The Falcon Prince (6 page)

Maybe that’s what scared her the most.

“M
s. Miller is bringing Sukie in this morning,” Jeanie said, hanging up the phone.

“Sukie?” Ria studied Jeanie to see if maybe she’d gotten her holidays confused and thought this was April Fool’s Day.

Jeanie was a cute little redhead who’d been working for Ria a couple of years, and right now, she wore a serious expression. No, she didn’t mix up the holidays. Teasing? Her lips didn’t twitch, not even once.

She was telling the truth.

“You’re not lying.” Ria’s bones dissolved into mush and she sank into the nearest chair.

Sukie was what everyone in town referred to as the “demon dog, psycho mutt”—a ten-pound fur ball of terror. She was a Pekinese with a bad temper, a pedigree longer than the distance from Ria’s shop to the sun, and a wealthy owner who spoiled her unmercifully.

Ria would refuse to pamper Sukie except Ms. Miller’s great, great, grandfather-in-law had established the town. He’d also started the first bank. The same bank that Ms. Miller’s husband now ran. The same bank that held the mortgage on Ria’s Pet Purr-Fect Grooming Salon.

Jeanie shook her head. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. She wants the works.”

A hard shiver ran the length of Ria’s body. “Oh, God.”

“She’ll be here in twenty minutes.”

Ria sniffed. “But Sukie was just in here last week.”

“They’re going to the coast. She wants her to look pretty.”

“Do you think it’s too much to hope that she would fall into the ocean and get eaten by a shark?”

“Ms. Miller or Sukie?”

She waved her hand. “Either one. Both.”

Jeanie was thoughtful. “Nah, I think I’d be more worried for the shark.” She shuffled some papers around on her desk. “Uh, I’ve been meaning to ask if you’d mind if I took the rest of the day off.”

Ria tilted her head and looked at Jeanie. “You’re afraid of all the blood, admit it.”

“Yeah, but well…” She blushed.

Ria sat straighter. “What?”

“Amy, over at the realty office, might have a house Lenny and I can afford. We’re planning on a December wedding, nothing fancy, but we want to start marriage off right with our own place.”

Ria reached across the desk and squeezed her hand. “I’m so happy for you. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

Jeanie laughed. “I am. I mean, I just did.” She rested her arms on her desk. Her eyes sparkled like a Fourth of July firework display. “Have you ever been in love?”

Kristor’s face immediately came to mind. He was the last man that she’d been around. That was the only reason she’d even thought of him. No, the guy was a nut, and since her mother had seen them talking and dancing at the party, she thought it was now okay to let him rent the room. Her mother had brushed away all Ria’s protests.

Ria had never been so glad for Monday. She’d wanted to lose herself in work. Well, until she’d learned Sukie was on her way in. That was life.

“If you’re going to look at that house, you’d better get over to Amy’s office before she sells it to someone else.”

Jeanie hesitated. “I hate to leave you alone with Sukie.”

Ria planted her hands on her hips. “I refuse to let that snarling mass of shedding fur get the best of me this time.”

“Be careful.” Jeanie grabbed her purse and left.

“I am so not up for this.” She hurried to the back to get ready, mentally checking off the things she would need. Heavy-duty thick gloves, towels…Valium. The last was for her, not the dog. So maybe she didn’t have any, but it was a nice thought.

The bell over her door tinkled. She sagged against the deep tub where she bathed the animals.

“Oh, Ria!” Ms. Miller could’ve been an opera singer the way she always called as if she were onstage performing.

“Courage, you can do this. It’s just a dog.” Ria pasted a smile on her face as she pushed past the curtains that led to the front part of her shop, then came to an abrupt stop.

An apparition of Ms. Miller stood beside Jeanie’s desk. At least, she thought it was Ms. Miller. She wore a wide-brimmed, red hat and a bright red dress with black polka dots, except she had no neck. The hat sort of floated on top of the dress and made her look headless.

“Oh, there you are dear.” Ms. Miller raised her head and her face appeared. “I imagine Jeanie told you I would drop by with little Sukie.”

Ria cleared her throat. “Ms. Miller, so nice to see you again so soon, and Sukie, of course.”

“Say hello to Ria, Sukie.” She jiggled her leash.

Sukie growled.

“No, no, Momma’s little girl must be on her best behavior if she’s going bye-bye this weekend.”

Sukie didn’t look as if she really cared. She was also minus the pink bows Ria had clipped on her ears last week. Ria figured they hadn’t lasted the whole day. She was, however, wearing her pink neckerchief.

The dog was cute. Adorable, in fact. She just had a lousy disposition. Ria had tried to get the pooch into training early, but Ms. Miller didn’t want Sukie upset. So, each time she brought the crabby canine in, there was a tug-of-war on who would win. Mostly, Ria thought Sukie came out ahead.

“Take good care of my baby,” Ms. Miller said before handing Ria the leash.

Sukie snapped at Ria’s feet, but Ria was ready and jumped out of the way. She smiled at the dog. First round—me. She sighed deeply. But there would be many more to come before she finished with little Sukie.

“I’ll take good care of her, Ms. Miller.”

“I know you will, dear. And I’ll stop by after I finish shopping.”

“Take your time.”

Ms. Miller left. Ria looked at Sukie. “You’re going to be good this time, right?”

Sukie curled her lip back and gave Ria the evil eye—and she did it very well.

Why did Ria get into this line of work, anyway? Oh, yeah, she’d mistakenly thought she had a way with animals. Had that been dumb or what?

She slipped on the gloves and picked up Sukie. The mangy mutt growled as Ria put her in the tub of water. The dog latched on to one of the gloved fingers, but Ria had purposefully left her finger out of that one. She’d learned. Sukie seemed satisfied to attack it, rather than her.

“Your mommy spoils you way too much,” she told the dog.

The dog loved the water, getting soaped down, and washed. If a dog could have a rapt look, this one did. Sukie let go of the glove and stretched forward so Ria could reach that one particular spot.

“That’s a good Sukie,” she spoke softly.

Grrr.

“Sorry. Forgot.” Sukie didn’t like anyone talking to her when she was getting her bath.

The bell on her shop door jingled. Her next appointment wasn’t due yet, but she did take walk-ins. Or maybe Jeanie had forgotten something.

“I’m in the back,” she called out, squirting more soap on Sukie.

Sukie gave her the evil eye again.

“I’m running a business and I do have other customers besides you.”

She looked toward the curtains as Kristor walked inside the grooming area. Great. He was the last person she wanted to see. But she couldn’t stop the flutter of excitement that rippled through her.

“You’re still in town,” she said.

“Just until I can convince you to leave with me.”

They were back on that. Then she remembered they were the only two people in the store. He could murder her and…She studied him. No, if he’d been going to kill her, he’d had his chance, and hadn’t taken it.

He was still a nut.

Sukie suddenly latched on to a finger of the glove that actually contained a finger. Ria jumped.

“Sukie!” The pooch hadn’t hurt, only startled her. The gloves were too thick for the dog to cause much damage.

“Are you okay?” Kristor stepped closer.

Sukie growled.

“Shhh!” He held up a hand. Sukie hunkered down and looked away.

Sukie backing off? That was a first. “How did you do that? Are you a dog whisperer or something? I mean, Sukie can be very aggressive.”

“Once you connect with your guide, you’ll be more in touch with other animals.” He stepped up and began to rinse the soap from Sukie.

Ria held her breath, waiting for Sukie to take a chunk out of his hand. But after only a few seconds, she relaxed. This wasn’t fair. First, he wins over the townspeople, and now Demon Dog. He’d cast some sort of magic spell over the mutt.

“If you didn’t talk all that crazy stuff about taking off for another planet, it would be nice having you around.”

He looked up.

“That didn’t come out exactly the way I meant. It’s just that you seem nice enough, and you’re good with animals. But then you start talking about being a shapeshifting alien and that’s just crazy.”

He smiled. A smile that reached out and touched. Some men were like that. They could smile at you and all of a sudden, you weren’t able to think rationally.

He pulled the plug to drain the dirty water but kept rinsing Sukie. “Can you say truthfully you’ve never wondered if there were people living on other planets?”

She leaned against the wooden table. “Yeah, I can truthfully say I’ve never thought about it. I’m not a Trekie fan, either.”

“Trekie?”

“
Star Trek.
Oh, that’s right, you’re from another planet so you wouldn’t know about our TV shows.”

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Sukie before he brought her over to the table and began drying her. Sukie seemed to enjoy the rubdown. Not that
she
would mind too much if Kristor was the one rubbing her down. No, she told herself, you have to stop thinking about him in that vein.

“I can shift,” he told her. “It would prove to you I am an alien.” He met her eyes.

He had beautiful eyes. So clear. Such an intense green. She mentally shook her head and reached for the blow-dryer and plugged it in. If she asked him to shift into a hawk, it would prove once and for all she was right.

But then, she remembered the last time, and the fact he’d been naked. She wasn’t sure she was ready for another naked Kristor, or that she would be able to keep her hands to herself.

And then there was the fact she was probably dealing with a crazy. What if he stripped down and started flapping his arms? It probably wouldn’t be good for business if someone walked in the store, especially Ms. Miller.

“I think I’ll pass for now.” She turned on the blow-dryer and grabbed a brush. Kristor kept Sukie entertained while Ria blow-dried and styled the mutt’s hair. She clipped two pink bows above her ears, and refastened a new pink bandana. Sukie jumped up and barked when the bell above the front door jingled.

“There’s Momma,” Ria said and snapped the leash in place. But as she reached to set the dog down, Sukie snapped at her.

“Shhh!” Kristor commanded.

Sukie immediately downed her head. Kristor picked her up, but before he set her on the floor, Sukie licked his hand. He patted her on the head.

Ria gritted her teeth. So not fair. She was the one who bathed the dog, and all she ever came away with were teeth marks.

“Ria.” Ms. Miller’s voice singsonged again.

Ria took the leash and walked Sukie out. “Here she is.”

“Oh, you look so sweet. Ria, you always do such a wonderful job with her. Some groomers have told me our little angel is a monster in disguise. They’re wrong, of course.” She reached down and picked Sukie up. Sukie rubbed her head against Ms. Miller. “Ah, baby wants to snuggle.”

More than likely, Sukie was trying to dislodge the bows, but Ria didn’t tell Ms. Miller that.

Ms. Miller’s eyes widened when Kristor stepped from the back. “Oh, I didn’t realize you had someone here with you.”

“Ms. Miller, this is Kristor. He’s renting my old room from Mom and Dad.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of you.”

No doubt she had. Nothing much got past Ms. Miller.

“You have an interesting dog,” he said.

“I know. Sukie is our little darling.” She held the dog a little tighter, but Sukie was having none of it. The dog began to squirm until Ms. Miller had to put her on the floor. Sukie immediately ran to Kristor. Kristor knelt down and began to pet her.

“Oh, she doesn’t normally take to strangers.”

Ria smiled. “Kristor has a way with animals.”

“Apparently.” She suddenly smiled. “If Sukie likes you, then I do, too. They say a dog has a natural instinct about humans, and dogs know if they’re good or not. I guess you pass the test.”

Ria wondered what that said about her.

Ms. Miller walked over and took Sukie’s leash. “Come, sweetie. Daddy is waiting for us.”

Kristor straightened as Ms. Miller left the shop. “She is a very strange person.”

“I think we’ve finally found something we agree on.”

He walked closer. “We would agree on a lot more if you would concentrate on shifting into an animal.”

But then that would make Ria as crazy as him.

The bell above the door jingled again and Jeanie walked in.

“I thought you weren’t coming back today.”

Jeanie dumped her purse behind the desk. “Amy had a family emergency and had to leave. The house wasn’t what we were looking for after all. We’re going back out on Sunday. Amy promised to have more houses lined up for us to look at.” She turned her attention to Kristor, then looked pointedly at Ria.

“This is Kristor. He’s renting my old room from my parents.”

“Hi,” she said, but her gaze said a lot more.

Good grief, Jeanie was engaged. “Kristor was just leaving.”

“It was nice to meet you,” he told Jeanie, before turning back to Ria. “Think about what I said.” He left, but Ria couldn’t drag her gaze away from him as she watched him cross the street.

“Wow, you’ve been holding out.” Jeanie picked up a manila folder and began to fan herself.

“Not at all. I’m not the least bit interested in him.”

Jeanie stopped fanning. “You’re kidding, right? I mean, the guy is seriously sexy.”

“There’s more to a man than his muscles.”

“The way he looks, he doesn’t even need a brain. He’s great eye candy.”

“And you’re engaged so you might want to leave the sweets alone.”

“You’re right. He would definitely send any female into a diabetic coma from sugar overload.” She studied Ria. “You, on the other hand, have been on a sugar-free diet way too long.”