CHAPTER FIVE
AROUND LUNCHTIME, when the shop finally cleared out, Lisa came over with the last few bites of a microwaved taco and a can of cola, and she hopped her sexy behind up onto the counter beside Gray. Which, of course, guaranteed he wouldn’t get anything else done.
Today she wore actual cutoffs frayed along the very tops of her thighs and a sleeveless red blouse. His own adorable, hotter-than-hell country bumpkin.
As he pushed aside a few catalogs of summer gear, she asked, “My place or yours?”
He trailed one finger down her arm. “My place is closer.”
Looking back at the door to the stairs, she asked, “How close?”
He pointed up to the ceiling.
She rearranged the wrapper on her taco to get the last bite. “Have you really thought this through?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. He knew exactly what he wanted: her.
As if he hadn’t spoken, she pointed out, “Because my family has noticed you. And that means they’ll bring on the pressure and have all these expectations, and while I might not be here, you say you will be.”
“Definitely.” And he hoped she’d stick around, too. As she’d said, her family was here. She had a house. Would that be enough?
“So do you really want to deal with that?”
He wanted to deal with her. “I’m a big boy. Don’t worry about me.”
“But—”
“Lisa.” Leaving the chair, he walked around to stand in front of her. He took the empty wrapper from her hand and pitched it toward the garbage can.
She watched it land inside. “Good shot.”
Gray set her Coke aside, then flattened his hands on the counter at either side of her hips. “You can’t talk me out of what I want, but if it’s not what you want, you can tell me. I’ll deal with it.”
She stared at his mouth. “I want you.”
Much as he loved that, he asked, “But?”
“Everything is so complicated.”
“Doesn’t have to be.”
Suddenly she put her arms around him and hugged him tight. “I don’t want to leave you with a mess.”
He wanted to say, Then don’t leave. But he was determined not to push her on that. She needed to make her own decision—and he’d help by making Buckhorn more enticing.
Smoothing her hair, he said, “I can handle your family.” He hoped.
She laughed and hugged him tighter. “Oh, you poor misguided man.”
Okay, so he was being pretty optimistic about that. But he’d routinely handled petty thugs and hard-core criminals, prosecutors and defense attorneys, even stubborn-as-hell judges. How bad could her family be? “Trust me.”
The air around them seemed to crackle. She snuggled closer, kissed his throat and said, “I think I always have.”
That did it for him.
Giving her time to object, Gray slowly parted her thighs and stepped between them, then, with his hands on her trim hips, he snugged her up close so their bodies meshed.
“Gray,” she whispered before melting against him.
“Damn.” He kissed her throat, her shoulder, over to her jaw.
Hands tight on his shoulders, she sought his mouth with hers. When their lips touched, they both went still, but not for long. Sinking a hand into her hair, Gray kept her close and nudged her lips open, turned his head for a better angle, sank his tongue in to taste and tease. This. He’d needed this a lot. But only with her.
The kiss went hot and wet and deep. But it wasn’t enough, not even close. The better he knew her, the more he thought forever wouldn’t be enough. She gave a soft groan, arched into him—
A noise sounded behind them.
Taken off guard—something that never happened—Gray jerked around, blocking her with his body. What he saw left him blank.
Not customers. No one from her family.
Just a stray dog.
Relieved that he hadn’t let Lisa get caught in a compromising situation that might’ve embarrassed her, Gray took in the ancient dog peeking into the shop with eyes almost as dark as Lisa’s. Half covered in mud, a rough rope tied around his neck, he looked miserable.
And that got Gray pissed really quick.
Breathing hard behind him, unaware of the dog, Lisa whispered, “Oh, God.”
“Shh,” he told her. “It’s a stray dog.”
Immediately her head popped up over his shoulder. “Ohhh,” she whispered. “The poor baby. Is he hurt?”
“I don’t know, but he’s not in good shape.” Hearing them, the animal started to slink away, so Gray said to her, “Stay here.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Check on him, if I can.” Help him, if at all possible. “C’m’ere, boy. You okay? Scared, huh. I bet.” He kept his voice low and made painstaking progress at getting closer. The rope around the animal’s neck looked too damned tight, like a cruel trick. He’d seen a lot of shit in his lifetime, but anything involving animals or kids really did him in.
He heard Lisa moving behind him, and a second later he felt her touch on his back. “Offer him this.”
He took the beef jerky and held it out.
The dog went on alert, ears up, nose sniffing the air.
Chances of getting bitten seemed good, so Gray tossed a piece toward the dog.
He caught it in the air and swallowed it in one gulp.
Yeah, that rope dug into the dog’s neck, way too tight. Gray tossed another bite, making this one closer so the dog had to step farther inside while Gray circled to the side. He kept it up, wanting to get behind the dog so he could close the door.
But first… “Lisa, I need you to go up to my place. If the dog freaks out, I don’t want you to get bit.”
“No.”
Since he’d given that order in his best cop voice, he stalled. “This isn’t—”
“Hush, Gray.” Phone to her ear, she said, “Hey, Dad, it’s me. We need a little bit of help. I don’t suppose you have any free time?” Quickly she explained the situation, and when she disconnected, she said, “He’s on his way.”
What the hell? Did she think her dad could do something he couldn’t?
“He’s a vet,” she reminded him. “And we’re in luck. He was using today for house calls, so he’s not that far away. Fifteen minutes, he said. Instead of trying to trap the dog, let’s just keep feeding him. Once he’s here, Dad will know what to do.”
It wasn’t in Gray’s nature to ask for help, but Lisa seemed to have no problem with it. At least when the help came from her family.
“All right,” Gray agreed. “Find some more food. But I don’t want you near him.”
Instead of taking exception to that, she said, “Gray? Is that a note tied to the dog’s neck?”
He’d already seen it, so he only nodded. “Yeah.” And far as he was concerned, whoever had put it there needed his ass kicked.