybe she was just kidding herself and actually stalling to give him time to respond.

  “Too much has happened for us to be enemies, Brooke.”

  Oh, God, she was not going to be a pushover. But she already felt her heart break, and she had to steel herself against the pain it caused with what was evident in her head. This was not going to work. She had to admit. They weren’t exactly enemies. He was right. Too much had happened. She looked up at him straight in the eyes.

  “Okay, so we-we’re…frenemies,” she said with more fluster than bluster.

  Rather than look hurt or dismayed, he smiled. It was slow to start, but grew steadily, reaching fully to his eyes, which twinkled. Damn him and his charm.

  “I understand,” he said, his tone quiet, even sincere.

  “Do you?”

  He merely nodded. “I just want you to do one thing.”