Rescue My Heart (10 page)

“
I don’t know what you
mean,” he said, clearing his throat.

“
All gussied up for little
Miss Mystery Writer, eh?”

“
It’s a sentence, not a
date, Mary.”

“
Could have fooled me.
Fresh shirt,” she said, stepping back, her gaze moving to the top
of his head. “Combed hair. Even the part is straight. How long did
that take you?”

“
So, I combed my hair. Big
deal.”

She sniffed loudly. “Even smell good.
Some of that fancy stuff slapped on your smooth face.”

“
I’m going, Mary. I’ll be
back by three thirty,” he said, ignoring her.

“
Have fun, Hack.” Then,
she added, “And love every minute” not quite under her
breath.

* * * *

Taking a break from typing, Hack
looked up at Rory’s library of books sitting in her
floor-to-ceiling bookcase. “What do you read?” He took a bite of a
homemade chocolate chip cookie. They were on a break.

“
Mysteries and romance.
You?” She sipped her tea.

“
Medical books and an
occasional thriller.”

“
Does Miss Skin and Bones
read?”

He shook his head. “Only
the fashion news.”

Rory nodded. “Aha, I see. A real
intellectual.”

“
She’s the best at what
she does.”

“
I’m
sure the new, hot color of the year is front page news in
The New York Times
.”

Hack laughed. “Okay, maybe it’s not of
Earth-shattering importance…”

“
She’s a dummy. Face it.
You must be smart to have made it through vet school, though you
hide it well.”

His face colored. “See here! I
graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cornell!”

“
Well, whoopee! That and a
Metrocard’ll get you on the subway.”

“
I’m not a dummy, and
neither is Felicia!”

“
She isn’t? She doesn’t
even get my jokes. She has no idea when I’m laughing at her. She’s
not a smart chickie, Hack. Face it. She must have…other
charms.”

“
Well...” His brows
knitted.

“
Oh? She doesn’t satisfy
you in the bedroom?”

“
That’s
none of your business!”
I can’t believe
she said that. How does she know?
He
sneaked a peek at her cleavage, amply displayed in a low-cut
T-shirt.
She’s wearing this to tease and
torment me. And it’s working! God, if I could only touch her for
five minutes.
But he knew that would never
be enough. He’d want more from her and was surprised she stayed
top-of-mind with him, even when he wasn’t with
her.

“
She’s missing something,
you might say?”

Hack
drew his gaze back to the plate of Rory’s cookies and took another.
“These are great.”
Not gonna bash
Felicia.

“
You’ll never get those…or
much else in the way of cookies, when you marry Miss
Skeleton.”

He burst out laughing. “I’ve been
waiting for you to run out of insults for Felicia’s slim figure,
and hot damn, you haven’t. I take my hat off. Words are definitely
your game.”

“
Thank you.” Rory blushed
with pride.

The next
week Hack retaliated by wearing a tight T-shirt and jeans. The look
of surprise on Rory’s face made him chuckle inside.
Sauce for the goose. I can turn on some heat
too.
She stared at him, blatantly. While
he had the satisfaction of watching her reacting to him, it only
made him more uncomfortable.
Maybe I could
touch her or kiss her. She doesn’t look like she’d resist.
He slid onto his chair.
Back to work before I do something stupid I’ll
regret.

“
You want the last three
paragraphs?” he asked, pulling up the document.

“
Hmm? What?”

“
Last
three paragraphs?” He snapped his fingers. “Wake up. Dreaming about
your hot date last night?”
Or maybe
interested in me?
Rory snapped her head
up, directing her gaze to Hack’s face. She took a deep
breath.
Damn! When you do that, wearing
that tank. Geez, you almost popped out of the top. And you expect
me to work? Hell, my concentration is out the
window.

“
And wouldn’t you like to
know about my hot date.”

“
I
would. Where did you go, and what did you do?”
I was kidding. Shit. Did she have a hot date? Probably. She’s
on fire.

“
Sorry. No hot date to
report. Only Baxter and me, watching television.”

Relief
flooded through him. He calmed down, and his lips stretched into a
big grin.
Would I be jealous? Yeah, but
why? I have no reason, no claim. But, dammit, I would. Back to work
before you blow it.

Hack read the last three paragraphs
while she moved across the room. Rory fixed coffee as she dictated.
He typed quietly.

After a difficult two
weeks, trying desperately to keep his mind on typing when all he
wanted to do was kiss and touch Rory, Hack finally wrested control
of his libido. He was determined to keep his mind on task and not
think about how alluring she was. He didn’t want to get involved
with her and complicate his life. If they were dating, he’d want to
spend all his free time with her. Felicia would throw a fit. He
didn’t need the aggravation.

I’d want
to spend time with her. She’s so caustic, snide. Yeah, but she’s
smart and funny.
He kept his eyes on the
keyboard and tried to ignore her perfume dancing seductively under
his nose.

* * * *

The next morning, Rory opened the door
to admit Hack with one hand, while she cradled the phone on her
shoulder. She petted Baxter as she chatted.

“
Wait, Hack is here. Okay,
shoot.” She looked up at him. “Remember this. The Pound.
Three-fourteen East Ninetieth. Right, Janice. On our way.” She hung
up.

Hack pulled out the chair.

Rory slipped on her shoes. “Don’t
bother. We have to go to…that address I just gave you?”

Hack repeated it verbatim. “I have to
be here and only here. According to the judge.”

“
We need to rescue a pug
from the pound. They’re gonna put him to sleep ‘cause he’s
old.”

“
That’s not my concern.”
He shook his head. “The judge said…”

Tears filled Rory’s eyes. “You call
yourself a vet, and yet, you’re going to let a pug die because you
don’t want to be inconvenienced?”

“
You do pug
rescue?”

“
I just started. I’m a
volunteer with Big Apple Pug Rescue. Please, Hack. You’re a vet,
you can’t let him die.”

He stared at her as tears
cascaded down her face. “Shit. Let’s go. Don’t tell the
judge.”

“
If he can’t walk, I need
you to carry him. We’ll take the train.”

“
We’ll take a cab…on me.”
He held the door for her. She kissed Baxter’s sleeping head, and
they exited. Baxter started barking.

“
He hates when I leave the
house without him.”

“
He’s spoiled
rotten.”

“
He’s a dog. Who’s it
gonna hurt?” They descended the stairs quickly. Hack hailed a taxi
on the corner of Amsterdam. “For a minute, I thought I’d pegged you
wrong,” she said, sitting back in the cab, drying her eyes on his
handkerchief.

“
Pegged wrong? How did you
have me pegged?”

Rory glanced out the window. “As a
nice guy. A guy who cared. Underneath all that arrogant,
self-satisfied crap might actually be a guy who gave a damn about
others. Otherwise, why would you be a vet?”

Hack looked at his hands. She glanced
at him and saw color in his face. “Guess I forget that
sometimes.”

“
Not today. Today you’re a
hero. Right here, driver,” Rory said, leaning forward.

There wasn’t too much red tape because
Janice had called ahead, and they expected Rory. Hack picked up the
pug, and Rory found a cab.

They were back in front of her
building within an hour. Hack paid the taxi then tucked Sammy, the
eleven-year-old pug, under his arm. Rory thanked him, opened the
door, and they went in. Baxter was off the sofa and barking at
Sammy as soon as they entered. He sniffed the senior pug then gave
him a lick.

“
He stinks. I’ll need a
shower before I go to work,” Hack mumbled.

Shower
with me.
Rory clapped her hand over her
mouth, though she hadn’t uttered the words out loud. “He needs a
bath,” she said.

“
I suppose you can’t do
that alone, either?” She shook her head. “I’m not staying after
three to make up what we didn’t get done.”

“
It’s okay. Sammy has to
come first today. We’ll bathe him in the sink.” Rory washed the
breakfast dishes, and Hack dried. Then, they moved everything off
the counter.

“
You’re cleaning the sink
to put a filthy dog in it?”

“
Might be some chemicals
there that would harm him.”

He laughed and shook his head. “That’s
doubtful. Now, you’re spoiling the rescue.”

“
I use this sprayer on
Baxter.” She pointed to the nozzle next to the faucet.

“
I’m not getting soaked.”
Hack ripped his T-shirt over his head and dumped it on the
sofa.

Rory could hardly contain herself as
she stared at the half-naked man. His shoulders would have more
than filled the doorway. His chest was firm, covered in a
smattering of brown hair and seemed to stretch all the way to the
East Side. Hair on his abs formed a line that disappeared into the
waistband of his jeans.

“
I’m not taking my tank
off,” she said.

He laughed. “Too bad.” His gaze rested
on her chest.

She
wanted to touch him, feel his muscles, rest her palm against his
flesh. His biceps were solid.
Wrap those
arms around me once. Please.
The yearning
to be held by him was almost more than she could
bear.

At only
five foot four inches, Rory was small enough to lose herself in his
embrace. Being alone had made her self-reliant, but exhausted.
Desperate to lean on someone for a change, she almost succumbed.
Shyness fell away as she looked up into his eyes. Need flickered
there for a moment then was gone.
He has
that beanpole, why would he need me?
Nevertheless, she saw what she saw. A seed of hope was
planted in her heart.

A whimper from Sammy broke the spell.
Rory turned on the water while Hack bent down to get a grip on the
pug and place him gently in the stainless steel sink. Hack stroked
the frightened dog while she slowly introduced the lukewarm spray.
Sammy relaxed and sat down.

Rory alternately soaped then rinsed
him, massaging the little dog. Hack helped to raise a lather on the
pathetic pug’s fur. Working so closely together, his bare shoulder
brushed hers from time to time, making a shiver wiggle up her
spine.

His aftershave mixed with the pleasant
perfume of the doggie shampoo. Their fingers touched as they washed
the dog. The tingles shooting up her arm at the contact with Hack
completely distracted her. Sammy began to shake off before she
could throw the towel over him.

The flying droplets startled her. She
jerked her hand up to protect herself and, accidentally squeezing
the nozzle, doused her tank top. She screamed as the water hit her
skin, dropped the sprayer, and turned off the faucet. Sammy shook
off again.

Hack was laughing as wet beads ran
down his gorgeous chest. Rory’s top was soaked through. She dropped
the towel over Sammy, and Hack scooped him up. The heat of Hack’s
stare on her chest made her skin burn.

“
It’s see-through, isn’t
it?” she asked.

He nodded, blushing, seemingly
embarrassed to be caught gawking. “Pretty much.”

“
Have a good look because
I can’t struggle out of it with you here.”

“
I’d be happy to help,” he
snickered.

She chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure.” The
thought of his hands on her, helping her undress, sent heat to her
core. “Miss Pancake doesn’t have anything like these, does she?”
she asked, cupping her own breasts before bending down to attend to
Sammy.

“
Nope,” he mumbled, loud
enough for her to hear.

She smiled as she sank to her knees,
trying to dry the dog with one hand.

“
Let me do that.” Hack
took the towel and got down next to her.

Rory
retrieved Baxter’s brush from a drawer and brushed Sammy’s fur. The
odor of wet dog drowned out the vet’s scent, making Rory long to
smell him again.
If I stuck my nose in his
neck… Nah. Better not.