Running From Fate (53 page)

“
You ask
ed
for my
help when you came to my house,” he reminded her.
 
“
Besides,” he ran his gaze over her slight figure, repressing a smile when he noticed the rip in her pantyhose.  “I’m much stronger than you so it’s my responsibility to take care of things.”

She crossed her arms and
stubbornly
kept her mouth shut.

James tapped his fingers on the desk and wondered how
things
had gone
so
wrong
.  He had started the morning determined to convince her that staying with him was the best option, but from the set of her mouth there was no way she would agree now.

Mira probably felt safe know that she had a state-of-the-
art security system that he’d made sure was installed,
but
he still wasn’t happy with the idea of her living alone.
Until he could convince her to move in or until the bastard who had attacked
her
was caught, he would just ha
ve to come up with a solution.
For
now, he would
work with what he had.

“Have the police told you anything yet?”
h
e asked.

She shook her head
and tried to ignore the annoying tapping noise
.

“I spoke to Devon yesterday.”

“Why
would he call you and not me,” she fumed.  Were both of them conspiring to take away her decisions?

“He didn’t.
I called him.
Either way.”
He
steepled
his fingers
and ignored her glare
.
“
It seems
that Kim has conveniently gone on a long vacation overseas and they can’t get in touch with her.
The
police
are continuing to talk to her friends and acquaintances, but they haven’t had any luck yet.
However,” h
e continued when her face fell.  “T
hey haven’t exhausted every
avenue.”
  He stood up and escorted her to the door.  “I’ve got work to do,” he said, “but I’ll see you later.  I don’t want you to worry.”

As if he needed to sooth her like she was some scarred child.  She was tougher than that
, she assured herself as she sat down to work.  Although,
n
o
w
that the
thought was in her mind
, Mira found that she could do nothing
else
but worry at it.
Knowing for sure that someone who wanted to hurt her was running around free was a scary thought.

By the time she
finally
made it
home
that evening
she was a nervous wreck,
very close to
jumping at shadows.
When a knock sounded at the door a few hours later, she stifled a scream and the plat
e that she had been
holding fell,
with a
thunk
, to the carpet.
Thankfully, it was blessedly empty
. 
With slightly trembling hands, she picked it up, sat it on the counter, an
d
went to see who was there.
When James’ face, grinning boyishly, stared back through the peephole she sighed with
what she refused to admit was
relief and pulled open the door.

The first thing she noticed when he stepped in was that he was wearing a coat despite the mild evening.
The second thing she saw was that it was moving.

“I’ve brought you some company,
” James said as a tiny
black nose poked out
.
He handed the tiny German shepherd puppy over to her with a vague sense of r
eluctance.  Despite the upheaval
the little whirlwind had caused in his house the past day and a half, he was going to miss the little bugger and he had a feeling Winston would too.

“What’s his name?” Mira asked softly as
s
he buried h
er
face in his fur to hide her damp eyes.
Roses, presents, and compliments hadn’t been able
to do it, but a tiny puppy had—
she was deeply and irrevocable in love with James Kelly.
The trick
now
, she decided
resolutely
as she held in a sniffle and raised her face,
was to make sure he loved her too.

“He doesn’t have a name yet,” James smiled with quiet satisfaction as he watched childlike delight
appear
on Mira’s face as the puppy licked her
cheek
.
“
I thought you’d like to do the honors
.”

“I think,” she said as she ran her eyes
over his black and brown body to his overly large
paws.
“
I’ll
call him Zeus.
I believe he’ll be a mighty dog one day.”
She put
the squirming bundle down and turned to
James.

Standing on tiptoe, she braced herself on his shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him gently
. 
“Thank you” she said as she lowered herself.

“You’re welcome,”
he
replied roughly, absurdly aroused by the mere touch of her lips.
“Why don’t we try that again?”
He reached down and gripped her waist, already lost in her soft green eyes.

A crash sounded and they sprung apart, both of them running for the kitchen.

They found Zeus sprawled on the floor in front of her pot cupboard with a large wok almost eclipsing his body.

If he hadn’t looked so miserable, Mira would have laughed at the absurd picture he presented.
Instead, she picked him up and snuggled him against her chest
.
  “I suppose,” she mused aloud.  “
I’ll have to puppy
proof the house.”

“You’ll have to ask Winston about that.”
He bent down to pick up the wok.

“Really?”
S
he laughed at the
amusing image
of the stoic butler chasing around a rambunctious puppy.
“How long have you had him?”

“I picked him up yesterday evening, but trust me he made a big impression.”

“Did you happen to pick up some food, a leash, and a bed?”

“It’s in the car.
”
James sighed as he saw a quiet romantic evening going down the drain.
“I’ll go and get it.”

By the time Zeus had been fed
,
walked and put to bed and she had made James a sandwich,
which he quickly consumed,
Mira was exhausted.
All she wanted was a
fast
shower and a warm bed.

She escorted
him
to the door, intending to send him home, but as she watched him walk slowly to his car she changed her mind.
He looked so dejected.

“Wait a second,” she yelled after him.
“Would you like to stay the night?”

J
ames turned and grinned at her. 
“I
’ll just get my suitcase.”

A cold nose touched her shoulder
,
interrupting her pleasant dreams
.
Mira
lifted one bare
arm
from beneath the covers and batted it away, turning to snuggle against the warm body next to her
s
.
Apparently undaunted by the rebuff, a pleading whine sounded in her ear and
a wet tongue
licked her face
.
With a groan and an evil look at James, who slept on unaware,
she slowly slid out of her war
m bed
.
Zeus obviously had not
taken her lecture on the benefits of sleeping late seriously. 
Despite her admonitions h
e insisted on ge
tting up at an ungodly hour because he had to use the bathroom
.
  She dearly hoped that would change as he got older.

She stretched her arms above her head and yawned before padding sleepily from the room.
It wasn’t until she reached the top of the stairs that she realized she was stark naked.
With a muttered oath, she turned and walked back into the bedroom, grabbing a piece of clothing
from the floor.
It turned out to be the black dress shirt that James had thrown off last night but, she decided with a
shrug, it came down to mid-thigh
so it was decent enough.
If he was going to stay with her, however, she would have to get him to pick up his things.
Unlike him, she didn’t h
ave a butler or a cleaning crew and she was not going to fulfill that role for him.

As she walked down the stairs with the energetic puppy nearly tripping on his oversized feet as he ran in front of her, an image of James’ dour butler, Winston, crossed her mind and
a smile cre
p
t
across her face
.
Although Zeus had only been his responsibility for a very short time, he seemed to have become inordinately attached.
He had shown
up at her house at least once a day since James had been there.
His excuse was that he had to make sure James had clean clothes and something decent to eat, but as soon as he got there he ignored his employer and went
looking for Zeus
.
He also brought along a dog treat every time.
Usually something that he had prepared himself.

With Zeus jumping around her feet, desperate to get out, she crossed the living room and almost opened the patio door before she remembered the alarm.
Backtracking, she turned it off and slid open the glass door into the backyard.
He was out like a shot, quickly disappearing
into the bushes along the fence to do his business.
A strange tingling
sensation shivered up her spine
and she knew, even before heard the joyous barking, that she was no longer alone.