CHAPTER SIX
HER DAD GOT there in under ten minutes, and he had both Uncle Sawyer and Nadine, Shohn’s fiancée, with him.
As her dad worked his magic, talking soothingly to the dog and quickly earning his trust, Lisa whispered, “Nadine owns a pet hotel, so she’s really great with animals, too.”
Beside them, arms crossed as he watched, her uncle Sawyer said, “Jordan has a way with animals.”
Gray looked impressed. “He whispered and the dog just came to him. Like he knew him or something.”
“They all do that with Dad.”
Nadine nodded. “I’ve seen him whisper to cows and goats and hawks and groundhogs. They all love him.”
The exaggeration, slight as it might be, made Lisa grin, especially since it looked as though Gray believed her. Her grin died, however, once the rope was off the dog and they saw the note.
Jordan handed it off to Nadine, who read it and then handed it to Sawyer. “‘You’ll pay,’” he read. And then to Gray, “Any ideas?”
“Yeah. A cruel idiot.” Seeing Jordan had it under control, Gray joined him, going down on his haunches to cautiously stroke the marks left around the dog’s throat. “He’ll be okay?”
“She, but yes.”
“She?”
Lisa grinned again at Gray’s expression. “A girl, Dad?”
“Yes, and by the looks of her, I’d say she’s at least twelve, maybe older. A mutt, but I see a lot of coonhound in her. She’s malnourished, has some small wounds that need attention, and she needs a good cleaning.” He looked at Gray. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take her in and get her treated.”
“Please,” Gray said. “Do whatever she needs and then let me know what I owe you.” He again stroked the dog, and this time she tipped her head up, her eyes closed as if relishing the touch.
Lisa understood that; she often felt the same when Gray put those warm, strong hands on her.
Nadine nudged her, and she realized both her dad and Uncle Sawyer were watching her. Clearing her throat, she asked Gray, “Do you plan to keep her?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation. She really liked that about him. Decisive. Caring. “I’m glad.”
Her dad got a crate from the back of his truck. “If I’d known I’d be bringing one back with me,” he said, “I’d have lined it with something soft.”
“Here.” Just like that, Gray pulled off his T-shirt and handed it over.
Neither her dad nor her uncle seemed to think anything of it, but once Lisa got her eyes to blink she noticed that Nadine was staring with rapt surprise.
It was Lisa’s turn to offer a nudge.
Nadine turned to her and silently mouthed, Wow.
Nodding, Lisa agreed with her.
“I understand she’ll be fine with you,” Gray was saying to her dad. “But I feel bad just letting her go.”
“Then don’t.” Uncle Sawyer, avoiding her gaze, stepped in. “Sheriff Turley’s going to need to see that note.”
“I’ll handle it,” Gray said with silky menace.
“All the same, Turley needs to know. I’m free today, Jordan’s free, and I’m sure Lisa can handle the shop for a few hours.”
Seeing a trap closing in, Lisa said, “But—”
“Ride back with us,” Sawyer continued. “After we talk to the sheriff, I can show you Jordan’s clinic. It’ll give us a chance to get better acquainted.”
Her dad gave her a look, then said to Gray, “We’ll need to fill out some paperwork for her. On the way to the clinic, you can think up a name.”
The dog, after sniffing the shirt Jordan spread in the crate, went in willingly.
“She’s smart,” Nadine said. “If there’s anything you need from me, let me know. Otherwise I think I’ll hang out and give Lisa a hand.”
Again, Lisa tried to protest.
But Gray beat her to the punch, asking, “Do you mind?” His eyes, the color of the stormy sky, stared into hers. “I’ll be back before we’re due to close.”
He might as well have said, In time to give you everything I promised with that hot, killer kiss.
The dog watched her, so how could she refuse? Deflated, Lisa flapped a hand. “It’s been a slow day, what with the rain. Go on. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Grinning, probably anticipating a lot of girl talk, Nadine said, “This is going to be fun.”
Gray said, “Let me grab another shirt and I’ll be right with you.” He disappeared inside.
Lisa stood there, her father, uncle and Nadine all watching her. She chose to focus on the dog. “Such a sweetie. How long will you need to keep her?”
“If there’s nothing major wrong, I can give her back to you at the picnic Sunday.”
“Back to Gray, you mean.”
Her dad just gave her another long look.
Luckily Gray returned, still buttoning up his short-sleeved cotton shirt. He paused beside her, said, “I won’t be long,” and right there, in front of family and a friend, he put his mouth to hers.
Lisa was so shocked she didn’t even blink.
Smiling, he touched her cheek. “You have my number if anything comes up.” He kissed her again, then strode to the dog crate and, like freaking Superman, put his hand in the handle and lifted it as if it didn’t hold a large dog.
Sawyer grinned back at Lisa. “I like him.”
Brows up, her dad opened the back of the truck. “Yeah.”
When Gray said, “I’ll ride back here with her,” Nadine put a hand to her heart and whispered, “Oh, me, too.”
Amazing. Gray had told her he could handle her family. She’d had her doubts, but wow, he’d just made it look pretty easy.
They were all won over.
And if she were honest with herself, she’d admit she wasn’t far behind them.
* * *
TUCKER TURLEY DIDN’T like the note, or the treatment of the dog, any more than Gray had, but as he’d already known, a note wasn’t much to go on.
“Could’ve been meant for anyone,” the sheriff said.
“Yeah,” Gray agreed. But he trusted gut instincts, and his gut said the dog had been sent to him, specifically.
Which meant the lame You’ll pay was a direct threat. So someone had a beef with him? He’d gotten along fine with all the locals, so he didn’t have a clue.
They left with Tucker promising he’d keep both an eye and ear out. Neither Sawyer nor Jordan looked happy. And he knew why.
After they reached the clinic, Gray hovered nearby while Jordan checked the dog from nose to tail. He gave her some pain meds that he said would also make her sleepy. He put ointment on the raw abrasions on her neck, cleaned out her ears, checked her teeth and decided to let her eat and get a good night’s sleep before bathing her in the morning.
After all that, they got the dog settled in a roomy kennel area, and Jordan said, “Let’s get some coffee in the break room.”
Which Gray knew was a euphemism for Let us grill you to our satisfaction.
He started the conversation by saying, “Hell of a nice setup you have.”
“Thanks.” Jordan filled three disposable cups, then pulled out a seat and sank into it. “Any thoughts on a name?”
“Yeah.” Gray sipped his coffee, knew the men were analyzing him and said, “Shelby.”
“Interesting choice,” Sawyer said.
Shrugging, Gray explained, “My deceased partner’s last name.”
Clearly they already knew his background, given their quiet nods of respect. After a stretch of time, Jordan set his coffee aside. “Are you going to convince my daughter to stay in Buckhorn?”
Gray didn’t deny that they had a relationship beyond employer and employee. Neither of these men was blind or stupid.
And of course, they’d witnessed the very deliberate, possessive kiss he’d given her.
But he wouldn’t mind using the opportunity to get a point across. “I don’t want to pressure her. All of you are doing enough of that.”
Sawyer and Jordan shared a frown.
“What I will do,” Gray said, “is give her plenty of reasons to stay.”
The frowns smoothed out and the men grinned. As if remembering himself, Jordan coughed his away. “Lisa is—”
“Very special. I know.”
Jordan agreed. “She’s smart, and she can take care of herself. But if you have some nutcase after you, is it safe?”
“You don’t have to worry.” Gray knew well the dangers that existed in the world. “Whatever the note meant, no matter what the threat might be, I won’t let anything happen to her.”
After quietly taking that in, Sawyer asked, “You’re armed?”
“At the shop, yes. Going forward, I will be everywhere.” He hoped they understood that for a cop, carrying was second nature. “But even without a gun, I’d protect her.”
Sawyer smiled. “Even though he’s mayor now, Morgan says he feels naked without his gun.”
“True story.” Gray liked the familiar feel of the weapon, whether in a hip holster or at the small of his back. “Once a cop, always a cop.”
Jordan said, “He told us about your partner. That had to be tough.”
Sawyer tipped his head, his attention on Gray’s leg. “You’re okay now? Have full mobility back?”
“I’m fine.” Gray saw the questions they didn’t ask. Might as well clear the air now. He spent the next hour or so talking, and in the process he learned that he liked Sawyer and Jordan both. They were interested without being overly intrusive. Protective of Lisa while also showing their respect and insisting they trusted her to make the decisions best for her.
As a doctor, Sawyer asked plenty of questions about Gray’s injury. Jordan had a quieter way about him, but Gray thought it might be deceptive, a way to hide the intensity.
They were good men, and he was glad Lisa had them in her life.
Before they left the clinic, Gray again checked on Shelby. Now that she’d been fed and had some meds, she was resting peacefully on a plush doggy bed—and his shirt. He stroked her, enjoyed the thumping of her tail and promised her he’d see her again in the morning. She closed her eyes on a big doggy yawn, so Gray didn’t linger.
The later it got, the fewer people would be at the marina and the better the chance of Lisa being alone.
By the time Jordan dropped Gray back at the shop, it was raining again. Thanks to a call, they knew Nadine had left half an hour ago because business was so slow. Gray saw a man using the ramp to take a boat out. Along the shore, only two people, a woman and a man, cast out lines, their hats and windbreakers the only sign that they noticed the weather.
“Thanks again,” Gray said to Jordan.
“You know, the previous owners sometimes closed up early on days like this. You could do the same.”
Seeing Lisa in the doorway waiting on him, Gray decided that wasn’t a bad idea. “Sounds like a plan.” He opened the door and stepped into the downpour.
“Gray?”
He ducked his head back into the open truck door.
“Don’t make me regret liking you.”
Grinning, Gray closed the door and jogged to the shop. Soon as he reached the door, Lisa stepped back. She looked both worried and anxious and, damn, he wanted her.
Standing there, dripping on the floor, Gray looked her over. There seemed to be a sort of leashed tension in her small body. He saw her hands shaking, the shallow way she breathed. “Any problems?”
“No.”
Hoping for the best, he asked, “Miss me?”
“Yes.”
He drew a breath and went for broke. “I want you, Lisa. Right now.”
As if that galvanized her, she rushed to the door, slammed and locked it.
Gray watched her, his heart racing, already getting hard.
Shooting to the window next, she turned the Open sign to Closed, then pulled the curtains so no one could see in.
“In a hurry?” he asked, so turned on he couldn’t draw a deep breath.
“Yes.” She headed past him for the door to the stairs. “Come on.”
Snagging her hand as she passed, Gray pulled her back. “Just a second.” Suffering his own urgency, he got his gun and keys from a drawer beneath the counter. Lisa didn’t balk at the gun. She didn’t even look all that surprised by it.
Stepping back, she let him unlock the stairs door and, after he relocked it with them on the other side, followed him at a more sedate pace up to his living area. Once there, Gray put the gun and keys on the table in the small kitchen, then stripped off his soaked shirt and draped it over a chair.
Lisa made a sound, stepped up against him, her hands on his chest, and a second later she went to her tiptoes to kiss him.
No longer caring that he was soaked through, Gray gathered her closer, his hands going down her slim back, cupping under her bottom, the backs of her thighs, back up again. Her hands were the same, sliding down his back to his shorts, then back up to curve over his shoulders.
He felt the sting of her nails and she practically tried to crawl into him.
He pressed her back enough to get the buttons on her blouse open, but he needed to kiss her, too, and soon they were tangled again. Once he got the top buttons undone, he managed to pull the blouse up and over her head.
No bra.
Breathing hard, he held her back and looked at her.
The frayed cutoffs fit low on her hips, showing off the slight curve of her belly, the dip of her waist, all that smooth, soft, pale peach skin. The shorts, faded and worn in spots, were about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen on a woman.
On this woman, they all but destroyed him.
Traveling upward, his hungry gaze took in her round, firm breasts. Excitement had drawn her nipples tight. His lungs constricted, his hands naturally lifting to cover her, to tease those stiffened nipples with his thumbs. A groan rumbled from deep in his chest.
At the same time, Lisa purred, her hands covering his.
“You’re as beautiful as I remember.”
When she started to kiss him, he whispered, “I want to see all of you,” and reluctantly pulled his hands away. Taking a step back, he reached for the snap of her shorts. It opened easily and, taunting himself and her, he slowly dragged down the zipper.
Lisa stood there shivering with need, her attention on his face, seeing everything he felt. And he felt a lot.
With her shorts open, he put both hands inside the back, cuddling her cheeks for a moment and then sliding both her panties and her shorts down. Once past her thighs they dropped to her feet.
So sweet. And so fucking pretty. All over.
“Gray?”
He smoothed her hair behind her shoulders and just looked at her. He could look at her for a lifetime. He knew it, had felt it almost from the moment they’d met. She was his, now and always. The trick would be in getting her to want the same thing.
“Your turn,” she said, lifting one hand to tease at the drawstrings to his shorts.
“No problem.” He shucked off his remaining clothes in record time, then made her squeal when he scooped her up and headed for his bedroom. “Kiss me.”
She did, and damn, but her kisses were hotter than sex with other women. She scorched him, especially with the hot way her tongue played with his, how her bare breasts felt on his chest, the way her fingers dug into his shoulders as she tried to hold him tighter.
At the side of the bed, he sank down with her small body tucked under his. She slid one leg up and around his hip, both her hands easing up to tangle in his hair while they indulged in a deep, eating kiss that left each of them panting.
Needing more, Gray nibbled a damp path down her throat to her breasts. He already knew she had extremely sensitive nipples, and he loved it. He started with a few licks, then sucked on her until she groaned. Carefully, he caught her pebbled nipple in his teeth and tugged.
“Gray.”
Taking turns at each breast, he enjoyed her until she was crying out, her head back, her body moving rhythmically against his.
Wanting to see her come, he stroked a hand down her side, over that cute belly and between her legs, where he found her hot and already wet.
“Yeah,” he rasped low, slicking his fingers over her, then in her to press deep.
She said his name on a high, thin cry.
Watching her, he brought his fingers out, up to her clitoris, then back in, pumping two or three times, then teasing her clit again. Over and over. She found his rhythm, her hips rolling, her throaty groans coming faster.
He licked over her already wet nipples, sucked insistently, and far too soon she started coming.
Gray held her, stayed with her, wrung her out until her hoarse cries faded and she went limp on the bed, eyes closed, lips parted.
Seeing her like that, sated by him, left protective, possessive urges surging through him. Even knowing it was too soon, he wanted to declare himself. Time wouldn’t change anything for him, but hopefully it would for her.
Odd, but now that he had her here in his bed, he no longer felt the churning rush to get inside her. Instead he took immense pleasure in cuddling her, kissing her, touching her in soft, easy strokes over her waist, her shoulder, along her hip and thigh.
After a time, she sighed deeply, smiled a little. “I needed that.”
“Mmm.” He nuzzled her shoulder, breathed in her scrumptious scent and took a lazy bite. “Me, too.”
With a husky laugh, she pressed at his chest. “That took the edge off, but I need more.”
“A lot more.” Sitting up, he snagged a condom from the bottom drawer of the nightstand. As he rolled it on, he felt her hand on his back, idly touching him. He turned, kneed her legs apart and settled over her. “Hi.”
Her eyes, all warm, dark and mysterious, smiled at him. “Hi.”
Adjusting, he moved against her, watched her face and sank in.
“Gray,” she moaned.
Doing his utmost to maintain control, he began rocking into her, deeper each time, until their bodies were in perfect tune. It was all familiar, irresistible and yet still new because now he knew her, really knew her. And loved everything about her. “I enjoy hearing you say my name.”
Opening her eyes and staring up at him, she whispered, “Gray.”
“Tease.” Her body squeezed around his cock, wetter and hotter. Ducking his face into her neck, he opened his mouth against her fragrant skin.
“I like teasing you.” Her legs lifted around him and she locked her ankles at the small of his back. Near his ear she whispered, “Harder.” And as he complied, she lifted into him, saying again, “Gray.”
Damn. Her teeth caught his shoulder, she cried out, and this time, unable to stop himself, Gray came with her.
Sometime later he became aware of Lisa toying with his chest hair. He hugged her, kissed her forehead and rolled to his back.
She immediately moved over him.
Liking that, he murmured, “Nice.”
“I don’t want you to get too far away.”
“Yeah?” Smiling, feeling more relaxed than he had in…well, a month, he settled a hand on her bottom. “Stay over and I promise to keep you within touching distance all night long.”
Surprise widened her eyes, then she flushed. “I wasn’t hinting.”
“I know. I want you here.” More than that, he needed her close. “Stay.”
For only a moment she thought about it. “Okay.” As she snuggled in, she said, “It’ll give us a chance to talk.”
Biting back his groan wasn’t easy, but Gray managed it and even sounded casual when he asked, “Talk about what?”
She rose up to her elbows. “You. Your partner.” Her hand went down his body to the top of his thigh—dangerously close to his junk—and settled over the scar. “And how you got this.”