13
ADAM
"I was wondering when you were going to show up."
Hands resting on my hips, I glared at the dog scratching at my closed sliding door. I hadn't had a run-in with him all day, but it was only because I had yet to go outside since I'd started working on the floor in the guest bedroom earlier in the morning.
As much as my sister and her family's impending visit had my stomach in knots, I still wanted them to sleep in a half-decent room. So, I'd abandoned my deck project for now and moved inside to sort out the guest bedroom and its adjoining bathroom.
My growling stomach was the only reason I'd come downstairs. When I did, I found that rat pawing at my door. I'd never admit this out loud to anyone, especially not his owner, but the little shit was growing on me. Just a bit.
The instant I slid the door open, the dog darted inside and parked his butt in front of my feet; his tiny paws touching the front of my work boots.
"How do you always end up on my side of the fence?
" Fu…erm, Sheldon tilted his head from side to side.
"I think maybe your human is doing this on purpose just to annoy me. "
What did irritate the shit out of me was how she kept leaving that damn door of hers unlocked. It was dangerous and not smart at all. I had half a mind to pull her over my knee and spank her ass.
Now there was an idea.
My already-wired-brain had been running in a million different directions since the last time I saw Maddie.
The day she'd dropped off the delicious, completely demolished, cinnamon rolls.
The absolute last thing I'd expected to see when I peeked through the peephole was her, looking even more mouth-watering than the offering in her hands.
Black tights and a bright pink thin-strapped top had covered her curves, her hair pulled into a knot, and her feet bare. And all I wanted to do was yank her against me and find out if the real thing tasted as good as it had in my dreams.
Not doing exactly that had been a true test of willpower.
By the time she limped back to her place, I was done analyzing where the sudden interest in this woman had come from.
Having my thoughts and dreams filled with visions and fantasies of her was perfectly fine as long as I didn't do something about it.
Unfortunately for me, giving my deprived mind free reign on thoughts of Maddie also led to a few pressing matters that had me spending a lot more time with myself in the bathroom.
Yeah, it probably wasn't healthy, and I knew I would have to find a way to move past this infatuation sooner or later. Because I could never act on it. I didn't know shit about this woman, but I knew she didn't need the likes of me in her life.
Sheldon pawed at my leg, effectively pulling me from the weird place my thoughts had gone. "Go wait for your human in your own damn yard," I told the dog with absolute zero conviction.
I had a suspicion the little bastard knew I didn't mind his presence so much anymore. Groaning, I threw a thumb over my shoulder. "Come on, I think there's enough roast beef for the both of us." As if he understood, Sheldon happily trotted behind me as I headed to the kitchen.
After pulling the leftover meat from the fridge along with the makings for a loaded sandwich, I set everything down on the counter and got to work. Sheldon sat stock-still, watching me with laser precision. The only movement that came from him was when he'd lick his lips every few seconds.
When I was done, I cut my stacked sandwich in half before eyeing the bowl holding the meat I'd shredded for the dog. I was very aware that there were people who did not want their k9 companions to eat anything other than dog food.
I'd still been a probie, as green as can be, when we'd had a medical assist call.
It was an elderly citizen who'd feared she was having a heart attack—turned out to be really bad indigestion.
While our LT had been tending to her, Princess, her pug, had wandered up to me.
At the time I'd figured the jerky in my pocket would go down a treat.
Until the little old lady had spotted me feeding her dog .
Gone was the hyperventilating and moaning.
She'd jumped up so fast, the LT had fallen back on his ass.
And since I'd been on my haunches in front of the dog, so had I.
Finger waggling, she'd come storming toward me, yelling about how her dog's tummy was going to be upset and that she was going to call me in the middle of the night to clean it up.
I'd apologized so profusely, for six months after my nickname had been Sorry Suzie Carlisle.
An almost ear-splitting shrill rang through the air, cutting my trip down memory lane short.
I glowered at Sheldon. He was sitting on his hind legs with his front paws scratching air.
As much as it hadn't amused me the first time I'd witnessed it, I was beginning to think he was kind of almost cute .
All I could do was shake my head at myself.
Cute was a damn word that didn't belong in my vocabulary.
"This is your human's fault," I told the dog, setting the bowl of meat in front of him.
Maddie already looked like she wanted to hit me over the head most of the time, certainly me giving her dog human-food couldn't make matters any worse.
I was still admonishing myself when three sharp knocks sounded from the front door. That ticking thing inside my chest reacted faster than my brain, already kicking into a higher gear. My gaze flicked to the dog and I murmured, "Speak of the devil."
Without a thought, I stooped, swept up Sheldon, and headed for the front door. The insistent buzzing through my veins should have been a warning sign. A big red flashing light telling—no, screaming—at me to turn the hell around and leave this woman alone.
I just didn't want to.
It was as simple and damn complicated as that.
With a quick drag of air to my lungs, I pulled open the door and stared. It was not my enticing beach ballerina standing on my low-slung porch but rather Griffin. My friend—the only one I had—that lived over three hours away.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Unfazed by my rather untactful greeting, he dragged a hand through his inky hair and chuckled. "Hello to you too."
I winced. "Sorry. I'm just surprised to see you. Didn't you just come off a twenty-four-hour shift?"
"Aye." He looked nervous as he shuffled from one foot to the other. "I thought I'd come see the new place."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "That right?"
"Aye." When I glared some more, he held up his hands in surrender. "I came to make sure you're all right. I didn't like the sound of ya over the phone." Reaching behind him, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "And I wanted to deliver this in person."
I studied the piece of stationary in my hands. Black with golden script and decorative swirls in each corner. A wedding invitation. My thumb swiped over the letters. Behind my ribs, an annoying fluttering made itself known.
My throat felt thick when I finally spoke. "Congrats, man." I moved to the side and motioned for Griffin to come in .
He stepped inside, gave me one look, and barked out a laugh I did not appreciate. His gaze shot to my arm; eyebrow arched high, he asked, "New friend?"
I gave Sheldon a downward glance and shook my head. "He belongs to my neighbor."
"Your neighbor?" he echoed as we headed down the hall toward the living room. "And you're what… dog sitting?" The way he'd asked it made my skin prickle with uneasiness.
"Not exactly, no."
Just as we turned into the living room, Griffin shook his head. "I'm more interested in the view you kept going on about when you moved here."
Nodding, I changed directions toward the sliding door instead. A minute later, we were standing outside; facing the ocean, and taking fresh salty air to our lungs.
Hands tucked inside his pockets; my friend sucked in a deep breath. "This is bloody gorgeous. Rae would love it here," he mused.
The wistful sound in his voice when he spoke his girlfriend's name—his fiancée now, I guess—had my heart doing that funny thing again. That thing where I was reminded of the dead empty space inside of me.
The one I wasn't aware of until—
"She wanted to come today," Griffin said. "But her brother is moving this weekend." I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye but said nothing, which is probably why he added, "They're very close and since he's moving over four hours away, they're having a sibling day. "
I nodded as if I understood. I really didn't. It shamed me that Zoe and I didn't have the kind of relationship that required a sibling day— whatever the hell that was — when one of us moved away.
A small voice at the back of my head, the one I usually told to screw off, whispered that it wasn't too late to fix things.
Sheldon wiggled under my arm, reminding me that I was still holding the damn dog. I leaned down. But before his paws had time to touch the grass, her achingly sweet voice filled my ears.
"I really don't know why he keeps coming over to you."
Beside me, Griffin's amused whisper came through clenched teeth, "That's your neighbor?"
With a heavy sigh, I straightened and headed to where Maddie was standing on her side of the fence.
The moment I laid eyes on her I could tell something was off.
Her beautiful eyes were red rimmed, like she'd been crying for too long.
Her blond locks weren't neatly tucked into the knot on top of her head, and that lush bottom lip of hers looked like she'd been chewing on it. Hard.
A pain so sharp shot through my chest, I had to stop myself from pressing my hand to the spot. I had this inexplicable need to jump over to her side and just hold her.
Until my nosy friend sidled up beside me. The pain I'd felt mere seconds ago was instantly replaced with something else entirely. A big blotch of angry that only seemed to spread further through my veins when Maddie's eyes shot to my left and her gorgeous mouth curved upward.
I'd never wanted to smack Griffin more in my life.
For reasons I didn't even care to dissect, I wanted that damn smile to be aimed at me. And when she shoved her hand over the fence and introduced herself, I had this intense urge to press my palm against hers if it meant I could keep my friend from touching her.
Yeah, no doubt there was something very wrong with me.
"Oh, I love your accent," she cooed when Griffin spoke to her.
My gaze flicked between the two of them, molars grinding together.
I didn't like this. Any of it. This woman was messing with my equilibrium.
She'd waltzed up to this fence with her honey-sweet voice and whiskey eyes and made me batshit crazy.
That was the only explanation I had for doing what I did next.
With a grunt or maybe it was a growl, I thrust her dog into her arms. "He keeps coming here because you keep leaving—" angrily, I stabbed my index finger in the direction of her door "—that thing open.
It's not safe. Not for you and not for that damn rat of yours.
And it annoys me!" By the time I was done with my little tirade, I was breathing hard.
Then the look on her face registered and a punch to the balls would've hurt less. She looked confused and so damn devastated. Licking her lips, she shut her eyes and swallowed hard. The action drawing my gaze to the slender column of her throat .
I wanted slide my fingers along her skin, curl my hand around the back of her neck and—
"Really?" she whispered. "We're back to that?
" Her hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose.
I knew I had to apologize; the words just wouldn't come.
Like an idiot, I stared as she slowly opened her eyes and shook her head.
"You know what? Whatever. I don't have the energy to deal with you.
" Without another word from either me or her, she pivoted and fled to the safety of her house.
"What in the seven hells did I just watch?" Griffin's voice sounded so suddenly; my entire body jerked.
I scrubbed a palm over my face and breathed out a deep, heavy sigh. "Hell if I know." My gaze flicked to Maddie's house once more before I turned my back to it. "I need a drink. How 'bout you?"
He stared at me for a moment before saying, "If your couch is available, I won't say no." Pulling his phone from his pocket, he swiped the screen to life. "I'll call Rae to let her know I'll be home tomorrow."
Leaving him outside, I stalked to the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of Jack and two tumblers. When I returned, he'd made himself comfortable in one of the Adirondacks facing the ocean.
I slumped into the one beside him and after pouring two fingers' worth of whiskey into both glasses, I handed him one and set the bottle on the ground. Leaning back in my seat, I savored the feeling of the alcohol burning its way down my throat.
"So what's the deal with the pair of you?" my friend asked after a long stretch of silence.
"Nothing," I muttered into the glass.
He sat up and studied me to the point where I felt uncomfortable. "You like her." There was no question in his voice; he was stating a fact. A very accurate one.
Scoffing, I looked him in the eye. "Have you already forgotten the exchange you witnessed moments ago? There's no like between me and her."
"Yeah, I'm not buying it." His all-knowing gaze pinned me with a hard look. "You know Angie would want—"
"Don't talk to me about what my dead wife would want," I growled.
Griffin, ever unfazed by my antics, shook his head.
"As much as it hurts me to say this, you need to hear it.
Angie might not be amongst the living anymore, but you are.
Don't waste what is left of your life by shutting down any chance at happiness you might have.
" He picked up his drink and settled back against the Adirondack as if he hadn't just given me a shit ton to think about.