Dream of You (5 page)

He looked at the bag in her hand. "Are you
eating dog food?"

"It's tasty." She smiled brightly to cover up
feeling awkward. Standing, she brushed her hands off on her pants.
"But, really, I'm looking for the dog."

"Is that some sort of euphemism?"

She laughed. "No, there's a puppy who's been
hanging around the garbage cans. I was worried about him, so I
bought him some food from the store down the street to try to get
him to trust me."

He frowned at the bag.

"It's good stuff," she assured him. "It was
more expensive than groceries for a week."

His frown deepened, but as he started to
talk, she heard a rustling sound.

She turned around and saw the little thing
poke its head out. It had large dark eyes, one ear that stood up,
and a white face. "Aren't you adorable?" she cooed, going back to
her knees. "Come here, little guy. I won't hurt you."

Apparently, he didn't believe her because he
ducked back behind the trash.

"You're out here in the dark, playing with a
puppy?" Rob said.

She shook her head. "I'm rescuing him."

"Is that what this is called?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're just cranky
because you had a hard day."

"How do you know?"

"It's totally obvious. And you're coming home
late."

"You keep track of when I come home?"

"Don't make it sound like I'm a stalker. I'm
just observant. When I work the afternoon shift, I notice you come
home before I leave for the day, around six. It's"—she looked at
the time—"almost eight now."

"If you go home around six, what are you
doing here?"

"You're so suspicious." Shaking her head, she
stood up again. She'd been setting up the new iPad cash register
system for Eve. It hadn't taken long, except that she'd added a few
customized pieces that she thought Eve would enjoy. "I worked late,
too. And then I saw the dog, so I've been out here a while trying
to coax him out."

The dog poked its nose out again.

Rob frowned at the dog and then said, "Dog,
sit."

The puppy immediately sat its butt on the
ground, eyes wide and alert.

"How did you do that?" Kristin asked,
indignant.

He took the bag of dog food from her hand,
scooped a handful, and knelt down. "Come," he told the dog as he
held his hand out.

She shook her head. "I don't think
he'll—"

The puppy lunged forward, eagerly munching
the food straight from Rob's hand.

"Amazing." She looked at Rob, impressed. "He
likes you."

"She. Look at her undercarriage."

Kristin peeked under the dog. "Oh. Well, no
wonder."

"What?"

"It makes sense that you'd have a female
eating out of your hands, regardless of the species."

He turned away, but not before she saw the
quirk of a smile at his lips. "Do you have water?"

"No, but I can get some. Or we can go
inside," she said as a cold breeze swept through. She hugged her
arms around her.

"Where's your coat?" he asked with a
frown.

She wrinkled her nose as she thought about
it. "I think in the hall closet in my apartment." She'd been
plotting out a way to ask Rob to be her sperm donor when she left
her place that morning, and then she started thinking so deeply she
became tunnel-visioned. A coat had been the last thing on her mind,
especially when her thoughts had been occupied with Rob keeping her
warm.

Standing, Rob took his coat off and wrapped
it around her. He closed it tight and shook his head. "You have no
sense whatsoever, do you?"

"Sure I do. This was in my plans all along.
If I had a coat you'd never be right here, would you?" She grinned
and snuggled closer to him.

"You're crazy."

"I must be, to do this." She pulled his head
down and kissed him.

Delicious. Warm, dark, and rich, like one of
Eve's chocolate croissants fresh from the oven. Kristin loved
chocolate croissants.

She loved this kiss even more.

Him
, a voice inside her insisted.
Being this close put her girl parts into overdrive. Her eggs were
standing up and cheering her along. Humming in pleasure, she
pressed closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She'd never been so aggressive before. In her
experience, men liked to be the conquerors. But this was thrilling.
She was in control—in charge of her own destiny.

If she'd wanted a relationship with him,
she'd have lured him more slowly instead of hitting him over the
head and dragging him to her. But she just wanted to hook up. A
couple weeks of sex ought to do it. She was near ovulation.

Rob didn't push her away. In fact, she felt
his
bits stir against her. Only calling them
bits
was
a big injustice—
big
being the operative word.

"Stop it." His hands gripped her waist and
held her off. "We don't know each other."

"I'm proposing we get to know each
other."

"We shouldn't be out here doing this," he
said.

"You're right. Take me home."

He shook his head, but there was a smile
flirting with his lips. "You don't give up, do you?"

"Not when I know what I want."

He stared at her like he was seeing her for
the first time. His gaze dropped to her mouth, as though he was
contemplating kissing her again.

She wanted it—badly. But she knew that if she
initiated it this time, she'd be pushing him away. It was clear he
liked things by the book, and she'd already disrupted his world
with her brazenness.

As if agreeing with her thoughts, the puppy
barked once.

"We should take her in." Kristin sighed and
stepped away. "She's cold.”

Rob stared at her a moment longer, as if he
wasn't sure what to make of her, before scooping the animal into
his arms. The puppy snuggled there happily, like she belonged with
him.

Kristin made a face at the beast.
"Flirt."

Rob looked at her like she was insane, but
she shook her head. "I get it," she said. "You're taking another
woman home with you tonight. But I'm not letting this go."

He shook his head. "No.
No
, I'm not
taking this dog home. And there's nothing to let go here."

"You have to take the dog. Pets are forbidden
in my lease, and we can't leave her outside. She'll freeze to
death."

As if knowing they were discussing her fate,
the dog looked up at him imploringly.

Kristin smiled at it. She couldn't fault the
puppy for trying to go home with Rob. "Look, Chanel loves you
already."

"Chanel?"

Covering the dog's ears, she leaned in and
whispered, "If she's going to live in this neighborhood, she needs
a name that'll give her a little class, at least until she gets a
makeover and new wardrobe."

"Don't name the dog, for God's sake," he
said.

"Too late, isn't it, Chanel?" Kristin
scratched behind the one floppy ear, and the puppy wriggled
happily.

"Damn it," Rob muttered, looking down at them
helplessly.

Kristin grinned. "I'd take her home but, like
I said, I can't have pets. Plus, she's picked you anyway. At least
you won't have to worry about food. You can have this bag."

"That's generous of you," he said with an
edge of sarcasm.

"I know." She smiled blithely. Standing on
her toes, she kissed him one last time, to make sure the first time
wasn't a fluke.

It wasn't. At all.

Sex was going to be
so good
.

Sighing, she smiled at him. "We'll do that
more next time."

"There won't be a next time."

"Yes, there will." She frowned, troubled by a
sudden thought. "Unless you're taken."

"Of course I'm not." He glared at her. "I'd
never cheat on someone I was seeing."

Relieved, she smiled again. "Good. Then it's
a date."

"No, it's not."

She waved over her shoulder. "Dream of me
tonight, Rob. I'll definitely be dreaming of you, and I can tell
you, you won't be wearing anything more than my naked body."

He issued a string of curses behind her.

She laughed, happy. Excited. Eager. She'd
found her baby daddy.

Louise was watching Calvin chew his steak,
his mouth occasionally smacking open, when she noticed the tall,
dark cowboy across the room. He looked like a vigilante, a bad boy
with a heart of gold, and she caught herself looking to see if he
had a white hat hidden somewhere.

Next to the cowboy, Calvin looked weak.
Especially in the chin.

She had an urge to smack him across that
weak chin, too. Before she gave in to the urge, she excused herself
and went to the restroom.

The cowboy was there, waiting for her.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she caught
herself sauntering over to him.

"Hey, girl," he drawled, reaching out to her
as she approached. He speared his hand into her long blond hair and
brought her to him—brought her mouth directly to his.

And Louise knew she'd died and gone to
heaven...

Delete
.

Whimpering, Lola dropped her head on her
keyboard. She couldn't have Louise make out with a mysterious
cowboy with Calvin in the other room, even if Calvin
was
a
jerk.

Her problem was that she couldn't stop
thinking about the kiss Sam had forced on her. She'd never admit it
to anyone, especially not Sam, but that kiss had rocked her
world.

She needed fresh air, otherwise she'd never
get anywhere with this chapter. Closing her laptop, she got up, put
on flip-flops, and headed to Outta My Gourd, her friend Gwen's
shop.

In short, Gwendolyn Pierce was odd. She did
amazingly well as a gourd artist and owned her own store. Moreover,
a couple months earlier they'd all found out Gwen was really
Genevieve de la Roche, a runaway heiress. Gwen had refused to go
back to her former life though. She was still Gwen, she still owned
her gourd gallery, and she'd recently gotten involved with one
good-looking private investigator.

Lola walked into Gwen's store. As usual, no
one was up front, but Gwen bustled from her workshop in the back as
soon as she heard the front door. And, also as usual, her friend
lit up when she saw Lola. "Hey! I heard your interview last
night."

Lola groaned. "Please let's not talk about
it."

"It was fabulous." Gwen grinned. "You and the
DJ had sparks."

"No, we didn't. He was a cretin."

"A cretin who pushed your buttons."

"There was no button pushing," she lied.

"If you say so." Gwen didn't look like she
believed her though. "So how's the book coming along?"

"I don't want to talk about that either."

Gwen arched a brow. "Do we need to take a
break and have some girl time?"

"Are you going to interrogate me?"

"Yes, but I promise I won't use the methods
Rick uses on me." She grinned impishly, blushing ever so
slightly.

The romantic in Lola sighed. Gwen and Rick
were a fairy tale come to life. Gwen had been harboring a secret,
and Rick had been determined to uncover it. They'd overcome
everything and were blissful now.

The recent cynic in Lola pouted. She couldn't
find fault with them as a couple, and that was discouraging on a
personal level.

"What's wrong with you? You're usually
disgustingly bright-eyed, but you look like someone burst your
balloon."

"Burst my bubble," she corrected. "I'm just
having a hard time writing. I need a break."

Gasping in alarm, Gwen walked right up to her
and put her hand on Lola's forehead. "When do you ever have a hard
time writing? Do you have a fever?"

"Not unless being hot and bothered by a jerk
counts."

"Did Kevin call you again?"

"Yes, but I didn't answer." He'd left a
message though. She'd been right—he wanted his Def Leppard T-shirt
back, which she was going to keep, of course. She'd just tuck it
deep in her closet so she'd never see it. "But that's not who I'm
hot and bothered about."

Gwen gasped again. "The radio guy!"

Lola thought about the kiss and melted all
over again.

"You
like
him," her friend shrieked.
"Does he like you?"

"You heard us on the radio."

"Then the answer is yes. What's his name?
I'll have Rick run a check on him."

"Gwen."

"Seriously. It's what Rick does." She went to
flip the lights off. "But for now we're going to Olivia's."

"What for?"

"Lingerie. If Rick okays this guy, you need
to be ready."

She dug her heels in as Gwen tried to drag
her to the door. "No, I don't."

"You really do. You're a romance writer.
You're supposed to be into that sort of frippery."

"Frippery?"

"Romance. Lacy things." Gwen waved her hand
dismissively as she locked up. "Whatever."

Lola wasn't sure she needed lacy things, but
she could definitely use a little romance to inspire her through
this rough spot in her book. However, she didn't need romance with
an arrogant radio host who had an eleven-year-old daughter.

But the kiss...

Sighing, she let Gwen drag her over to
Romantic Notions, their friend Olivia's lingerie store down the
street. Olivia looked up when they walked in, and her shopkeeper's
smile brightened when she saw it was them.

Olivia was striking, but when she smiled she
was stunning. Now that her pregnancy had started to show, she was
especially alluring. On top of that, she was an astute
businesswoman and genuinely a good person.

Gwen marched up to Olivia and said, "We need
stuff meant to seduce."

"I'm not doing any seducing," Lola said,
shaking her head vehemently, even though her girl parts cheered at
the idea of getting it on with Sam.

Olivia glanced between the two of them. Then,
to Lola's surprise, she said, "I listened to your interview on the
radio."