She leaned back to look up at him. “I had an amazing day,” she admitted.
“Really?”
“I kissed a boy. I got a dog. I met a big family. And now I’m dancing.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “That’s all it takes to have an amazing day? ’Cause I could blow that out of the water before the sun comes up.”
“I have no doubt you could.”
He lowered his face to hers, but before he kissed her, she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, which was more intimate somehow. “Want me to?” he asked.
She didn’t answer but sighed into his kiss, swaying with the music. She tightened her arms around him, which he took as a very good sign that the Kilcannon luck was going to continue all night long.
Except, somewhere deep in his gut, he already knew he wanted more than one night with her.
Chapter Ten
Well before midnight and already thinking about Daisy, even though Shane assured her she’d be fine, Chloe was ready for Shane to walk her home. The glow of a great night, a few more slow dances, a lot of laughs, and just the right amount of wine to be relaxed warmed Chloe as they walked hand in hand through the square.
On the way home, she got a text from Andi thanking her for understanding that she wanted to leave and checking to make sure Chloe had gotten home okay.
“I guess that means she’s not with Liam,” Shane said, sounding a little disappointed.
“You thought he’d stay?” she asked, texting back a reply.
“I don’t know. I’d like him to get that itch scratched.”
She turned to him. “That itch scratched?”
“No, no, I don’t mean, no,” he backpedaled. “It’s just that Andi makes Liam…itchy. He’s crazy about her, not that you could tell, but I know him better than anyone.”
“She’s had a tough time, but she did tell me she’s sworn off men.”
“She wasn’t looking at him like she’d sworn off anything.”
She slowed her step and eyed him. “Really? You picked all that up while you were describing the puppy pileup on Liam’s back?”
“I can read people.” He eased her closer. “Like I can read that you really want to kiss me again and you’re thinking about when and where that’s going to happen.”
“Your confidence is a thing to behold, Shane Kilcannon. What insecurities is it covering?”
“Insecurities?” He sounded like he couldn’t even say the word. “What are these insecurities you speak of?”
“Nobody has as much bravado as you if they are one hundred percent secure. I think a lot of it’s an act. You’re competitive, especially with Liam. I saw it with the dogs today, and even at the bar.”
“I’m competitive, no doubt about it. I’m second in a long line, and I think that makes me try harder to beat big, bad Liam.” Still holding her hand, he slid his arm all the way around her. “And I like that you’re giving me so much thought, Perfect Chloe. You may not realize it or like it, but that’s a shower of compliments all over my poor, insecure heart.”
She laughed as they turned on her street, but she stopped at the sight of her very dark and deserted-looking bungalow. “Oh my God, I forgot to leave a light on! Oh, I’m a terrible dog mother.”
“She’ll forgive you,” he assured her, hustling them closer. “Just love on her and take her out to do her business.” At her look, he added, “Or I will. Tonight, anyway. Come on.”
As soon as they reached the driveway, Daisy started barking at the front window.
“Poor thing alone in the dark,” Chloe said, furious with herself and the oversight.
Shane pulled out his phone and tapped the flashlight, and that made more guilt press down on Chloe. “Hey, you’re a rookie and forgiven. She’s a dog and will forget about it five seconds after the light is on and there’s a treat in her mouth.”
“Still, she’s in a new place.” They walked up the three steps to the front porch. “And all alone and—”
“Whoa, watch your step.” Shane grabbed her hard enough to jerk her back and prevent her from going one more inch.
“Why, what…” She stared at the worn wooden planks at their feet. “Is that what I think it is?”
He leaned closer and sniffed. “Yup.”
“She got out!” Panic took her voice up an octave, more worried about the dog than the defilement to the porch. “How could she have gotten out?”
“No, I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “Because she wouldn’t have gotten back inside. Are you sure she wasn’t out here before you left?”
“Not once. We were in the house and in the back. I haven’t been out here at all.” She could barely hear herself talk or think over Daisy’s now frantic barking.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, steering her gingerly around the pile. “Let’s get her calmed down.”
Rage bubbled up inside Chloe’s chest. “I don’t get this. A dog came to my front door and…did that?” Her stomach gripped at the many levels of violation she felt.
“That’s not right.”
“You can say that again.” She unlocked the door and opened it, instantly on the receiving end of a wild frenzy of barking, panting, and pawing.
“Daisy! Sit! Sit, girl.” Shane got a hand on the dog’s collar as Chloe turned the light on the entryway table, spilling a golden glow into the pitch-black house.
In a second, Daisy was quiet as Shane rubbed her head and let her bathe his face. “Thanks, dog. You’ve killed any chance of a good-night kiss,” he joked.
But Chloe didn’t laugh. She was still too upset about the front porch.
Standing, Shane put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Take her out to the back, and I’ll deal with this, okay?”
She nodded. “Do dogs do that?” she asked. “Do they roam residential streets and leave their calling cards on people’s porches?”
He looked hard at her, and she braced herself for a lecture on how only bad dogs did, and not all dogs were bad, and if she was going to make this a dog-friendly town, then she damn well better get used to—
“No,” he said simply. “They do not.”
She blinked at him. “Then someone put it there?”
“I don’t know, but take her out back. I’ll clean it up.”
She was on the back patio a few minutes later, rubbing her bare arms, watching Daisy romp around the grass. Shane stepped out, holding up his hands, surgeon style.
“All clean,” he assured her.
“What do you make of that, Shane?”
He lifted a shoulder, slowly shaking his head. “I don’t know. The only thing I can think is someone was ticked off at you for leaving a dog in the dark and wanted to send a message.”
Her eyes popped. “How about leaving a nasty note taped to the door?”
“Shhh.” He pulled her into him, folding his arms around her like he did on the dance floor and getting the same warm reaction in her body when the two of them molded together. “Did Daisy licking me kill any possibility of a kiss? I swear I washed my face.”
She looked up at him, the moonlight highlighting the angles of his face and the familiar scent of her lemon kitchen soap all over his cheeks. The consideration that showed touched her. She let her eyes close and angled her head.
“I’m feeling reckless,” she whispered.
He gave a soft laugh that was lost when his lips covered hers, as smooth and warm to the touch as she’d imagined. He opened his mouth and eased her even closer, somehow making the kiss a full-body event, letting their chests meet and hips touch and thighs press.
With the softest groan from deep in his chest, he turned his head, took another angle, and let their lips find the sweet spot of contact. For a moment, Chloe couldn’t do anything but feel, completely lost to the tender, delicious warmth that rolled through her.
A little dizzy, she managed to break the kiss, opening her eyes to meet the dark arousal in his. “Daisy’s watching,” she managed to joke, not s
ure at all how—or if—she was going to stop this.
“Hate to break it to you, but Daisy’s digging to China at the moment, and she couldn’t care less what we’re doing.”
She turned to look over her shoulder and, sure enough, the dog was rooting in some soft dirt with raw determination. “Oh. She’s going to be filthy.”
“Better keep her out of your bed, then…” He caressed her back, his possessive, hot hands moving up and then back down, until they rested on the rise of her backside. “Which means there’s more room for me.”
Smiling, she managed to shake her head. “You’re too much.”
“You don’t know that yet. I could be…” He dipped his hands. “Just right.”
She let her head drop back with a soft moan, and he moved right in to place soft kisses on her exposed neck. Chills covered every inch of her body, and her knees literally felt like they could buckle.
“Garrett and Jessie are waiting for you at the bar. Isn’t Jessie the DD tonight?”
“I can text him and get myself home…tomorrow.”
Temptation, as raw and real and unfamiliar as any of the things she’d felt that day, wended its way through her body, settling somewhere low and primal in her belly.
It thrilled and terrified her. “I think you better go,” she said, as much to herself as to him. “I think that’s a good idea.”
“Really? ’Cause I think that might be the stupidest idea yet.”
She kind of agreed, but knew from experience that this wasn’t the kind of “mess” she could handle very well.
“I can’t,” she said. She didn’t tell him what she couldn’t do, because Shane Kilcannon would take that as a personal challenge he couldn’t possibly lose.
“You can, but you won’t,” he replied. “Which is totally acceptable and understandable. If I know why.”
“Because…” She spun through all the reasons that wouldn’t sound like she was scared of another mess. “You’re on the advisory committee.”
He snorted with disdain. “Pretty sure there are no bylaws against sex with committee members.”
Sex. It was all so messy. And frustrating. And…no. “It would ruin our friendship,” she tried.
That made him smile. “Could make us the best of friends.”
He’d have an answer for any excuse she threw at him, except the truth. But there was no way she’d get into that now. He’d be here all night psychoanalyzing her and…no. She didn’t have to give him a reason not to have sex.
She looked up at him. “It’s time to leave, Shane.”
“Got it.” He instantly nodded and stepped back. “But will you come to Waterford tomorrow for Sunday dinner?”
Her eyebrows raised. “Sunday dinner?”
“It’s a weekly event you don’t want to miss. We also do Wednesday nights as a family, but that’s not quite as sacred, or as fun. On Sunday, Dad cooks, booze flows, insults fly, and fun is had across four generations of Kilcannons.”
She almost couldn’t breathe it sounded so wonderful, and so completely foreign. “Yes, sure. That sounds like a blast.”
“I’ll pick you up around one.” He lowered his face and kissed her again. “Wear jeans, and you can help me clean the kennels.”
She laughed. “You sure know how to make me weak in the knees, Shane Kilcannon.”
“You know I do.” Hugging her tighter, he took one more kiss.
“Thank you for being my personal sanitation specialist tonight.”
“Hey, there’s more where that came from.” He eyed Daisy, who’d given up on her hole and rested on the grass, watching them. “I could wash her down for you.”
She put her hands on his chest, which was so broad and solid, she had to fight the urge to rest her head on it. All night. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Shane.”
He kissed her forehead one more time and let her walk him to the front door, with Daisy on their heels. As soon as he was gone, the dog heaved a sigh and let out the saddest little whine.
“Same, sister.” She snapped her fingers and headed to her bedroom. “Come on. Let’s go to…the floor.”
* * *
“Go to the farthest corner and…be fast about it.” Chloe pointed to the edge of the fenced-in yard and looked hard at Daisy, praying she understood. “And then…wash your paws.”
The answer was one loud, serious bark, then the dog darted over to one of the tennis balls she’d carried out to the patio, snagging it in her teeth and carting it back to Chloe.
“You want to play fetch?”
She lifted her head and offered the slobbery ball.
“Oh, Daisy, I’m so not a fetch player.”
She came closer, then dropped the ball at Chloe’s feet, her meaning and needs crystal clear. And so much guilt in the eyes.
On a sigh, Chloe reached down and used her nails to pick up the ball by the well-chewed threads.
“Here we go,” she said. “Fetch,” she whispered, giving the ball a hard toss to the far end of the yard, making Daisy turn and run like her very life depended on beating the ball to its destination. “And while you’re there, do your, uh, business,” she called.
The doorbell rang, startling Chloe. She wasn’t expecting Shane for a few hours to take her to Waterford, so who was here on a Sunday morning? Daisy was on her way back with the ball, but Chloe held her hand up.
“Stay.”
Instantly, the dog stopped and sat down.
“Wow, you are a good girl. And I would probably come right over there and hug and kiss you, but…” She pointed to the house. “Doorbell. So, you play here with the ball.”
Sighing at how inane she sounded, she walked back into the kitchen, washed her hands, then glanced down at her sleep pants and T-shirt, wondering again if her guest was Shane. Maybe he couldn’t wait until this afternoon, a thought that gave her an absolutely uncalled-for thrill.
She peered at the tiny window in the front door, not seeing a man at all, but immediately recognizing the soft ashy waves of her aunt. She opened the door without hesitation.
“Hi, Aunt Blanche,” she said, unlatching the screen door. “This is a nice surprise.”
“I hope it is.” She smoothed a pale blue linen dress, worry in eyes the same color. “I just came from church and thought I better tell you that word of what you’re planning to do is out already.”
“Really? Well, it is a small town,” she acknowledged, opening the door wider. “Come on in. Would you like some coffee?”
“I’d love—” A noisy bark from outside stopped her words and movement. “You have a dog, Chloe?”
“Oh, I should have told you,” Chloe said. “Is it a problem? I know the lady who lived here had a dog.”
“Not a problem,” Blanche assured her. “Yes, Rose took Ziggy with her, but it wouldn’t be an issue. I’m surprised, that’s all.”
“That makes two of us,” Chloe said on a laugh, leading Blanche into the kitchen.
Daisy was on the patio, barking at the sliding glass door. When she wasn’t licking it. There really wasn’t enough 409 on the planet for this situation.
“Shane convinced me it would be a great idea to help show the town I love dogs. So don’t you think that’s—”
She turned to see Blanche staring in shock at the dog. “It’s a pit bull,” she said.
“Well, technically,” she said, surprised at the kick those words gave her. “That’s a type of dog, not a breed. Daisy is a Staffordshire terrier.”
“Call it what you want, but a pit bull can be a scary dog.”
She tried to remind herself she’d said the same thing yesterday. “She’s not scary, Aunt Blanche. She’s an absolute doll. And if people see that, it will go a long way to taking away any worries about dangerous dogs.”
Daisy wasn’t helping her case by letting out a series of deep, loud barks that Chloe knew by now was just her voice, not anything fierce.
Blanche backed up as if the dog were going to crash through the glass and atta
ck.
“Oh, no, you have her all wrong. Look.” Chloe pushed the slider open, and Blanche let out a fearful gasp.
“Be careful!”
Without thinking, Chloe dropped down and slid both arms around the dog, determined to show her aunt how sweet Daisy was. “She’s a good dog.” And that was met with one huge, wet, loving tongue that slapped onto Chloe’s cheek and took a swipe that missed her lips by centimeters.
And she lived. Barely.
“Oh, oh,” Blanche stammered. “My, she is friendly.”
Chloe wanted to recoil and wipe and take a quick hand sani bath, but that would make Daisy look bad. “She’s super sweet. Right, Daisy girl?” She gave her head a good rub, and Daisy got so excited at the affection that she popped up on her hind legs, gave another gooey jaw lick, and slammed her front paws on Chloe’s shoulders, almost knocking her over.
“I really didn’t know you were such a dog lover.”
Neither did I. “Come and meet Aunt Blanche.” Chloe managed to stand and get Daisy’s collar. “Stay. Stay.”
Of course, she did, plopping down and looking up at the new arrival with nothing but love and hope for more affection in her eyes.
“So, she’s not at all dangerous?” Blanche asked, visibly relaxing.
“Not in the least,” Chloe said, slowly letting go of the collar.
Blanche bent over. “Hello, Daisy.”
Sensing the trepidation, Daisy walked slowly to Blanche, barked a few times, then went right by her to a chew toy she’d left on the kitchen floor. Blanche watched her for a moment, then sat down at the small kitchen table, letting out a sigh as if the dog encounter had made her adrenaline spike.
“You have a dog, Blanche, right?” Chloe asked as she went to the sink to nonchalantly wash her hands and maybe wipe some slobber from her cheek.
“Yes, I have a standard poodle,” her aunt replied. “I love dogs. But I’m scared of pit bulls.”
That’s like judging a person by the color of their skin.
She was tempted to throw Shane’s line at Blanche, but it had hurt her to be accused of prejudice, and she had no reason to make her aunt feel bad. “No need to be scared of Daisy,” she said instead, pouring some coffee from the pot she’d made not long ago. “Now tell me how bad our security leak is in town hall.”