Seducing Simon

  She drew away and looked intently into his eyes. Eyes filled with such affection. And love? She drew in a deep breath. “Simon?”

  “Yes, sweetheart?”

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” she said in a low voice.

  He looked curiously at her. “Sure, go ahead.”

  She opened her mouth to spill her damning secret when the doorbell rang. Nearly weak with relief at the interruption, she smiled. “Pizza’s here.”

  Coward. Pathetic coward. She brushed her hair then threw the brush down on her dresser in disgust. She’d blown the perfect chance to tell Simon the truth. Closing her eyes, she cursed herself with vehemence. Things were only getting more complicated. Before she didn’t want to tell him for fear he would commit himself to her out of obligation. Now, she feared his anger, his hatred when she was so close to gaining his love.

  Feeling slightly nauseous, she made herself finish getting ready for work. Simon had left fifteen minutes ago for the station. She blushed when she imagined Matt and A.J.’s reaction to his spending the night with her.

  If only she could be assured of his feelings. If he had any. No, she knew he had feelings for her. She just didn’t know what kind of feelings.

  She groaned and clenched her fists in frustration. This was eating her alive, and she couldn’t take it much longer. She slipped on a light jacket and stepped out into the late November morning air. It was a bit cooler than normal for this time of year, and she wondered if they were in for a colder winter. Anything colder than mild was considered frigid, she thought with a smile.

  At the vet’s office, she set about the morning routine as the early drop-offs for spaying and neutering flooded in. At nine when their regular

  patient load started to filter in, she was surprised to see Mrs. Hauffrey come in without her poodles.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Hauffrey,” she said politely.

  “Good morning, Antonia.”

  “Do you need something for Fifi or Fritz?”

  “Oh, I popped in to select a new collar,” she said airily.

  Liar. She didn’t allow anything but the finest leather to touch her darlings’ necks. Toni narrowed her eyes waiting for the real reason for the harridan’s visit. She didn’t have to wait long.

  As Mrs. Hauffrey made a show of looking over the selection of collars in a display by the desk, she turned and glanced back at Toni. “I heard you moved out to the widow Jameson’s house.”

  Toni clenched her teeth and rolled her eyes. Why her actions caused so much interest in Cypress she would never know. She was hardly worthy of an entire gossip session. “Yes, that’s right,” she said casually, busying herself with the charts lying on the desk.

  “It’s about time,” the woman muttered.

  “I beg your pardon?” Toni asked in disbelief.

  Mrs. Hauffrey turned her full attention to Toni, smiling brightly. “I merely thought it was high time you moved out of that house. Highly inappropriate, living with three unmarried men. It’s no wonder you ended up in your present state.” Her tone was scandalized, and she puffed as she spoke.

  Anger made Toni tremble, and she forgot any restraint she thought to practice. “Listen to me you, old windbag. I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks about me. Those men you sneer about are my family, and if nothing else, I defend my family. If I hear so much as a word about you spreading rumors about them, I’ll tell everyone what you really do when you supposedly attend Bible study in Beaumont on Tuesday nights.”

  Mrs. Hauffrey flushed a dark purple. She opened her mouth then closed it again, her flabby jaws flapping up and down like a sheet in the breeze. “You…how…” she sputtered off unable to complete her protest.

  She turned and stalked out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her.

  Toni chuckled and shook her head. She should have done it a long time ago, stood up to battleaxe, but she’d never wanted to cross the woman. Now, if the woman was smart, she’d steer clear of Toni.

  After a phone call to Lonnie at dispatch to confirm her schedule for the weekend, she collected her keys and headed home. Usually she kept the same hours at dispatch as Simon did at the firehouse so they’d have the same evenings off, but tonight she was looking forward to a night alone in her new house.

  As much as she had bucked the idea of moving, she now realized it was the best thing she’d ever done. She felt freer, less confined, and definitely more independent. She loved the guys, but they had smothered her for too long. And being away had given her and Simon much needed time to pursue their relationship.

  The phone was ringing as she let herself in and she hurried over to answer.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” Simon’s voice sounded over the receiver.

  She smiled, unable to control her visceral reaction to his voice. “Hey. Slow night?”

  “Yeah, not much going on. How was work?”

  She made a face. “I told Mrs. Hauffrey off. Otherwise pretty boring.”

  “Whoa. What did the old bat do now?”

  She related the conversation and Simon broke into laughter. They talked a few more minutes before he started to end the call. “You work in dispatch in the morning, but you have Sunday off right?”

  “Yeah, same as you.” He knew all this already, but she figured he was working up to something.

  “You coming by to watch football on Sunday?” he asked.

  She smiled, realizing what he was getting at now. The guys had likely put him up to it. “Tell Matt and A.J. I’ll be there.”

  He laughed and hung up.

  She padded out of the kitchen and into her living room. Her furniture was nothing fancy, but it was hers. She glanced around the room in pride. She’d always dreamed of having her own place. Of course, she’d always imagined having a family to go with it, and she wouldn’t be renting her house. She’d own it.

  With a deep sigh, she leaned back on her couch and hit the remote to turn the TV on. It could be worse. She could be completely alone.

  Chapter Twenty

  Toni yawned and rolled her eyes as she dispatched an ambulance to the Morrison residence. Sam Morrison dialed 911 at least once a week claiming he was smothering on the account his oxygen wasn’t working. Toni thought it was more likely he was lonely and enjoyed the paramedics fussing over him.

  “Slow day,” Cody said with a yawn. “At this rate, we won’t need Sarah to come in at noon.”

  Toni nodded, leaning back in her swivel chair and spinning slowly around. The scanner was even quiet, which meant a truly slow day all the way around. Dispatch kept a scanner on at all times monitoring the fire and police frequencies. Many times it allowed them to react quicker to emergencies. They could have an ambulance en route several minutes before someone called it in. In this business, a few minutes could mean the difference between life and death.

  At noon Sarah came bustling in and tossed a bag at her and Cody. “I picked up lunch at Sonic,” she said, as she flopped in the chair beside Toni.

  “Hey thanks, Sarah,” Cody said, digging into the bag immediately.

  “Anything going on?” she asked as she munched on a fry.

  Toni retrieved a burger from her bag and unwrapped it. “Not much. The usual.”

  “You want to go home early?” she asked Toni. “Since it’s slow, we don’t need three dispatchers.

  Toni nodded. “Sure. I’ll clock out after I eat.”

  “Take your time.”

  As they ate, the scanner crackled and they perked up. Toni listened intently as station two was dispatched to a fire downtown.

  “That’s your boys,” Cody said.