Читать книгу I Do...: Her Accidental Engagement / A Bride's Tangled Vows - Barbara Wallace, Barbara Wallace - Страница 13
ОглавлениеJulia raced onto the patio, following the sounds of her son’s cries, her heart pounding in her chest.
Sam stood in the backyard, cradling Charlie against his chest with one arm. With his free hand he waved the tongs she’d used for the meat. A large gray dog hopped up and down in front of him.
“What happened?” Julia yelled as she sprinted down the back steps. “Is Charlie hurt?”
At the sound of his mother’s voice, the boy lifted his tear-streaked face from Sam’s shoulder. “Ball, Mama. No doggy.” He pointed a slobbery finger at the Weimaraner running circles in the yard, the deflated bouncy ball clamped in his jaws.
His eyes never leaving the dog, Sam scooted closer to Julia. “Charlie’s fine. Take him back to the house. I’ve never seen this animal before. He could be rabid.”
Charlie shook his head. “No doggy,” he repeated. “Charlie ball.”
Julia looked from her son to Sam to the dog bounding and leaping, his stubby tail wagging, clearly relishing this impromptu game of keep-away. Rabid? Overenthusiastic and in need of some training. Not rabid.
Julia had grown up with a variety of animals underfoot. Her dad had been Brevia’s vet for years, and the shelter her mother had built and run after his death attracted animals from all over the South. Her mom’s ability to rehabilitate strays was legendary—Vera had even written a dog-behavior book that had become a bestseller a few years ago. Julia might not be the expert her mother was, but she had a fairly good sense for reading canine energy. And every inch of the Weimaraner was shouting “let’s play.”
“Sam, the dog isn’t going to hurt you.”
“It bared its teeth. It’s a lunatic.”
“You’ve never seen it before?” Julia moved slowly forward.
“No. I told you to get back on the porch. I don’t want you or Charlie hurt.”
She gave a quick whistle. The dog stopped and looked at her, its tail still wagging.
“Julia, you can’t—”
“Drop it,” she commanded, her finger pointed to the ground.
“Dop.” Charlie mimicked her. “Charlie ball.”
The dog waited a moment then lowered the lump of plastic to the ground.
“Sit.”
The dog’s bottom plopped to the ground.
She held out her palm. “Stay.”
She took a step toward the dog. His bottom lifted but she gave a stern “No,” and he sank back down.
“I’m sorry about your ball, sweetie,” she told Charlie.
“Bad,” he said with a whine.
“Not bad, but he needs someone to help him learn.”
As she got nearer, the animal trembled with excitement.
“You shouldn’t be that close.”
“Do you have any rope?”
“I’m not leaving you out here. I’m serious. Back off from the dog.”
“What is your problem? This dog isn’t a threat.”
“You don’t know—”
As if sensing that her attention was divided, the dog stood and bounded the few feet toward her. The skin around its mouth drew back and wrinkled, exposing a row of shiny teeth.
“Get back, Julia. It’s snarling.” Sam lunged forward, but before he got the animal, the dog flopped at Julia’s feet and flipped onto his back, writhing in apparent ecstasy as she bent to rub his belly.
Sam stopped in his tracks. “What the...?”
“He’s a smiler.”
“Dogs don’t smile.”
“Some do.”
Charlie wriggled out of Sam’s arms and, before either of them could stop him, headed for the dog. “Good doggy. No ball.”
Julia put an arm around Charlie, holding him back, as Sam’s breath hitched. “You shouldn’t let him so near that thing.”
She offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “My mom runs an animal shelter, remember? Charlie’s been around dogs since he was born. I’m careful to supervise him and make sure he’s safe.” She tickled her fingers under the dog’s ear and got a soft lick on her arm for the effort. “This boy is gorgeous.”
“A good-looking animal can still be crazy.”
Julia’s shoulders stiffened. “What makes you think he’s crazy?” Before he’d left for good, Jeff had said something similar to her. He’d told her she was beautiful but a nut job. He’d thrown in a dig about her intelligence as icing on the cake.
Her mother was the expert on stray animals, but Julia knew a thing or two about being damaged on the inside. Her gut told her this dog had a heart of gold.
“He snarled at me.”
“He smiled at you,” she insisted. “Pet him. He’s a real sweetie.”
“I don’t like dogs,” Sam said simply.
“I wouldn’t have guessed it.” She ran her hand along the length of the dog’s side. “He’s way underweight. No collar and he’s dirty. I’d guess he’s been on his own for a while now. You haven’t seen him around?”
Sam shook his head. “A section of the fenced yard came loose in the storm a few nights ago. He must have smelled the grill and come in that way.”
She straightened. “Would you take Charlie for a minute? I have a leash in the trunk of my car.”
“You don’t have a dog.”
“Mom makes everyone keep an extra in case we come across a stray.” The Weimaraner jumped to his feet and nudged at Julia’s pants leg.
“Mama doggy,” Charlie said as Julia shifted him into Sam’s arms.
“No, honey, not mine. We’ll take him to Grandma in the morning and she’ll find a good home for him.”
Charlie frowned. “Mama doggy.”
Julia noticed Sam tense as the dog trotted over to sniff him. “Are you scared of dogs, Chief Callahan?”
“Wary, not scared.” He held Charlie a little higher in his arms.
“If you say so.” She headed up the steps toward the house and the dog followed.
“What if he runs away?”
“I have a feeling he’ll stick close by. Weims are usually Velcro dogs.”
“Are you going to keep him overnight?”
She nodded. “It won’t be the first time. Mom says the strays have a knack for finding me. The scrappier they are, the harder I work to bring them in. I’ve rescued dogs from Dumpsters, highway ditches—”
“Stop!” Sam shook his head. “The thought of you luring in unknown dogs from who knows where makes my head pound.”
“What can I tell you?” She laughed. “I have a soft spot for lost causes.”
Sam met her gaze then, and for an instant she saw the kind of longing and vulnerability in his eyes she’d never imagined from a man as tough and strong as he seemed. “Lucky dogs,” he whispered.
The hair on her arms stood on end and her mouth went dry. He blinked, closing off his feelings from her.
“Add this one to the lucky list,” she said, her voice a little breathy. Quickly, she led the dog through the house, grabbing a piece of bread off the counter for good measure. But she didn’t need it. The dog walked by her side, his early rambunctiousness tempered because he had her attention.
She pulled the leash out of her trunk and looped it over his head. He shook his head, as if he wasn’t used to a collar. “Easy there, boy,” Julia crooned and knelt to pet him. The dog nuzzled into her chest. “I bet you’ve had a rough time of it. If anyone can find you a good home, it’s my mom.”
She walked the dog back onto the porch, where she could hear the sound of the television coming through the open screen door.
“Is it okay if I bring him in the house?”
“As long as he doesn’t lift his leg on the furniture,” came the hushed reply.
She leveled a look at the dog, who cocked his head at her. “Keep it together,” she told him, and his stubby tail wagged again.
“I should get Charlie home and to bed,” she said as she walked into the family room then stopped short. Sam sat on the couch, Charlie nestled into the crook of his arm, their attention riveted to the television. An IndyCar race was on the big set, and Sam was quietly explaining the details of the scene to Charlie.
“Lubock thinks he’s got this one in the bag. He’s in the blue-and-yellow car out front.”
“Blue,” Charlie said, his fist popping out of his mouth to point to the screen.
“That’s right, but watch out for Eckhard in the red and white. See where he’s coming around the outside?”
Charlie nodded drowsily then snuggled in deeper.
“I thought you didn’t like kids,” Julia said quietly, as Charlie’s eyes drifted shut.
Sam glanced at the boy then tucked a blanket from the back of the couch around him. “I like kids. Everyone likes kids.”
Julia scoffed. “Hardly. Most people like dogs. You don’t.”
“That’s different.”
She watched the pair for several seconds then added, “Charlie’s father doesn’t like kids.”
Sam met her gaze. “His loss.”
“You’ve never even said hello to Charlie before this week.”
“He and I don’t run in the same circles,” he countered.
“You know what I mean.”
Sam picked up the remote and hit the mute button. He knew what she meant. Ever since he’d found Julia after her car crashed, he’d avoided both her and her son. That moment had terrified him more than it should someone in his position. He didn’t know whether it was the memory of losing his mother, or the strange way his body reacted to the woman sitting across from him. Or a combination of both. But when he’d lifted her out of that car and carried her to his cruiser, his instinct for danger had been on high alert.
Sam was used to saving people from mishaps. It was part of the job. But she’d looked at him as if she’d put all her faith in him. That had made it feel different. More real, and scary as hell. Charlie had been born that same day, and Sam had decided it was better for both of them if he stayed away. He had nothing to offer a single mom and her child. His heart had shut down a long time ago.
Holding Charlie in his arms, he felt something fierce and protective roar to life inside him. If he wasn’t careful, he could easily fall for this boy and his mother. He had to keep his distance but still play the part. His dad had spent most of the evening fawning over Julia and her son, leaving Sam blessedly alone.
He wanted to keep up the charade long enough for his father to leave town satisfied. When the eventual breakup came, Sam was sure he’d have a better chance of convincing Joe how heartbroken he was over the phone than in person.
“We should go over a few things before you leave,” he said, trying to make his tone all business but soft enough that he didn’t wake Charlie.
Julia nodded. “I can take him from you first.”
Sam shook his head and adjusted the blanket. “He’s fine. Thanks for bringing him. You saw how happy it made my dad.”
“He’s going to be devastated when this doesn’t work out.”
Sam shrugged. “He’ll get over it. You’ve given him hope that I’m not a total lost cause in the commitment department. That should hold him over for a while.”
Julia adjusted in her chair as the dog settled at her feet with a contented sigh. Sam had heard a lot about Vera Morgan’s exceptional skills with animals. It appeared the gift was genetic.
“He mentioned your ex-girlfriend.”
Sam flinched. If he didn’t have Charlie sleeping against him, he would have gotten up to pace the room. “Leave it to dear old dad to knock the skeleton from my closet.”
“We’re engaged. He assumed I already knew.”
“And you thought knowing my favorite color was going to be a big deal.”
“We need to understand the details about each other if this is going to work. Otherwise, no one is going to believe we’re legitimate.”
“Why not?” he countered. “People run off to Vegas all the time. Maybe you fell so head over heels for me that you didn’t care about the details.”
“Highly unlikely. You’re not that irresistible.”
Her comeback made him smile, which he realized was her intention. It was strange that this woman he knew so little could read him so well. “I was engaged for six months. She cheated on me a month before the wedding.”
“That’s awful.”
“I caught her with my brother.”
Julia’s jaw dropped. “Wow.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“What happened? Do you still speak to your brother? Are they together? What kind of awful people would do that to someone they both loved?”
“The way Scott explained it, before I kicked him out of my house, was that she was bad news and he was saving me from making a mistake. The way Jenny spun it before she followed him out the door was that he’d seduced her.” He expected to feel the familiar pain of betrayal but only emptiness washed over him. “They aren’t together and weren’t again as far as I know. Turns out he was right. I found out later it wasn’t the first time she’d cheated. She’d also been with one of the guys on the squad. Made me look like a fool.”
“She’s the fool.” Julia came to stand before him. She lifted Charlie from his arms and sat down, laying her son beside her on the soft leather. “And your brother?”
“Scott was in the army for several years. Now he works out of D.C. for the U.S. Marshals.”
She squeezed his arm and the warmth of her hand relaxed him a little. “I’m not interested in his job. What about your relationship?”
“My dad had a health scare almost two years ago. I passed my brother in the hall at the hospital. That’s the extent of it.”
“Oh, Sam.”
“We were never close. My dad didn’t encourage family bonding.”
“Still—”
“This isn’t helping our arrangement.” Sam took her hand in his. “How long have we been dating?”
“Four months,” Julia answered automatically.
“Favorite color?”
“Blue.”
“Where we going on a honeymoon?”
“A Disney cruise.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Because of Charlie.”
He laughed. “Fine.” Some of the tension eased out of his shoulders and he asked, “Big or small wedding?”
“Small, close friends and immediate family.”
“Who are your close friends?”
Her eyes darted away and she took several beats to answer. “The girls from the salon, I guess. A few of them, anyway. My sister.”
“What about your friends from high school?”
“I didn’t really have friends. Followers was more like it, and most of them have outgrown me.”
“Their loss,” he said, using his earlier phrase, and was rewarded with a smile. “What about your ex-boyfriend? Do you still have feelings for him? Should I be jealous?”
“Of Jeff? No. We were over long before he left me.”
An interesting way to phrase it. Sam couldn’t help but ask, “Could I kick his butt?”
She smiled. “Absolutely.”
“Good. When is your next court date?”
“Friday.”
“Do you want me to come?”
She shook her head and Sam felt a surprising rush of disappointment. “I might be able to help.”
“You already are.”
“You can’t believe the judge will award custody to Jeff and his family. Is he even going to be here?”
“I don’t know. But I can’t take any chances. Even if he gets joint custody, they could take Charlie from me for extended periods of time. I won’t risk it. Jeff made it clear he didn’t want to be a father, so I don’t understand why he’s letting this happen. He was never close to his family.”
“Have you talked to him directly?”
“I left a message on his cell phone right after the letter came. I might have sounded hysterical. He hasn’t returned my call.”
“You’re going to have to tell your family what’s going on before it goes too much further.”
She nodded. “I realized that tonight. If my mom finds out your dad knew before her... It’s all too much. I’m finally starting to get my life on track, with the salon and Charlie. For the first time in as long as I can remember, my mother isn’t looking at me with disappointment in her eyes. When she finds out...”
“Vera will want to help. This isn’t your fault.”
“It sure feels like it is.” She sank back against the couch and scrubbed her hands across her face. Sam saw pain and fear etched in her features. It gnawed away at him until he couldn’t stand it. Why was she so afraid of her mother’s judgment? Why did she think so little of herself, to believe her son was at risk of being taken away? Maybe she’d made some mistakes in her past but Sam didn’t know anyone who hadn’t. She couldn’t be punished forever.
He might not be willing to give his heart again, but he needed to give her some comfort. He wasn’t great with words and knew that if he got sentimental, she’d only use her dry wit to turn it into a joke. Instead, he placed a soft kiss on the inside of her palm.
She tugged on her hand but he didn’t let go. “You don’t need to do that now,” she whispered, her voice no more than a breath in the quiet. “There’s no one watching.”
One side of his mouth quirked. “It’s a good thing, too, because what I want to do to you is best kept in private.”
Her mouth formed a round oh and he lifted a finger to trace the soft flesh of her lips.
“Charlie.”
“I know.” He leaned closer. “You’re safe tonight. Almost.”
“We shouldn’t...”
“I know,” he repeated. “But I can’t think of anything I want more.”
“Me, too.” She sat up and brought both of her hands to the sides of his face, cupping his jaw. “This isn’t going to get complicated, right?”
“Other than planning a pretend wedding, a custody battle, my meddling father and a town filled with nosy neighbors? I think we can keep it fairly simple.”
She smoothed her thumbs along his cheeks and her scent filled his head again. “I mean you and me. We’re on the same page. It’s all part of the show, the time spent together, pretending like we’re in love. It ends when we both get what we want.”
He agreed in theory, but at the moment all Sam wanted was her. He knew telling her that would make her more skittish than she already was. He didn’t want this night to end quite yet, even if her sleeping son was going to keep the evening G-rated. So he answered, “That’s the plan.”
She nodded then licked her lips, and he suppressed a groan. “Then it won’t matter if I do this...” She brought her mouth to his and they melted together. When her tongue mixed with his, he did groan. Or maybe Julia did. Her fingers wound through his hair and down his neck, pressing him closer, right where he wanted to be.
He deepened the kiss as his hands found their way underneath her blouse, his palms spread across the smooth skin on her back.
“Stop.” Julia’s breathing sounded ragged.
His hands stilled and he drew back enough to look into her big gray eyes, now hazy with desire.
A small smile played on the corners of her mouth. “I want to make sure we both stay in control. No getting carried away.”
Like to his bedroom, Sam thought. All the wonderful, devilish, naked things he could do to her there ran through his brain. He wanted to know this woman—every inch of her—with a passion he hadn’t thought himself capable of feeling.
He didn’t answer, not sure his brain could manage a coherent sentence at the moment. They stared at each other and he wondered if Julia’s heart was pounding as hard as his.
He heard Charlie snore softly and let his eyes drift closed for a few seconds. He counted to ten in his head, thought about the pile of work waiting in his office and tried like hell to rein in his desire and emotions.
He withdrew his hands, smoothed her shirt back down and forced a casual smile.
“My middle name is control, sweetheart.”
She cocked her head. “That’s a good point,” she said and didn’t sound at all as affected as Sam felt. “What is your middle name?”
He shook his head slightly. “Matthew.”
“Mine’s Christine,” she told him, as if she had no memory of a minute earlier when she’d been kissing him as if her life depended on it. “I’m going to get Charlie home.” She stood and picked up the sleeping boy. The Weimaraner jumped to attention and stayed close by her side.
Sam felt off balance at her switch in mood but didn’t want to admit it. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, keeping the frustration out of his voice. This was a business arrangement, after all, passionate kissing aside. Maybe Julia had the right of it.
She nodded and grabbed the diaper bag, pushing it at Sam. “If you could carry that,” she said, as if she didn’t trust him with his hands free.
The night had cooled at least ten degrees and she shivered as she hurried down the front walk. “Do you want a jacket?” he asked, taking large strides to keep up with her.
“I’m fine.”
While it might be true that Sam hadn’t had any long-term relationships since moving to Brevia, and had stayed out of the dating pool totally for the past few months, his evenings never ended like this.
Usually he was the one who put the brakes on, sexually. More than once, he’d been invited back to a woman’s house—or she’d asked to see his place—on the first date and gotten a clear signal that she’d been eager to take things to the next level. Sam was cautious and tried to not let an evening go there if he thought someone wanted more than he could give.
Never, until tonight, could he remember a woman literally running out of his house when he so badly wanted her to stay.
Julia opened the back door and placed Charlie in his car seat then gave the dog a little tug. The Weim jumped up without a sound, as if he knew enough not to wake the sleeping boy.
Turning, Julia held out her hand for the diaper bag.
“Are we good?” Sam asked.
“Yep,” she said, again not meeting his gaze. “I’ll talk to you in a few days.”
A few days? They were engaged. He told himself it wouldn’t look good to the town, but the truth was he couldn’t wait a few days. Before he could respond, she’d scurried to the driver’s side, climbing in with one last wave and “Thanks” thrown over her shoulder.
Sam was left standing alone at the curb, wondering what had gone so wrong so quickly. He headed back to the house, hoping a cold shower would help him make some sense of things.
