Taken With You (23 page)

He really needed to stop doing that.

* * *

S
LEEPING
IN
ON
a Sunday morning was a wonderful thing, Hailey mused as she burrowed deeper under the blankets, but it wasn’t very conducive to getting chores done. Neither was spending more time at one’s neighbor’s house than in one’s own, which was why she’d made a point of sleeping in her own bed last night.

Matt had stopped by yesterday after the baseball game and they’d fooled around on the couch for a while. But he’d needed to get home because he’d been doing laundry earlier in the day and the longer his uniforms sat in the dryer, the harder they were to iron. She’d declined to join him. Not only because she had no intention of being charmed into helping him iron, but because going back and forth between their houses was starting to feel a little ridiculous.

Stretching, she rolled over to look at her clock. She really needed to get up, get dressed, and clean her house. And she’d taken a roast out of the freezer, so she needed to cook it before it had to be tossed. Maybe that’s what she’d do today. She’d make a roast dinner with herbed potatoes and have Matt over for supper.

After she showered and dressed, she spent the morning doing some much needed cleaning. Then she paid a few bills and dumped the stack of junk mail that seemed to be multiplying on her counter into the recycling bin in her garage. Only once she’d accomplished the bare minimum she had to get done for the day did she text Matt.

Do you have supper plans?

I plan to have supper. That’s all the plan I have.

Roast at my house?

Hell yes.

She smiled and started going through the prep list in her head. Baking wasn’t her thing, but she was a good cook and she was looking forward to showing that off a little. Maybe she’d even break out some candles to make it a little more special.

It was probably as close to a nice, romantic dinner date as she was going to get.

That thought lingered as she dug through her pantry for the seasonings she’d need, festering until she couldn’t keep it shoved to the back of her mind anymore and had to acknowledge it.

She wanted to go on a real date with Matt. A date that didn’t involve bug spray. She didn’t expect him to take her to an opera, but somewhere she could wear sexy shoes would be nice.

When she heard Matt’s lawnmower spring to life, she shoved the resentful thoughts back into the recesses of her mind where they belonged. Matt was who he was, and he hadn’t pretended otherwise. If she wanted to go someplace nice, it was going to be on her to get them there.

Looking out the window, she saw Bear lying on the deck, pouting. He wasn’t allowed off the deck while Matt was mowing and he made no secret of the fact he resented every minute of it.

Since it would be a while yet before she had to put the roast in the oven, Hailey walked next door and sat on the top step of the deck next to Bear. He nuzzled closer until his head was in her lap and they watched Matt do laps on the riding lawnmower. He’d started doing hers, too, since the last incident, and she hadn’t bothered complaining about the big riding mower again.

When he was done, he joined them on the deck. He yanked his T-shirt up and mopped the sweat off his forehead with the hem of it. “It’s getting humid today.”

“All you do is sit on it and steer. How do you get so gross?”

“Gross?” He actually looked offended. “It’s sweat. It’s something people do when they work in the yard in the summer.”

“Fine. Not gross. All you’re doing is steering the mower. How do you get so covered in manly sweat?”

“That’s better. And when you’re going that fast, it takes some effort to steer it.”

“I won’t bother to point out you could slow down.”

“Then it would take longer. Why are you cooking a roast tonight?”

She shrugged. “I had it in the freezer and I thought it would be nice to have a roast with herbed potatoes. Maybe some steamed carrots if I have any.”

“Sounds like the kind of meal I’ll need to take a shower for.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Right now a granola bar is the kind of meal you’d need to take a shower for.”

“Oh, is that right?” He stood and grabbed her hand, hauling her to her feet. “I’ve missed you today, Hailey. Let me hold you.”

She yanked her hand away and backed up. “Don’t you dare.”

“I thought women liked sweaty men.”

“We like
looking
at sweaty, shirtless men. Not touching them.”

He advanced toward her. “One hug.”

She fled down the deck. “I’ll text you what time supper is when I put the roast in.”

Fortunately, the cooking time on the roast gave him plenty of time to shower and shave, so when he walked into her kitchen at the time she’d given him, he wasn’t gross at all.

“That’s better,” she said, putting her hands behind his neck and kissing him.

“There’s almost no limit to what I’ll do for roast and potatoes.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Where’s Bear?”

“Napping in front of the television. Sometimes having Bear is like living with a two year old and other times it’s like living with a really old man. Can I do anything to help?”

“Should I bother with salads?”

He grinned. “I vote no.”

“That’s what I thought. Everything’s ready to go on the table, so all you have to do is sit and eat it.”

“You lit candles.”

“I do that sometimes.” She didn’t consider it a big deal, but he was looking at them as if they were going to fall over and burn her house down. “Do you not like candles?”

“What? Oh, candles are fine. Just fancy, that’s all.”

Now that she looked at the table, it probably looked like a romantic dinner for two. But apparently it was only a romantic dinner in her mind. In reality, it was just supper with added candles.

She had just set the serving platter in the center of the table when Matt’s cell phone rang. For a split second, she hoped he’d hit mute and ignore it, but he couldn’t do that. The conversation was mostly one-sided, with Matt doing more listening than talking, but she got the gist of it.

The look he gave her when he hung up was heavy with apology. “I have to go. There’s an aggressive animal in a residential neighborhood and they haven’t identified it with certainty, but it went after a kid and I’m closest. I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” There wasn’t anything else she could say. A roast wasn’t more important than children being terrorized by a possibly wild animal.

“I don’t know when I’ll be home.” He gave her a quick kiss and was gone.

Hailey stood for a minute, looking at the beautiful dinner she’d prepared for them. It was damn near perfect.

So much work for nothing. How the hell was a person supposed to plan things when he had to run off like Batman every time somebody waved the signal around? He’d almost missed his own barbecue after his family drove two hours, and then she’d hung out in his stupid flannel shirt for over an hour, waiting for him. And now this. She wanted to pick up the platter and bounce it off the wall.

Instead she grabbed a loaf of bread from the box and the mayo out of the fridge. She sliced the roast as fast as she dared without cutting herself, then slapped some mayonnaise on the bread. A little salt and pepper, then she wrapped the sandwiches in a paper towel.

She was almost across the yard when he rushed out of his house in uniform. He unlocked his truck and was about to climb in when she called his name.

“I turned the roast into sandwiches so you can eat while you drive.” She handed him the paper towel bundle. “But carefully.”

He looked at the sandwiches in his hand and back at her. Then he slid his other hand behind her neck and gave her a long, firm kiss. “Thank you.”

Bear wandered over to sit next to Hailey’s feet, and she rubbed the top of his head with one hand while waving goodbye to Matt with the other.

Once the truck was out of sight, she looked down at the dog and sighed. “I guess it’s just you and me, boy. Let’s have some roast.”

* * *

I
T
WAS
STRANGE
how often wild, possibly rabid beasts turned out to be hungry stray dogs. And when faced with a firm voice, a steady look and a uniform, the child who’d run from the dog admitted he’d thrown rocks at it. Matt had seen it more times than he cared to count, but he’d also seen the calls be legitimate, so he never stopped taking them seriously.

Figuring out they weren’t dealing with a wolf, bear, mountain lion or any of the other scary predators reported by the panicked members of the community had been the easy part. The fact it was a dog and it had been provoked didn’t change the fact Matt couldn’t leave it there.

Once the dog had been located and identified, it had taken over an hour to coax the poor guy out and, even then, he hadn’t been easy to catch. But with patience, a soft voice and some dog treats, Matt had finally won what little trust the dog was willing to give. Now he was safely in a shelter, being given food, medical attention and some tender loving care. Hopefully he’d go on to find a home with people who’d treat him right.

He assumed Hailey would be in bed by the time he pulled into his driveway, so he sat in the dark for a few minutes after he turned off the ignition.

Something had shifted inside him when she handed him the sandwiches. He knew how much work and thought she’d put into making them dinner, and he could tell by the small touches she’d wanted it to be romantic. Yet, when he’d been called away, she not only hadn’t complained, but her first concern had been making sure he ate.

It was a simple gesture. It should have been no big deal, but when he’d driven away with the warm sandwiches in his center console and Hailey petting his dog in his rearview mirror, he’d felt a sweet ache in his chest.

He was falling for her. Somehow this woman who didn’t like being outside and who drove him crazy half the time was turning out to be his type, after all.

It scared him a little. And he kept trying to rein in the feelings that slipped their leash when she handed him the sandwiches. Sure, she’d been great about it. But this wouldn’t be the last time it happened, and how would she react when it happened again? Or when she’d made plans and he didn’t even show up because things went to shit at work and he lost track of time? His job tended to wear on relationships after a while and it was only a matter of time before she remembered he wasn’t what she was looking for in a man.

He realized suddenly that Hailey was standing in his living room window, watching him. Shaking off the melancholy, he got out of the truck and greeted Bear, who came rushing out when she opened the front door. Then he walked up the steps and kissed her hello.

“Was it bad?” she asked while he sat on the bench he used for taking off his boots. Lacing and unlacing the damn things was a pain in the ass.

“No, it wasn’t too bad. Turned out to be a stray dog who’d been on his own for a while. I got him to the shelter and they’ll take care of him.”

“Oh, that’s good then. You looked like you were trying to shake off a bad night,” she said. “When you were sitting in the truck.”

“No, I was just thinking about some stuff I need to do. You didn’t have to stay here and wait up with Bear, you know. It’s kind of late.”

“After I cleaned the kitchen, we came back here so he could have his dinner, and then we were cuddling on the couch, watching a movie. He’s a good date and I lost track of time.”

Matt chuckled and rubbed Bear’s head. “How much roast did you give him?”

“Just enough to make him love me forever.”

“One bite should have done it. It was that good.”

She beamed and, because he was still unsettled by his train of thought in the truck, he looked down at Bear. The dog was sniffing his pants with an intensity that made him smile.

“It was only the one dog, Bear, and he didn’t mean anything. I swear.”

Once he’d satisfied himself that the dog he smelled on his owner’s pants wasn’t hidden in his pockets or his crotch, Bear lost interest and flopped in front of the television with a big sigh.

“I guess I should get home and let you get to bed.”

He snagged her hand as she walked by. “Or you could stay.”

She looked into his eyes and smiled. “Or I could stay.”

EIGHTEEN

H
AILEY
RAN
HER
finger down Matt’s naked chest, from the base of his throat down to the point where the sheet was barely protecting his modesty. Or it would be if he had any. The sheet was mostly about her modesty, not his.

“I’ve been thinking...” She trailed her fingertips back up his stomach.

“This can’t end well for me.”

“There’s this bistro in the city I’ve heard about. Rumor has it they have a scampi dish to die for.”

“Bistro? What the hell is a bistro? I bet you could make a good scampi dish.”

She was prepared for a little resistance, and she wasn’t going to give up easily. “Everything tastes better if somebody else cooks it.”

“You want me to drive an hour there and an hour back for scampi?”

“They also have steak. And burgers.”

“I bet you could talk Gavin into making scampi at the diner. Kid’s a helluva cook.”

She propped herself up on her elbow so she could see his face. “I watched the moose. At four-thirty in the morning, I might add. And I rode on the ATV. I think it’s my turn to pick a date, don’t you?”

He sighed. He couldn’t argue with that. “I have Bear to consider.”

“Bear is fine when you’re working. He’ll be fine when you take me out for a nice dinner.”

“A
nice dinner
is code word for dressing up and spending too much on a glass of wine.”

“I’ll pay, cheapskate.” She didn’t say anything about not dressing up because she intended to. And he was going to, as well. As dressed up as she could get him, anyway.

“That’s not the point.”

She slid her hand under the sheet, teasing the skin that was as low as she could go on his stomach without brushing against what was no doubt a quickly developing erection. “What’s the point?”