“Shot at?” Paul growled. “Torie.”
“Later, Paul. I’ll explain it all later. For now, we’ve got to get to Bear.”
“Bear?”
“The dog.”
“What is he, a Chihuahua?” His buddy in high school had named his Chihuahua Rambo, so he figured it might fit.
“No. He’s a Rottweiler, and maybe an Australian Cattle Dog, crossbred with a Labrador retriever. Could be some Newfoundland, too, as big as he is.”
“Holy shit.”
“Big motherfu…sorry,” Carlos aborted what he was about to say. “He’s huge.”
“Great.”
They reached the other side of the cleared area, and Carlos took the lead again. A narrow dirt path opened up to a cement sidewalk, and they were able to move more quickly.
“Let me go in—he knows me.”
“He’s gonna be scared,” Carlos temporized. “You sure you want to do that?”
“He knows me. I got him into this mess.”
“Torie,” Paul started.
“Shut up, Paul. Don’t start with me. My life is so out of my control, I can’t bear it. This, I can do. So shut up and let me.”
The three waited five endlessly tense minutes for Torie to return. When she did, she was leading the biggest damn dog Paul had ever seen. The beast was pressed firmly to the side of her leg, eyes darting furtively around. When he caught wind of their presence, he didn’t bark. He just stopped. Torie, caught off guard, stumbled to a halt as well.
“It’s okay, Bear, they’re with me.”
Her voice, cheerful and pleasant, was like a live wire to the dog. Without warning, Bear bounded forward again, dragging Torie with him. He ignored Pam and Carlos, whom he knew, and focused on Paul.
Two enormous, dinner-plate sized feet planted themselves on his lapels. For several heartbeats, he and the dog stared at one another. There was the barest curl to the dog’s lip that made Paul wonder if he was going to lose his face. Instead, a moment later, the biggest damn tongue he’d ever seen wrapped itself around his jaw.
“Get down, Bear,” Torie managed, tugging on the lead.
Seemingly satisfied, Bear dropped down to all fours.
Pam let out a long breath. “Good Lord, I thought he was going to take your face off.”
They started walking, and Paul answered her. “Me, too, Pam. Me, too.”
When they finally arrived at Paul’s house, it was after ten. Paul plopped the fast-food bags on the kitchen table and flipped on the lights.
“So. What’s the story with the dog? Is that where you were with Pam? The night your place was…” Paul hesitated, not wanting to say torched, which was the first word springing to mind. “Damaged?”
Torie nodded. She was still standing in the doorway. She looked weary and a little bewildered. Asking about the dog brought a spark of interest to her eyes.
“He’s a sweet dog, really. The owner lives next to a friend of Pam’s. He chained the dog up short, only let him have water once a day or so. We’re not sure how often he fed him.”
“He’s that big and not getting regular meals?” Paul whistled in astonishment. “Holy crap.”
“Yeah.” Torie smiled. “And he’s sweet. We think the guy was trying to make him mean to use him in fights.”
“He’d make a killing,” Paul said, keeping his face poker straight.
Torie fired up, almost immediately. “You cannot tell me you would condone…” she trailed off, catching him in the lie. “I know you wouldn’t, so what are you going to say, smart-ass?”
“The other dog would die of fright.”
She laughed, as he hoped. Together they walked on through to the kitchen. He scanned the counters, glad to see he hadn’t left anything sitting out.
“It’s clean, I think. The housekeeper was here yesterday. I know there’re clean sheets on the guest bed.”
“That’s fine. Just show me where. I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“Sounds good to me, too,” Paul said, setting his briefcase on the floor. “But we both need to eat. You especially.”
“Is that your way of saying I look like shit?” Torie retorted, as she plopped wearily into the chair at the table, and began rustling in the bags.
“No, it means you haven’t eaten today, not breakfast, and not lunch. You’ve been shorting yourself on sleep and food, Torie. That’s a bad combo. Believe me, I know.”
“Yeah,” was all she could manage.
“Here, let me help.” He pulled plates from the cabinet, and found two cold Sprites in the fridge. He kept them for his niece and nephew, but he needed something wet, decaffeinated, and nonalcoholic. Setting them on the table, he managed to get the hamburgers set out, and the steaming French fries heaped onto a communal plate. “There. It’s not haute cuisine, but it’ll do for tonight. Dig in.”
Together the plowed through the food. The appetite he’d always admired wasn’t up to its usual standard, but Torie held her own. However, when she’d eaten the burger, the steam left her.
“I could put my head down right here on this table, and sleep.”
“You’d get a crick in your neck,” Paul observed, pushing his plate away. He’d stopped eating to watch her, and the last of the fries no longer appealed. The familiar gnawing in his gut was making the ketchup a bad choice as well.
“You sound like my mother.” Torie’s muffled voice came from the crook of her arm as she put her head down on the table. “I was right. I could sleep here.”
Paul laughed and moved around behind her. “No way,” he rubbed at her shoulders a bit. “You’ll ruin my rep if anyone sees you at the table, asleep.”
“I’ll promise you anything if you keep rubbing my shoulders,” Torie said on a groan.
Under his hands, her tight shoulders relaxed, and as he moved to her back, she sighed. Everything in his body went on high alert. Her soft moan had him gritting his teeth in a vain attempt to focus on something other than the thought of Torie’s back, her body, what else might make her moan.
“C’mon, Tor,” he said softly. “Let’s get you to bed.”
She opened one bleary eye. “You haven’t called me that in…forever.”
He hadn’t. Damn it, now was not the time to slip up, with her in his house, close to him. She’d be sleeping in the other bedroom, for God’s sake.
“Time for bed, Torie. You’ll have to walk this time. I’m too frickin’ tired myself to carry you that far.”
She raised her head, and gave him a sleepy smile. It was the sexiest damn thing he’d ever seen, and his body responded. He could practically feel the blood pounding in his veins. It didn’t get any better when she stood up, stretching all those lithe muscles, arching her back and bending forward to pick up her purse.
Damn. She had one of the finest asses he’d ever seen. He’d lusted after her for that one attribute since the first moment he’d seen her, sophomore year.
“You carried me, from one bed to the next, didn’t you?” It was more statement than question, so he just nodded. Not trusting himself to speak.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” his voice sounded weird, tinny, and high, but Torie didn’t seem to notice. “Let’s get you settled.”
The thoughts running through his mind would have made a sailor blush, and it was all he could do to walk normally, switch on lights, and try to be a good host.
“Here. The guest bedroom. Uh, the bathroom’s across the hall here.” He turned on the light. “I think everything you need’s in the cabinets. My sisters are okay with it, so it’s been girl approved.”
“Girl approved?” She laughed. “Sounds good. I just want to wash my face and crawl under the covers.” Pausing, she looked uncomfortable for a moment, then dropped her eyes.
“What?” Had she seen how aroused he was? Damn it. He cursed his reaction to her, not for the first time either.
“I, uh, need something to wear to bed. The stuff I got today,” she began, remembering the shredded bags, the torn clothing. “Uh, and none of the things left over from the Suites included pajamas. Or anything I could sleep in.”