AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sam’s excited barking pulled Nicole’s head out of the clouds, and she dashed outside to check on him. “Sam, come!” she called out as soon as she spotted him running after a stray tan dog. He halted before following the other dog into the woods, thank goodness. She didn’t relish going after him in the thick trees at the break of dawn. Even though he loved romping with other dogs, strays were unpredictable, and she would have to evaluate the ones in the shelter before socializing them with playtime. With luck, she could gain the other dog’s trust, put some weight on him, then find him a home.
“Good boy.” Nicole hugged Sam and took him inside as her cell beeped with an incoming text. She stiffened, just now recalling last night’s message. That was the third time Tony’s sister had gotten hold of her new cell number, and if Natalie started constantly harassing her here as she did in Chicago, she would have no choice but to report the anonymous message even without solid proof it had come from Tony’s twin.
She fed Sam first then glanced at the message, relieved when she read Allie’s name and the intro line asking what happened to her last night. With a sigh of guilt, Nicole realized she’d taken off without telling either Allie or Lily, the two who had invited her in the first place. Slade must not have said anything, at least, not yet, and she couldn’t help feeling grateful for his silence. The last thing she wanted was his family speculating on a budding relationship between them.
She texted,Sorry. I was tired and left without thinking,keeping it simple and truthful, and then vowed not to give either Slade or Natalie another thought. She had too much to do before the contractors arrived tomorrow to waste another moment on either one.
***
SLADE MADE IT CLOSEto twenty-four hours before caving to the urge to check on Nicole. He blamed the constant yipping of more than one dog filtering through the woods, exciting Chace and interrupting his relaxation as he grabbed the take-out order from the diner and headed over at twilight. If she didn’t welcome another uninvited visit, that was too damn bad. He had spent the day worried she would regret her actions last night and itching to inquire about that text. It could have been anything between an innocuous joke and a serious threat. Her hired help wouldn’t start for a week, leaving her alone way too long for his peace of mind if it was the latter.
In a matter of two short weeks, his curiosity about the new neighbor had expanded into constant preoccupation that sex hadn’t appeased. He wasn’t sure what to do about that or her, so he went with his instinct that all was not right. When she convinced him otherwise, maybe he could get back to his original plan of friendly neighbor.
The hunger-stirring aroma of Ina’s stroganoff tickled his senses, and his stomach growled in response, Chace following him to the door with his nose on the bag. When he put on his dejected face after Slade instructed him to stay, he figured his dog could join in on the fun too. If her shelter took on several dogs at once, Sam would benefit from early practice in getting along with more than the one.
“Come on, then. Let’s see what kind of mood our neighbor is in today.”
He tried not to think about the feel of Nicole’s soft body moving under his, her gasps when she climaxed, or the effort it took to loosen her tight muscles. She hadn’t resisted his hold, which surprised him, given her fierce independent streak, but he’d expected her withdrawal afterward. Getting her to open up about her ordeal might require him to do the same, something he was prepared to do if it would help.
Slade emerged from the forest trail to witness Nicole trying to lure a coyote closer with dog treats. “Shit. Chace, go!” Border collies ran like the wind, and Chace had plenty of practice running off undesirable critters. Coyotes were timid animals around people and one on one with an aggressive dog, but a small pack could take down a horse or steer. This one bolted into the woods, leaving poor Sam looking bewildered and Nicole glaring at him. Obviously, she knew little about Wyoming wildlife.
Chace got a friendlier greeting from Sam than Slade did from Nicole as she stomped to meet him halfway. “Why the hell did you do that? You just ruined three days of trying to gain that dog’s trust.”
“Then you wasted your time on a coyote, not a dog. It could have been a hybrid, but either way, he was a wild animal that could have gone for Sam’s throat two seconds after playing. You’re welcome.”
Nicole’s hand went to her chest, her face paling. “I didn’t know.” She stepped back and stated stiffly, “Thanks.”
He sucked in a breath, vacillating between annoyance and amusement. Those seem to be his two reactions around her if he ignored lust. Seeking some middle ground, he asked, “Ever heard of compromise?”
“Heard of it; don’t much care for it.”
“You and me both, but growing up with two brothers, I learned how to get along.” He held up the dinner bag. “You lighten up, and I’ll share Ina’s beef stroganoff with you. Deal?”
Nicole’s eyes sparkled as she tucked her short hair behind her ear where it curved under her chin, and then bent her head toward the bag and took a whiff. Whether she acknowledged it or not, the fact she exposed her scar without a thought proved she was already comfortable with him.
“Okay, deal. But only because I haven’t eaten yet, and finding out how dumb I am about wildlife hasn’t gone down well.”
“Not dumb,” he insisted, clasping her hand just to watch her frown as they walked to the house. “A lot of visitors and new residents make the same mistake. I would advise you take smaller rescues to the shelter in Casper. They are easy prey for not only the coyotes but hawks and owls.”
“There’s a lot I didn’t consider when I settled on this endeavor.” She opened the back door then cast a worried glance toward the dogs, who were running and tussling.
“They’ll be fine. Chace will alert me if there’s a threat.” Dropping her hand, he held the door then followed her inside before propping the screen door open. “Feel better?”
She nodded and led the way into the kitchen where she got out paper plates and forks. If she was uncomfortable being alone with him again after last night, it didn’t show when they sat down and dove into the creamy pasta. However, she was almost as good as he at hiding emotions.
“Oh, this is good.” Looking up from her plate, she smiled. “Thanks, again.”
A sucker punch of lust hit him so hard, Slade tightened his fingers on the fork to keep from reaching across the table to haul her on top of it. “No problem. I presumed you were outside with Sam when I heard him, and you hadn’t eaten yet. I wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay, that I wasn’t too rough.”
Nicole scooped up another forkful of stroganoff and ate it before answering. As far as he could tell, his blunt speaking didn’t faze her. She swallowed and waved the fork, replying, “If you knew me better, you wouldn’t have gone to the trouble. As you can see, I’m fine.”
A bit put out by her blasé attitude toward an encounter that had plagued him for the better part of the day, he returned, “I can’t read your mind, however, I understand you better than you think.”
“No you don’t.”
It was the lack of hesitation in those three words that got to him. He kept eating while he spoke and proved it. “You left Chicago to run away from memories. You killed someone, presumably the person who attacked you, and the guilt is weighing on you. You’ve cut yourself off from family and friends, stayed out here where you’re not answerable to anyone, and only want to care about your dog. Then reality slipped past your walls, and you needed supplies and help, which meant getting involved with people again. And, damn, people around here are so nice, thoughtful, and supportive, you can’t say no. Now, you’re running scared, not of the trauma or the perpetrator but of returning to living.”
Nicole remained silent when Slade finished, her focus on her plate until she swallowed the last bite. Without commenting on his observations, she picked up their empty plates and carried them to the trash under the sink, talking over her shoulder. “I’ll be sure and tell Ina how much I enjoyed that. From now on, though, please call me before stopping by. I’m going to be busy with the contractors starting Monday, so if you were hoping for a repeat of last night in appreciation, that’s not going to happen.”
