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“Go away!” I cried out.
It rang again. I heard a muffled voice say something, and that cued the demon to start jumping on the door like mad.
“Flash—down! Bad dog. Sit!”
He immediately sat. Wow. Okay, so maybe he is smart…when he wants to be.
Peeking through the peephole, I jumped back in shock.
Rory.
With a wide smile, I opened the door and got ready to say something flirty, when suddenly Flash took off down the corridor.
“Flash! No!” Rory yelled out as she took off after him. It took me about five seconds to decide if I wanted to let him go or if I wanted to go after him. I decided I liked my job too much to let him go. But just as I was about to chase after them both, Flash came charging around the corner, with Rory hot on his paws.
I stepped out of the way as he raced in and went right to his food bowl. Rory stopped at my door and giggled. “I told him he would get a treat, so he headed back to your place. He’s so smart!”
“Good morning to you too, Rory.”
Her eyes lit up, and I couldn’t help but notice how my chest tightened. Her gaze roamed over my body. “Looks like you just woke up.”
With a huff, I motioned for her to come in as I headed to the kitchen. “I did. And let me add that I woke up with Flash in bed with me.”
“Aw, you let him sleep with you?”
Contracting my brows, I replied, “No. I put his bed at the bottom of mine. He moved into my bed after I fell asleep.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “I think it’s kind of cute he slept with you. You must not have minded him being there if you didn’t even know he was there.”
With a frown, I replied, “His head was on my pillow, Rory. My pillow!”
Rory turned away from me and headed into the kitchen, where she promptly made herself at home while getting the demon dog his breakfast.
“Coffee?” I asked.
“Nope. I had breakfast with my best friend Clare earlier. I had coffee then. I only allow myself one cup a day.”
I lifted my brow and looked at her. She was opening a can of dog food while whistling. Flash was as taken by her as I was, and the two of us just stood there staring at her like she was about to give us both gold. Shaking my head to break the trance, I went back to my coffee making.
“What brings you by?”
“Making sure you didn’t do harm to my dog.”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Such trust you have in me. And last I checked…he belonged to Engine 33.”
Rory emptied the food into Flash’s bowl, then tossed the can into my trash. She leaned against the counter wearing the cutest fucking smile on her face, which made my knees actually tremble.
What kind of power does this woman have over me?
“Considering I don’t even know your last name, or really know you all that much, can you blame me for wanting to check on him?”
I took a sip of my coffee and appeared thoughtful. “You’re right. My last name is Ward.”
“Finn Ward. I like it.”
With a wink, I replied, “I think you’ll like the place we’re going to do dinner tonight too.”
She responded with a slight grin. “I don’t know about you, but I’ll be having dinner with my parents. It’s a Sunday tradition, ever since I started college.”
I took another sip of coffee, then replied, “That’s a damn shame.”
For some reason, she started to fiddle about, like she was nervous. “Well, do you mind if I take Flash out for a walk?”
“Dog walker. I like that idea.”
She threw me a smirk and grabbed Flash’s collar.
“Have fun, you two!” I called out.
“Oh, we will. Don’t you worry about that.”
Once she was out the door, I picked up my phone, found Colton’s number, and hit Call.
“Hello?”
“I need you to do me a favor.”
Yawning and then moaning, Colton asked, “What’s up, dude?”
“You still in my building?”
He paused. “Yeah. Why?”
“Can you puppy-sit for me?”
I heard a female gasp at the same time he replied, “Hell no.”
“It’s not only my dog, Harris. It’s your fucking dog too.”
He laughed. “How do you figure that?”
“It’s the station’s dog. You don’t do this for me and I’m sure Cap will be very eager to hear about how you volunteered to pick up dog shit.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Yes. Yes I would.”
He covered the phone as I headed into my bedroom. “Fucking hell. When do you need me? Us! When do you need us?”
“How about two hours? I need to take the demon dog for a run to get some energy out of the little bastard. That way the shithead doesn’t act up.”
“Damn, dude, that was a lot of name-calling on one small dog. You and Flash not getting along?”
