John Penley stared at me with a blank expression. “Why?”
With a shrug, I responded, “Just wondering.”
“I’d stay far away from that, Ward. Far. Far. Away.”
I wasn’t getting anywhere with the guys at the station. No one knew her, and if they did, they kept warning me to stop asking.
Nikki Evans walked by, whistling. “Nik! Wait up.”
She kept walking. “Whatever you want, Ward, I’m not interested, I can’t help you, and no, I’m not going to sneak away with you for a quick fuck.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Oh come on, Nik. I asked you one time to sneak off. I get that you have a boyfriend and I haven’t hit on you since, have I?”
She stopped and looked at me. “No. You haven’t. What do you want?”
Lacing my fingers through my hair, I asked, “At the union meeting last week, who was the new lawyer?”
“Rory?”
Rory.
“The one sitting on the end, next to the other suit I’ve never seen before.”
“Yeah, Captain introduced them when he was talking. They’re the new counsel who’ll be handling cases for the fire department.”
“Shit. That must have been when I fell asleep.”
Her mouth dropped open while her eyes widened. “Dude, Cap already has something against you; you’re lucky he didn’t catch ya sleeping and fire your ass.”
With a halfhearted chuckle, I shook my head. “I don’t know why he doesn’t like me.”
Titling her head and giving me a really look, she said, “Oh I don’t know. It might have something to do with you hooking up with that EMS chick in the back alley. You remember, his first day, when he caught y’all?”
I pointed to her and stated my defense. “Hey! We were off duty when he caught us.”
She laughed. “Still, I’d keep your nose as clean as you can.”
Starting to walk off, she turned back to me and added, “And I certainly wouldn’t let him know you were asking around about his daughter.”
Thud.
My mouth instantly went dry. “His…his…daughter?”
“Yeah. Rory Adams. She’s Captain Adams’s daughter.”
I nearly stumbled back as I reached for the wall to hold myself up.
With a stunned expression, I looked around. “No wonder everyone was telling me to let it go.”
Nikki busted out laughing. “Damn. If you value your life…and your job…I’d steer clear of her.”
Once I got my bearings again, I shot Nikki a cocky grin. “Now, Nik, have you ever known me to back down from a challenge?”
She slowly shook her head in disbelief. “When they find your body in the Boston Harbor, I just want you to know…I’ll be really sad. You’re one of the fun ones to have around.”
—
After cleaning up the dinner dishes, I made my way over to Chuck, our lieutenant. Giving him a slap on the back, I sat down next to him. He was reading the evening paper, his normal daily routine. Some of these guys had routines they never deviated from.
“How’s it going, Chuck?”
He lifted his eyes over the paper. Flash, the station dog, was lying at his feet. “It’s going, Ward.”
I nodded and squatted down to pet the dog. Still a puppy, he was a feisty son-of-a-bitch. “You need me to take Flash for a walk or anything?”
He lifted a brow. “Are you wanting to take Flash for a walk?”
“Sure!” I responded enthusiastically.
“Then by all means, knock yourself out, kid. Speaking of, you run every morning, right?”
I nodded. “Sure do.”
“Good. You have a new running partner.”
Oh fuck. “What?”
Chuck pointed to the six-month-old Dalmatian. “He’s got a lot of energy. Much more than our old girl had.”
Yeah, I’m sure he does. Our old firehouse dog was a ten-year-old golden retriever and this was a crazy-ass puppy.
Captain Adams walked by, and Chuck called him over. “Cap, get this. Ward here just volunteered to take on Flash. Full-time.”
“Wait. What?” I asked in a panicked state.
With a slap on my back, Captain Adams gave me his first real smile since taking over the position of captain. “That’s what I like to see from my guys—stepping up to the plate. I like that you’re not afraid of a challenge, Ward. I like that a lot.”
I forced a laugh. “No, sir. Not afraid at all.”
My eyes swung to Chuck, who lifted his brows, then focused back on Cap. “I think it would be good for Flash to actually bond with one of the guys.”
Captain Adams tried to hide his smile, but failed. “I agree. And since Ward here isn’t afraid of a little challenge, take him home with you when your shift ends. Bond with him so he trusts you.”
I swallowed hard. “I thought the station dog stayed at…the station?”
Captain Adams looked at me and frowned. “You not up for the challenge?”
I lifted my hands. “No. I mean I’ll gladly take him home, sir. And…um…bond with the little guy.”
Flash started jumping on me.
Captain Adams pointed to him. “First thing is to get him to stop jumping. I’m tired of the little son-of-a-bitch all over me every day.”
I reached down for Flash and said, “No! Bad dog. Sit.”
Flash did just that. I straightened and looked at the beast. Hell. This is going to be easy. The dog’s already listening to me.
“See. He likes you already,” Cap said with a laugh. “Let’s try something new with this one. He’s your partner for the next four months.”
My legs about buckled out from under me. “Four months? Sir?”
“Train up, Ward. This is your special project.”
Once he’d walked off, I turned back to Chuck. “What in the hell was that? You totally set me up for that.”
He laughed. “Please. You don’t think I know about you snooping around asking about Rory Adams? Tell me someone finally told you she’s the captain’s daughter.”
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I gave him a pained expression. “You set me up.”
“Hell yeah I did. I’ve been doing this shit for too long to be stuck with another fucking puppy. The whole taking-him-home thing was Cap’s idea, and I have to say, his choosing you to do it tells me things don’t look to good for you, son. I don’t think he likes you all that much.”
Groaning, I dropped my head and silently cursed.
I was fucked. In more ways than one. But not in the way I wanted—or by the girl I wanted, but would no doubt never have.
—
“Flash!” I yelled out as my arm was practically yanked from my body.
“No! Walk! Walk, boy!”
I was two seconds from dropping the damn dog’s leash as he pulled me through the Fens on the way home.
Oh, just take the dog home. Bond with him. What the fuck! I began to hate Captain Adams with a passion as I watched the damn dog make a beeline for a female jogger.
Shit. This is not going to turn out good.
“Stop! Flash, no! Bad dog. Bad. Boy!”
The girl stopped running and dropped down, right in time for Flash to slam into her, knock her back on her ass, and cover her with sloppy kisses.
“Shit! I’m so sorry, he’s a puppy and I’m trying to train him.”
“Flash! Baby boy, hello!”
The world stopped and my heart jumped to my throat.
My eyes widened as I watched Rory hug the beast. “Oh, I missed you, boy.”
Missed him? What?
She glanced up, and her jaw damn near hit the ground.
“It’s you,” she whispered.
The way she spoke and the intense look in her eyes, I had to fight from dropping down on the ground next to Flash and fight him for licking privileges.
“Hey, Rory.”
She jumped up. “How do you know my name?”
With a wink, I replied, “I asked around.??
?
She lifted a brow, and her face spread into the cutest damn smile I’d ever seen. “You asked around about me?”
Flash was now lying at my feet chewing on a stick. Content for at least two minutes.
“I did. You slipped out of the meeting before I could ask you to dinner.”
Her cheeks flushed, and my pants grew a bit smaller. “Dinner?”
Laughing, I replied, “Yeah. Lawyers eat too, right?”
It was then I let my eyes roam over her body. She was wearing running shorts and a light blue T-shirt that made her eyes compete with the cloudless sky.
“We do,” she answered with a chuckle. “But not with guys who have girlfriends.”
My smiled faded.
Hold up. What?
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
She rolled her eyes and squatted down, giving Flash the attention I wanted.
“Please. I saw you and the girl with the purple hair leaving together last night.”
Frowning, I shook my head. “Angela? When did you see me with—”
She smirked and nodded her head like she had caught me in something.
“You were at Guilt on Friday night?”
“I was.”
“Damn, I wish I’d seen you. I would have loved to have introduced you to her. She was having a rough night—our mom was pissed about the purple in her hair. It kind of ruined my whole surprise birthday party.”
Rory stared at me blankly. I’d have given anything to pull my phone out and snap a picture of her expression.
“S-sister? That was your sister?”
I nodded. She looked up in thought and then said, “Oh, that explains the kiss on the cheek and not the lips.”
I wasn’t able to help my smirk. I kind of liked seeing the glimpse of jealousy in her eyes.
“So you thought Angela was my girlfriend, huh?” I asked as I squatted down next to the dog. I let out a fake-as-hell roar of laughter, which only caused Flash to get excited and jump up at me, hitting me under my chin, causing me to bite down on my tongue and fall back onto my ass.
“Oh no! Um…are you okay?” Rory asked as she fought to hold back her laughter.
Tears filled my eyes as I slowly shook my head. I didn’t know what hurt worse, my tongue or my ass.
Rory gasped and covered her mouth. “Ohmygod! You’re…Oh God.”
She covered her mouth and made a god-awful sound in her attempts to not lose it.
Attempting to talk again, she dry-heaved and turned away from me. “It’s coming out
of…your…mouth!”
I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth. I’d seen plenty of blood in my time, so this didn’t faze me.
“I’ll be fine; feels like I busted my lip and bit into my tongue.”
She bent over while covering her mouth and holding on to her stomach.
“I take it you don’t like blood.”
Holding up her hand, she shook her head. She spun around, trying not to look at me. “Do you live close by? Do you need—oh God—help getting there?”
I wanted to laugh. She couldn’t even stomach looking at me, and she wanted to help me home?
Wait a minute.
She wanted to help me home. This was almost too good to be true.
“I’m feeling a bit dizzy,” I said as I finally stood up. Flash sat on the ground staring up at me. He was on to me. I could see it in his eyes.
“Okay, don’t get blood on me!” she stated while walking up to me and putting her arm around my waist.
“Give me Flash,” she said between gagging.
She took the dog’s lease. “Easy, boy, let’s head home.”
We started walking toward my condo, and I couldn’t ignore the scorching-hot sensation I felt where her body was up against mine.
“We’ll get you both home and you can take care of that…and I’ll get Flash settled.”
A small hint of a smile spread over my face. Maybe this dog thing would turn out okay after all.
Chapter 4
Rory
Oh no, Flash
After helping Finn into his condo, I quickly asked where his bathroom was before I puked on his very nice floors.
With a laugh, he pointed to a half bath. “I’m going to go wash out my mouth and see the damage this mutt caused.
All I could do was nod. I rushed into the bathroom, then, carefully splashed my face, making sure I didn’t hit my mascara. The last thing I wanted was raccoon eyes. Lifting my head, I stared at myself in the mirror.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
Clearly Finn was fine. Maybe in a bit of pain, but the second I’d asked him if he needed help home, he’d jumped on it. Why did I ask in the first place? What did I hope to get out of this?
Oh, that’s right.
More Finn.
I counted to twenty.
Get a grip on yourself, Rory. My goodness. He’s only a guy.
My blue gaze stared back at myself.
Just a guy. Really?
He was hot as hell. A body to die for. A massive chest I wanted pressed to mine.
No! No! No! Stop this mad thinking!
I took in a deep breath, then slowly released it, feeling its calming effects. I’ll go out there, make sure he’s okay, then head on home.
When I walked into the living room, my breath caught.
“Wow!” I mumbled. Clearly this was Flash’s first time here as well, because he was sniffing everywhere.
“What did you say?” Finn called out.
My head turned toward where his voice was coming from.
His bedroom. I wonder how big his bed is.
Covering my face, I mentally chastised myself for my thoughts.
“Um, nothing. Your place is amazing!” I called out.
“Thanks!”
Flash was everywhere. Jumping up on the leather sofa, next into the chair, then quickly bounding over the coffee table and making a beeline for the kitchen.
I joined him there and searched for a dog bowl.
Back in the hall again, I peeked into the bedroom. My eyes widened at the sight before me.
A massive king-size bed sat in the middle of the room. I was surprised it was made; I didn’t think guys were neat. The gray walls were masculine, yet very calming. A female had clearly had a hand in decorating it. For some reason, that made me sad and jealous.
“Where’s Flash’s water bowl?”
Finn popped his head out the door. “Water bowl?”
“Yeah. You know, that thing he drinks water out of?” I said with a chuckle.
He frowned. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right there. Could you get a bowl from the cabinet left of the refrigerator?”
Smiling, I replied, “Sure.”
As I walked back into his living room, I wondered why he had Flash, the new pup at my father’s station.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw Flash peeing on the floor.
“No!” I harshly whispered. “Bad boy! No!”
“What?” Finn called out.
“Um…nothing! Everything’s okay!”
I stared down at Flash, who lowered his head. “You are in big trouble if he sees his new roommate peeing on his floor!”
Flash whimpered and lay down. I quickly headed into the kitchen. Opening the cabinet under the sink, I smiled when I saw Pine-Sol. A man after my own heart.
Grabbing some paper towels and the cleaner, I made fast in wiping up the small amount of pee. I took Flash’s face, in my hands and looked into his big brown eyes. “I get the need to mark your territory, but I’m pretty sure Finn likes his pad clean, buddy.”
The dog reached up and licked me, causing me to giggle. “Let’s get you some water. I have a feeling your daddy is going to need to go get you food.”
After I tossed the paper towels in the trash and put the cleaner back under the sink, I got out a bowl. Filling it with cold water, I placed it in the corner of the dining area. “Here. This is a perfect
spot for you.”
“Did you clean something?”
I screamed as I spun around. My eyes were immediately drawn to Finn’s lower lip. It was swollen, and dang it if I didn’t want to kiss it.
“I uh…no…I…Your…your lip.”
His fingers lightly ran across it. “Is it still bleeding? My tongue was the thing that wouldn’t stop bleeding.” He shot Flash a dirty look. “Damn dog.”
It was like there was a force of nature that was pulling my eyes to that lip. That soft, plump, kissable lip.
Spinning around, I attempted to get myself under control. Jesus, am I that horny that a lip is turning me on? A busted lip to top it off!
My body trembled when he touched my shoulders. “Hey, are you okay?”
I was frozen. There was something about this guy that made me want him—badly. When he turned me, his finger lifted my head to meet his gaze.
“Rory? What’s wrong?”
My gaze fell to his lips, and I swear I heard my heart pounding.
“I feel so stupid.”
Lifting my eyes to his, I let out a chortle. “I’m never like this. Ever. It’s just…I want…I want.”
His eyes turned darker, and I had the feeling I wasn’t the only girl to turn to jelly around him.
“You want what?”
My gaze drifted past his shoulders to his mantel and landed on a picture of him standing outside his station.
Engine 33.
No!
That’s why he has Flash. He’s at Daddy’s station. Why, cruel world? Why?
Snapping out of my temporary moment of sanity, I looked back at him. “I want to go get Flash dog food. I mean…you should go get him dog food, and I want to come. Well, only if you need me to come. I’ve had dogs before. Well, not that you haven’t. Have you? Of course you have. Everyone’s had a dog at some point in their life. Right? Well, that might be a general assumption that everyone’s had a dog in their life. You might have had a cat.”
Dear Lord. Someone take the shovel from me. I’m going on and on. For the love of all things good, shut up, Rory.
His brows lifted. “Are you finished?”
Sinking my teeth into my lip, I nodded. “I think so.”
When his thumb brushed across my lip, my breath hitched.
“Because I’m almost positive you wanted me to kiss you.”
“Kiss me?” I asked as an awkward laugh blurted from my lips.