Authors: Joanne Hill
“Take him with me, where?” A suspicion he didn’t appreciate
was winding up his spine.
“Take him home with you, Daniel.”
“What do you mean?” The old man’s eyes misted and Daniel
froze. His grandfather was giving him the ankle biting canine?
He didn’t like dogs. It was nothing personal but he did not
like dogs. “Surely he can come in and be with you?”
The doctor cut in. “I’ve had this conversation with Sir
Arthur and under no circumstances can we allow pets in here. I’m sorry.”
“But that’s absurd.” Daniel rose to his feet. “Don’t pets
make people feel better? That dog is like a member of the family to my
grandfather. Surely it would be far better for the dog to be here with
grandfather than stuck somewhere else.”
The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry. A lot of folk at this
stage of their lives with serious illnesses are sensitive to animal hair. It
travels, it’s loaded with allergens. There’s nothing we can do.”
Daniel felt panic swirl in his chest. So he was getting
instant custody of the dog? He turned back to Arthur, his mind racing. “It’s
not a good idea. The dog hates me. I don’t get on with any dog. Or cat.
Animals, full stop.”
“I know that. Barnaby’s got good taste.” The faint blaze of
fire was still there in Arthur’s eyes and his gaze moved slowly over to Mel.
“But he’s taken to Mel.”
“
Mel
?” Daniel turned to her, and she raised her
shoulders in a shrug. “I walk him whenever I’m here. We get along great, me and
Barnaby. I don’t mind.”
But I do, he thought. Pets were a pain in the ass and just
someone else, something else, to look after. Something else to break your heart
if it went wrong. Someone else to desert you if they wanted out.
He rammed his hands into the pockets of his trousers. Mel
was only temporary in his life but his grandfather didn’t know that. He’d told
Daniel over and over how pleased he was to know Daniel had found happiness.
That they would one day have children and none of this 2.2 kids or whatever it
was. He had instructions. A minimum of four, gender optional. But a girl would
be nice.
“Please, Daniel,” his grandfather said. The pleading in his
eyes, eyes that were pale and exhausted, battered his heart.
“Of course I will.” Daniel nodded. “Of course, Granddad.”
Patsy would have a fit. She didn’t much care for any animal, but she was a good
housekeeper and worth her salary. Even if they barely exchanged words and
communicated most of the time via text and post-it. No doubt there would be
some tersely composed messages over this. “We’ll get you out to visit,” he told
his grandfather.
His grandfather paused. “I will when I’m better,” he
promised.
Grief surged in Daniel’s chest.
Mel said, “If Barnaby can’t come in here, maybe you can see
him from the window. There’s a porch, maybe they can wheel your bed out and you
can see him in the gardens.”
The idea had merit. Daniel turned to his grandfather but saw
his eyes had closed. His chest rose, softly. He was sleeping already.
He buried his face in his hands for a moment, drew a long
deep breath, then looked straight at the doctor. “How is he really?”
The doctor shook his head. “Days. Weeks. I can’t say. The
pain relief is keeping everything at bay for now but its wreaking havoc with
his energy levels – what energy he had. All we can do is make sure the end is
comfortable for him, and I can promise you we will do that for him. And I am
sorry about the dog. I gather he’s very close to – Barnaby.”
Next to him, Mel moved closer. He didn’t want to glance at
her and see even a trace of sympathy in her eyes.
She said, “He really wants you to have him.”
“Fine.” He clenched his fists. “We’ll take the damned dog.”
Daniel stood alongside Mel as Barnaby sat on the tiled floor
and looked up at them. Barnaby was not especially happy to be removed from his
home and his master, but in a strange doggy way, Daniel was forced to admit the
dog seemed to be accepting it. Maybe, he conceded, the dog was smart after all.
He felt an inkling of sympathy for him. Barnaby’s life had
been topsy-turvy the past months with Sir Arthur in and out of hospital and
this was just yet another path on the journey.
“He’ll need to be walked,” he said roughly. Yes, Patsy was
undoubtedly going to have a fit when she came in on Monday. Pets weren’t part of
that bargain. Especially ones that slobbered and shed hair. He glanced at
Barnaby’s small trim body. Not that he showed any signs of being a slobbering
hairy beast.
With an enthusiasm in her voice he found more disturbing
that heartening, Mel said, “I’d be happy to do that.”
He glanced at her and for a moment he felt as if they were
back in Broadbeach as a surge of awareness ripped through him. Her perfume
might be subtle, a twist of vanilla and something floral but it made you want
to lean in closer for more.
She added, “I can take care of all that – and any of his
toilet needs. Bathing. Cleaning up after him. I don’t think Patsy’s much of a
dog lover either.”
He frowned. Was that a dig at him or his housekeeper?
Barnaby was looking up now, his eyes deep and sorrowful, the
look oddly haunting. Darned dog. Why did they have to do that? It was
manipulation plain and simple.
Mel suddenly bent down, began patting him, then got down on
her knees to rub her face against his hairy cheek. “Poor old fella,” she murmured,
“It’s going to be just fine, you’ll see.”
In that moment, Daniel wanted to change places with Barnaby.
Wanted to have Mel murmur that to him, to offer him sympathy. To tell him it
was all going to be all right, even though she couldn’t possibly know what lay
ahead. Something ripped through his heart at that knowledge, knocking him off
balance. Did he really want someone to tell him it was all going to be okay? He
was the one telling everyone else what to do and, at times, what to feel. He
didn’t need that empathy, that sympathy, call it what you will. Did he?
He cast a curious look at her. On top of jeans, she wore a
black and white striped shirt, fitting her body like a glove. As she moved, the
buttons moved and he saw cleavage. Lightly tanned skin, freckles. A little on
the plump side.
If his experience with women was anything to go by, she no
doubt bemoaned the fact she carried extra weight. He, on the other hand,
couldn’t drag his gaze away from her, from that chain around her neck, from the
thought of touching her there, kissing her there.
“I’ve got to head to the office,” he said gruffly.
She looked up sharply. “But it’s Sunday. Don’t you think you
should stay and make Barnaby welcome?”
Frustration rose steeply in his chest. “Mel, it is not your
place to tell me what to do with my grandfather’s dog.”
Shock flashed in her eyes. “He’s a pet, not a stuffed toy.”
“Your point?”
“He’s a dog, a very smart dog. He’s got feelings.”
He strode to the counter to grab his keys.
She went on, “You can’t just bring him into your house then
go off and leave him. Your grandfather wouldn’t want you to do that, and you
say you love him. Barnaby means the world to him, how can you just –”
He cut her off as hot anger flared hard in his chest,
stronger than he’d ever felt it before.
“Don’t,” he warned, “ever,
ever
, tell me how much I
love my grandfather. You’re not counseling teenage girls now.”
She lifted her arms, confusion in her eyes. “Why can’t you
accept some help? I’m your wife for Pete’s sake, even if it is only on paper,
but I’m here with you and I can –”
“My wife?” He dropped the keys on to the counter with a
clatter and closed the gap between them in an instant.
“Did you just remind me that you are my wife?” He tipped her
chin with his finger and she went still, looking back at him with eyes that
were wide, eyes that held frustration.
He bet it was not the kind of frustration he felt.
“Then maybe this little bargain of ours should change. Maybe
your duties should increase from comforting the husband in his grief to
consoling him in other ways?”
She swallowed. “Wh – what are you saying?” but even as her
voice trailed off, desire flashed in her eyes. The recognition of it hit him
hard.
He cupped her nape with his hand, the sensation of her warm
skin beneath his palm making his blood race. She felt so good. He pulled her
closer to him, and bent to her.
“Daniel, I...” The words forming on her lips vanished
rapidly. He kissed her gently, planned to keep it to some chaste little hint of
what
could
happen. A second later, he knew he’d made a mistake. Desire
exploded in his body, and he pressed close enough to feel her heart pound
between them. Her hand came up, pressed his chest. He tasted her deeper,
waiting for her hand to drop, for her to push him away.
She didn’t. The imprint of her hand seared him as he
deepened the kiss even further, as Mel responded.
So Melinda possessed those instincts just like any hot
blooded female? The thought made him spin, as she pressed herself against him, her
arms around his neck, holding him. How was it possible she’d remained a virgin
so long? What had been wrong with her fiancé that she hadn’t given in to the
desire for him, but had chosen to stick to a notion of keeping her virginity?
“No.” He heard the words as a mumble on her lips as she
dropped her hands and stepped back, her chest heaving, her face flushed.
He held his own breath and the silence grew. Mel let her
arms hang loose at her side. “That was not part of the bargain.”
His gaze slipped to her mouth. She was breathing heavily,
and knowing he had done that, that she had lost control because of him, sent a
sudden surge of longing through him.
He clenched his fists against it. “You have admirable
self-control. I believe you might just have been enjoying the experience as
much as I was.”
“Then it’s a good job I stopped it.”
“So you think it would have gone further? Like straight to
my bed – or yours?”
She hesitated the briefest moment. “It would never have gone
that far.”
His face darkened. “You know yourself that well?”
Her gaze flickered and he realised, she didn’t know herself
that well.
“Maybe I don’t.” Her chin lifted and she shot a lingering
glance down at Barnaby before she looked straight at him. “But I do know this.
We’re getting this marriage annulled so there’s a lot riding on it. I don’t try
and change the rules half way through the game, Daniel. And I always keep my
end of the bargain.”
Mel was left wondering who was trying to change the rules.
Daniel? Or her?
She stared at the immaculate ceiling of the immaculate
apartment, drew in a shuddering breath, turned over and hugged the fat pillow
to herself. And she had come closer to giving in to him.
She had never felt so much desire before.
Ever
.
Her body was still hot, her heart still pounding a little
fast. No wonder she’d found it so easy to stick to her plan to stay a virgin
until she married. She’d never been sorely tempted to take that step before,
even with Max. Of course, Max told her she was unresponsive and she had been.
To
him
. And there’d been other reasons. It hadn’t been worth it for the gamut
of reasons – the risk of pregnancy, of disease, even problems with her own body
image – that’s what she’d told herself all along with her counseling hat on.
But in reality it had been a lot easier to not sleep with Max because she
hadn’t had to fight her own body.
She closed her eyes. Daniel had awakened something in her
she’d never felt before. It was as if she had taken a step forward and she
might never come back from it.
How was she meant to survive the next few weeks now? She had
no doubt it wouldn’t pose any problem for him. Part of the deal might be that
he wasn’t meant to make love to her – but there’d been nothing about
exclusivity in the contract. Her eyes snapped open. What was to stop him making
love to someone else? Money no object, discretion guaranteed.
She lifted her head to see if she could hear anything but
the rooms were well soundproofed. She struggled up, adjusted her clothes, and
went through to her ensuite.
In the mirror her face was still flushed. Was that arousal?
Was that what had happened? Had he seen that and realised what she’d felt?
She ran the cold tap and splashed ice cold water on her
face, dried it on one of the perfectly soft and scented towels Patsy left for
her every morning. She brushed her hair, and tied it up on her head in a knot,
then went back down to the living area.
Daniel was sitting at the breakfast bar, a glass of water in
front of him. Barnaby was sitting on the floor not far from him.
Daniel looked up from the magazine. His gaze was impassive.
His cell suddenly went off, and he grabbed it off the
counter. He talked in a low voice, and Mel went over to Barnaby, bent down and
tickled him under the chin. He looked up at her, his brown eyes loaded with
intelligence and sadness. He knew what was happening, she was sure of it. He’d
lost his master and he knew he might never see him again and he was stuck here
with her and Daniel. Her stomach clenched. She would never get used to the
longing in his eyes.
Her knees creaked as she stood up, and Daniel finished the
call.
In the silence he watched her closely, and she apologized
before she changed her mind, “Sorry about before.”
His gaze was solid. “I’m sorry, too.”
He didn’t elaborate but climbed off the chair, grabbed his
cell phone and his keys. “I’m heading into the office.”
Was that it
? She watched as he walked down to the
foyer, the play of fabric around his thighs, the breadth of his shoulders, the touch
of his thick, luscious hair on his collar.