Taken With You (13 page)

It was the uniform, he thought as he stepped out into the sunshine. Almost made the hours of ironing worthwhile.

NINE

H
OLIDAY
WEEKENDS
WERE
a special kind of hell. Long weekends meant long hours, drunk people and a whole lot of stupidity, and Memorial Day was a doozie. After a long winter, New Englanders were ready to let loose and live it up.

At two o’clock on Monday morning, Matt leaned against a tree trunk and tried not to fall asleep on his feet. After a full day of chasing four-wheelers, arresting drunks, checking fishing licenses, and responding to a situation at a family barbecue that involved alcohol, a fire, gasoline and fireworks, he’d been about to head home when they got a call about a missing teenage girl.

Five hours of walking through the woods later, they got the call she’d been found. Apparently, she’d gone for a walk with her boyfriend and they had a big fight because somebody said something about somebody else on Facebook, and her boyfriend stormed off. After having a good long cry, she tried to find her way home and missed by a long shot.

It was a happy ending, but Matt was ready to just fall flat on his face and sleep in the dirt for a few hours.

“Bet she’s already updating her Facebook status,” Pete Winslow said. He was a warden Matt had worked with a lot and they’d become good friends over the years, and he was leaning against the tree next to Matt’s. “Probably taking a selfie in the ambulance.”

“Too bad she didn’t use the phone to, you know, call her parents.”

“It was charging when she went for her walk, so she didn’t have it. Her mom had it and gave it to her while they were checking her vitals. Probably so she could update her status.”

“Where’s the dad?”

“He’d had a few and wanted to go after the boyfriend with a load of bird shot, so he’s in custody until he sobers up.” Pete pushed himself upright with a groan. “Time to head home.”

“Easy for you to say. They had me come in from a direction they thought she might go, so my truck’s not here at the staging area. And it’s in the opposite direction of Whitford.”

“I’ve gotta go within a couple of miles of there anyway, so I can give you a ride. You have a way to get your truck tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” No, but he’d find a way. Drew Miller probably wouldn’t mind sending an officer to give him a ride. Or he’d pay Butch Benoit to drive him out there in his tow truck. It was the closest thing the town had to a taxi service. “I appreciate it.”

Once in the truck, it was tempting to close his eyes for a few minutes, but Pete was as worn out as he was. He kept his eyes open and they both talked about the idiots they’d crossed paths with that day just to stay awake.

When they pulled into Matt’s driveway, he shook Pete’s hand and opened the door. “You going to be okay? You can crash here if you need to.”

“I’ll be fine and the wife’s going to be asleep on the couch, waiting. I’ll put the window down and crank the music up. Sing-a-long time. You know how it is.”

Yeah, he did. “Thanks again, Pete. Drive safe.”

Matt let himself into his house and spent a couple minutes letting Bear welcome him home. As tempting as it was to simply keel over sideways on the couch and never move again, he had about twenty layers of bug spray on him.

He dragged his ass upstairs and secured his weapon, then left a trail of dirty uniform parts to the bathroom. After a quick, steaming hot shower, he tugged on a pair of sweatpants and fell into bed. He heard Bear settle in the oversized dog bed in the corner, and then he was out.

* * *

H
AILEY
WASN
’
T
SURE
what had awakened her when it was barely light outside, but after a few minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up. She had to pee, anyway. She brushed her teeth while she was in there and then went downstairs to start her day earlier than usual.

While the coffee brewed, she glanced out the window and then took a closer look. Matt’s truck wasn’t in the driveway. Frowning, she went to the living room and looked out that window. It wasn’t there. So far, she hadn’t seen him park it in the garage, since he had it filled with tools and his ATV and other assorted junk.

As far as she could tell, Matt had left for work the morning before and hadn’t been home since.

Worry for him hummed through her as she fixed her coffee and then, a few sips into the cup, she thought of Bear.

He had a doggy door, but what about food and water? If Matt had known he wouldn’t be home, she can’t imagine he wouldn’t have made plans for his dog. Even if he didn’t want to get her number from information and call her, he would have called
somebody
. But if something had happened to him or, God forbid, he’d been in an accident, how long would it be before somebody thought of his dog?

Surely if Bear got too hungry, he’d come outside and throw himself on her mercy. Maybe give her those big, sad, puppy dog eyes until she caved and grilled him up a burger for breakfast or something.

By the time she finished her coffee, Hailey knew she had to check on Bear. And not just see him outside, but check on his food and water, which meant going inside. Throwing a hoodie over her tank top, she slipped her feet into her flip-flops and went out her back door.

Halfway across her yard, she hesitated. Bear was a lovable and lazy lump of Lab, but that was when Matt was around. When it came to the neighbor lady breaking into his house, Bear was still a dog.

But he might be a very confused, lonely and hungry dog, and that got her moving again.

Matt had taken the screen door off and stored it in the garage since it blocked the doggy door, so Hailey didn’t have to worry about opening that. She twisted the doorknob and muttered a bad word when it didn’t turn.

If he’d locked the back door, he’d probably locked the front door, too, but she walked around the house and tried it, anyway. It was also locked. She thought she heard a single bark from Bear when that screen door latched, but nothing after that.

Going back around the house, she resigned herself to the indignity of crawling through the doggy door. Bear was a big dog, so it was a big door and she knew she’d fit. But it was a little ridiculous and she was thankful the only reason she had to do it was because Matt wasn’t home. That meant he couldn’t witness her latest embarrassing episode.

She got on her hands and knees, then used one hand to push open the swinging door. It wasn’t very comfortable and she pushed the flap open all the way so she could focus on
not
kneeling on the door sill because that would seriously hurt.

A chime sounded, followed by a flurry of barking and dog toenails on the wooden floors.

“Bear, it’s me,” she called, pausing half in and half out of the doggy door as a mountain of black Lab barreled into the kitchen.

* * *

D
ESPITE
LESS
THAN
three hours of sleep, Matt woke in a state of high alert when the dog door chimed. He’d been half-awake for a few minutes already, mumbling at Bear when the dog had let out a woof for no reason. Then the chime sounded and Bear took off at a run.

But if Bear had been in his bed, what had triggered the alarm? Matt usually locked it when they went to bed at night but, in the condition he’d been in, he might have overlooked it last night. Or this morning, rather.

Praying it wasn’t a raccoon, which was the risk they ran in exchange for Bear being able to get out, he pulled his service weapon out of the biometric safe on his nightstand and went after Bear. When he got to the kitchen, he hit the light switch, then shook his head.

“You have to be kidding.” The top half of his neighbor was through the doggy door and Bear was licking her face, his butt wagging in joy. “Bear, cut it out.”

“You’re home,” she said in a flat voice.

He arched an eyebrow at her, then set his gun on the counter and hit the button to start the coffee brewing. “Is that why you’re breaking into my house at six-thirty in the morning? Because you thought I wasn’t home?”

She finished crawling all the way into the kitchen and then quickly stood before Bear could get at her face again. “Yes. If I thought you were home, I wouldn’t have been crawling through the doggy door.”

“Anything in particular you were after?” Maybe she had a drug problem. That would help explain why she ran so hot and cold where he was concerned.

“I wanted to make sure Bear was okay.”

He went a little still inside, not sure he’d understood her. “You broke in to check on my dog?”

“I heard your truck leave yesterday morning and I hadn’t seen it since. I know he can get in and out, but I didn’t know if he’d run out of food and water. And then I thought he’d come get me, but maybe you trained him not to leave the yard at all when you’re not home. Or maybe he got scared and scratched at my door, but it didn’t wake me up, so he went looking for you and got lost.” She stopped, a pink blush spreading over her cheeks. “I wanted to check on him and your doors were locked, so...yeah.”

“I guess you’ve got a Good Samaritan streak, yourself.” Maybe she didn’t know how to bait a hook, but she’d crawl through a small door in sleep shorts to check on an animal. That said something about her. Something he liked.

“I like your dog.”

He nodded, then watched as the dog in question bolted through the dog door. The chime dinged again.

“Doesn’t that drive you crazy?”

“Not really. He’s a good dog, but I like to know where he is. And I usually lock the dog door at night. I must have forgotten since it was about three when I got in.”

Her eyes got big. “Three? Oh, the long weekend, right? It must be busy for you guys.”

“Long weekends always are.”

He pulled two mugs out of the cabinet, though he wasn’t really sure why, and poured them each a mug. “Cream and sugar?”

“I should go, so you can go back to bed. Now I feel even worse.”

“Don’t feel bad for caring about my dog. And he’ll be outside at least twenty minutes. I’m up, so have a coffee with me.”

She looked down at herself, as if she’d just realized she hadn’t put clothes on before breaking into his house. She was covered, with thin cotton shorts that looked like men’s boxers, and a hoodie she’d thrown over her tank top. But, as he looked at her, she zipped the hoodie, covering up the view a little.

He ran his hand over his naked chest. “I guess it’s a good thing I put sweatpants on before I fell into bed.”

The corner of her mouth quirked upward. “I guess that depends on your point of view.”

“Are you flirting with me?” Even as early as it was, being ogled by a pretty woman wasn’t a bad way to start the day.

“I can be a bit shameless when it comes to coffee. Sorry.”

He gestured to one of the stools at the island. “Have a seat. So, cream and sugar?”

“Yes, please.”

He got the half and half out of the fridge. “For future reference, Bear’s food is in that blue bin over there. It’s just a lift-top lid. He stays out of it as a rule, but if he gets hungry enough, he can get into it. And he’s got that big tank of water there that feeds into his dish but, as gross as it sounds, I always make sure the toilet lid’s up. Just in case.”

“I feel better knowing that.”

“If something happens to me that’s bad enough so they call my parents, somebody will come get Bear. But if you’re willing to break into my house, are you also willing to give me your number so I can call you if I can’t get home? Just because he won’t starve doesn’t mean I like him being alone overnight. And I’ll give you the extra key so you don’t have to crawl through the doggy door.”

“Funny, but yes. We should have each other’s numbers anyway. Being neighbors and all.”

“Speaking of being neighborly,” he said, setting her coffee in front of her and grinning, “any chance I can sweet talk you into giving me a ride to my truck later? If not, I can try Drew Miller.”

“Your chances of sweet talking Drew are pretty slim.” She smiled, then took a sip of her coffee.

“I bet you’re not too susceptible to sweet talk, either.”

“Not usually, but when a guy with no shirt on makes me coffee, it softens me up.”

He put the cream back in the fridge and then went to the back door to check on Bear. As expected, the dog was sniffing every blade of grass to make sure nothing had changed during the night.

On his way back to the island, he watched Hailey lower her head to drink her coffee and his body tightened. Her hair was pulled to one side, exposing her neck, and he remembered her shivering when he touched her there and how she fought so hard to hide it.

He shouldn’t touch her. He knew it. Not while he was overtired and feeling soft toward her because she tried to take care of his dog. Not while she was wearing barely anything. But as he crossed the kitchen, he couldn’t help himself.

“That bug bite healed nicely,” he said, and he ran his fingertip lightly down the line of her neck.

TEN

H
AILEY
SUCKED
IN
a breath and she knew there was no way she could hide the hot flush that felt as though it was covering every inch of her body.

“You are the master of mixed signals,” she said, deciding if she couldn’t hide her reaction, she might as well face it head on.

He walked back around the island, which in a way was worse because now he could see the blush on her cheeks. “What do you mean?”

“The night I brought you shepherd’s pie, you thought I was flirting with you and you practically ran into the house. But then you go and do that.”

“First aid is part of my job description. Just doing my duty, ma’am.”

She laughed at him. “You’re so full of crap.”

“Maybe.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “You’re not exactly consistent with the signals, either, you know.”

He might have a point there, so she kept her mouth shut and drank her coffee until a way to change the subject popped into her head. “What made you become a game warden? I’m guessing it wasn’t the promise of nine to five.”