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She bent to grasp the end of her dog’s leash. “Yes, I do.”
He extended his hand when she straightened. “Dan Wolford.” His dimple flashed again and his smile did all kinds of twitchy things to her insides. “Most people simply call me Wolf.”
I’ll just bet they do.
She glanced at his hand for a second. No need to be rude, even if she didn’t care for his cavalier attitude toward women. She did the polite thing. “Welcome to the neighborhood, Dan.”
“Wolf, please.” His large paw enveloped hers, and warmth spread upwards from her stomach, did a backflip and then dove downwards. Meanwhile, his dark gaze assessed her entire body and face, as if she were the most dazzling woman in sweaty running clothes he’d ever seen. His solitary dimple winked along with his thousand-watt smile. One dark eyebrow rose as if he were waiting for her to share her name. She wasn’t sure why she hesitated. She was reluctant. Fueled by his cocksure attitude, no doubt. Now there was a cliché, if ever she’d heard one.
His thumb rubbed slow, lazy circles over her knuckles detonating sensual signals straight to her core. Oh, he was good at this magnetism stuff.
Wolf glanced at her prancing, panting dog. “Einstein, does your owner have a name? It looks like she’s not sharing today.”
Oh, for Pete’s sake.
Einstein whined, his tongue lolling crooked from his mouth.
“Huh, looks like Einstein’s not talking either.” She tugged her hand free. “Excuse me. I have Christmas shopping planned for this afternoon. I better get going.” She pivoted toward her front door.
“Have a good day, Becca Sinclair.” His deep voice washed over her, sending an annoyed shiver up her spine. So the man knew her name all along and was just playing dumb. Was that sneaky arrogance or stalker-creepy?
She glared at him over her shoulder. “If you knew my name, why’d you make a big deal out of asking for it?”
He shrugged and looked down for a beat before aiming his dark eyes at her again. “When a man finds a strange woman attractive, he asks around until he finds out something about her. Mrs. Minelli, two doors down, fears you’ve been pining away for your ex-husband.”
Sneaky stalker creepy.
She turned, snapped her fingers once and Einstein sat at her feet before she planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t appreciate being the topic of neighborhood gossip, Dan Wolford.” Her earlier blog post came to mind, but she mentally swiped it away like a nasty bug on a windshield. On her blog, he and anyone else she wrote about remained anonymous. No one knew exactly who these men were or if they even existed. No harm; no foul.
His smile slid from his face and he stepped toward her. “Mrs. Minelli also said you never smile anymore. I can see she’s right. Look, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She turned to leave and he reached out to grab her arm.
Einstein growled deep in his throat.
In response, Wolf’s hand slipped into his pocket. “Before you go, I’m having a party tonight for my birthday. Nothing big. Family and a few guys from the station. You’re more than welcome to come.”
He has to be kidding. No way am I spending an evening with him, birthday party or not. “Sorry, I have plans.” A pizza and a romance book. “Have a good day, Mr. Wolford.” Clearly she needed to establish some boundaries with this guy. She strode the few feet to her door. Einstein followed.
“Becca, the name’s Wolf,” he called after her.
“Whatever,” she waved her hand in dismissal, “Mister Wolford.”
His deep, warm laughter swept over her like a balmy breeze off the Gulf of Mexico. In response, her temper whirled hot like a cyclone and her fingers curled into fists. Damn, what an arrogant man.
“Seven o’clock. No need to bring a gift. Having you there will be present enough.”
Seriously? Couldn’t the man come up with more original material? Was this how he spoke to every woman to coax them into his bed? And wasn’t that a sad commentary on the brainpower of the female gender if even one fell for it?
“Don’t hold your breath, Fluffy Daddy,” she yelled as she slipped her key in the lock.
He laughed harder. “Make it seven, baby.”
Seven, my ass.
Chapter 2 (#uf488b9af-e68b-5543-9556-ead914fa2187)
He shouldn’t have pushed her like that. Hell, he’d be lucky if his attractive neighbor ever spoke to him again. But, wow, how dazzling she’d looked with that brimstone flashing from her hazel eyes. For some reason, the more he talked, the more they sparked. It was almost as if she were pissed at him before he even opened his mouth. But, why?
Wolf’s four younger sisters had initiated him into the mystifying workings of the female mind. His naturally intuitive nature responded fairly well to their fluctuating moods. Once more his gaze shifted to Becca’s front porch. Her body language had been one of total disdain and he hadn’t responded well to it at all. In fact, he’d egged her on. “Yanked her chain,” as April, the oldest of his four sisters, would say.
No doubt he should go next door and apologize for acting like such an ass. Maybe then he could convince the auburn-haired beauty to come to his party tonight. In the two weeks he’d lived here, she’d jogged past his window several times. Her beauty dazzled him. Her long legs were too distracting. And the tales Mrs. Minelli, an elderly neighbor, told about Becca’s giving nature charmed him too. He’d never cared much for self-centered women.
He strode to her townhouse, rang the doorbell and waited.
Finally, her door opened and he was greeted with a scowl. “What?” She tugged the lapels of her short white silky robe together.
“I…ah…” His gaze snagged on all those ample curves showcased by the slinky material. “I…ah…”
“You said that already.” She fisted a hand on her hip.
Einstein cannonballed around Becca with something red clamped in his jaws. He streaked across the grass, his strong muscles propelling him as he circled both of their yards.
“Get back in here!” Becca pointed into her house.
Einstein loped across the grass and shrubbery, ignoring his owner’s command.
Maybe if he acted the hero and returned the pet to its owner, he’d gain a few brownie points. “Stay here. I’ll get him.” Wolf took off after the dog.
Seeing he was being chased only made Einstein run faster. Wolf followed him twice around the yard in front of Becca’s house. The dog leapt over a flowerbed and stopped, his head lowered, shaking his prize, his hind end elevated, wiggling in excitement.
“Give me that.” Wolf stepped to the right around the flowerbed. The dog trotted to the left. In a quick move, he sprinted to the left and the dog dashed to the right. “Think you’re smart, don’t you?” He could have sworn the dog smiled.
Wolf leapt across the blooms, hoping to grab the smartass canine. Once he’d grabbed the collar, they rolled, and Einstein yelped. Wolf grimaced as he, too, rolled across a low-growing cactus and into the trunk of a palm tree. “Dammit.”
The dog whined and dropped the fabric to lick and bite at the prickly thorns in his groin.
“Easy now, Einstein.” Wolf cooed as he slipped his Swiss army knife from the front pocket of his jeans.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on? What are you doing with that knife?” Becca tugged on the hem of her short robe and glanced up and down the street as if she thought to run out into the yard.
“Stay where you are. He’ll be fine. He’s got some thorns in his hide.” Wolf removed the tweezers stored in a slot in the knife and began extracting the offending needles. “We can’t have an awesome fella like you in pain now, can we?” He worked as quickly as he could. “One more, big guy, and then you’ll be fine.” The dog licked him several times. “Yeah, I like you too. Let’s keep what I’m about to do just between us, shall we?” He ran his fingers over the affected groin area, keeping his attentions on the dog’s reactions. “Looks like we got them all.”
“What in blue blazes are you doing to that dog? Are you performing some kind of ‘beasty-wildy’ on him?” Mrs. Minelli, his neighbor, punctured the air with her cane, her white eyebrows arched in question.
He fought the urge to laugh. “No, Mrs. Minelli. I was taking out thorns.”
She cocked her head to the side, her cataract-clouded eyes widened. “In his penis?”
Christ! “No, ma’am. I was just helping him.” He made a mental note to sterilize the tweezers later when he slipped them back into his Swiss knife.
Becca ran across the yard. “What’s going on?”
He turned to tell her about the thorns and stopped. His tongue all but rolled out onto the grass. The Florida sunlight had turned her robe nearly translucent. She had legs that went to her waist, or so they seemed, except for that red patch at their juncture. Evidently her auburn hair was her natural color. His gaze traveled upward to the dusty-pink nipples showcased by the rays of sunshine. All the blood rushed from his brain to his cock. Holy Mother of God.
Wolf couldn’t move. He couldn’t tear his gaze from her. Einstein trotted to his mistress and licked her knees and, for an instant, he thought of doing the same thing. Be cool, man.
Becca held her robe in place with one hand and grabbed her dog’s collar with her other. “How are you today, Mrs. Minelli?”
“I’m fine, but you’d better get back inside” The elderly woman pointed again with her cane. “That robe is so see-through, we can tell if your belly button is an innie or an outie.”
Becca glanced down and gasped. “Crap!” She spun and bolted for her door, taking Einstein with her.
“I’d watch myself if I were you. She’s not the kind a man diddles with. She’s a decent girl.” She nodded once and shuffled down the sidewalk toward her house.
Properly chastised, Wolf snatched the red lace item Einstein had dropped when he’d gotten hurt. It took a second or two of fingering it before he realized it was a thong. His gaze swept to Becca waiting on the porch. Her cheeks were nearly as red as the skimpy underwear. Most redheads’ skin mottled when they blushed, but not hers. On her, the even blush was appealing.
Once he stepped onto the porch, Becca sputtered in obvious embarrassment. “I…I was about to get in the shower when the doorbell rang.” Einstein leaned against her and she bent in an absent-minded gesture to pet him. Her robe gaped open and Wolf nearly swallowed his tongue at her high, firm breasts. “Thanks for getting him. He never runs off like that and he’s never shown any interest in my clothes.”
“Well, any male—two-legged or four—would be interested in this thong.”
She scowled again.
“Look, I just came over to apologize for flirting with you earlier. I didn’t mean a word of it.” He hooked fingers on both sides of the red lace and all but drooled at the delicate lingerie. “You can still come to my party tonight, though.”
She flinched as if she’d been slapped. Her eyes widened and then narrowed. Luscious lips formed a thin line. “I wouldn’t come to your damn party if you sent me an invitation engraved on a brick of gold.” She snatched her panties from his hands and slammed the door in his face.
What the hell? What did I do?
****
By seven o’clock, Becca had her shopping done, her house decorated for Christmas and two pans of banana nut bread in the oven. If she hadn’t spent so much time at her window, catching sneak peeks at Wolf’s guests ambling up the walk to his front door, she’d have been done much sooner.
The bone-thumping music vibrating through their adjoining wall announced the party was in full swing. A myriad voices, including a deep laugh she recognized as Wolf’s, seeped through the stud-and-plasterboard petition. No doubt they were all having a good time.
She could be, too, if she’d accepted his invitation, but attending his soirée would imply she was another female waiting in line for induction into his harem of conquests. Cold day in hell. Only he’d have to be interested first, wouldn’t he? If his earlier words were any indication, he wasn’t. Which was totally fine with her. Men were a one-way street to the junction of pain and heartache.
“Becca, are you there or did you fall asleep?” Brittany’s annoyed voice boomed from her cell phone. Her best friend had called to say how much she’d enjoyed today’s post on Becca’s blog.
“Sorry. I was watching two of Wolf’s male guests pull up. Each one is more muscular than the last.”
Brittany groaned in response.
“No, you can’t come over. Another one just arrived. That makes a total of six guys driving Harleys.”
Her best friend laughed. “Don’t tell me man-whore rides a hawg, too.”
“Oh, don’t you know it. Big, black and noisy. Chrome out the wah-zoo. Typical show-off bike for a jerk with an overrated opinion of himself.”
“Does he know you ride?”
“Don’t think so.” She turned away from the window. “My Kawasaki Ninja’s been in the shop for over a week. I’m picking it up Monday.” Her stomach growled. “Look, I’m going to hang up and order a pizza. Hope your cramps are better tomorrow.”
“Me too, girlfriend.” Brittany paused. “Becca?”
“Yeah?”
“I think you should reconsider and go to the party. Check out some of those good-looking guys. Maybe you could find one for each of us.”
“That Midol you took musta gone to your brain, girlfriend. I am not going to that party. The man’s an ass and I plan on staying far away from him. Night, babe.”
Becca went online to order a pizza and then sprawled on the sofa with a book. At the beginning of chapter two, the oven’s timer went off and she hurried to the kitchen, inhaling the aromas of nutmeg and cinnamon. She set the golden loaves on top of the stove—one for the Minellis two doors down and one for Brittany and her cramps. When her doorbell chimed, she glanced at her oven clock before hurrying into the foyer.
Einstein was at the door, barking. “Shush, now. Go get in your chair. It’s just our pizza.” He whined and jumped onto his recliner, crying his displeasure at not standing guard.
To her surprise, the blonde she’d seen this morning bringing a pan of goodies to man-whore stood on her small front porch. Her little black dress showcased her figure. “Hi.” She was all smiles.
“Hello.” What was she doing here?
“My brother-in-law sent me over. He wanted to make sure you were coming to the party.” She laughed and tossed her long hair over her shoulder in a smooth, careless move. “He said he’d come get you himself, but he was afraid you’d clobber him.”
“Your brother-in-law?”
“Yes. Wolf. Well, I call him Big Wolf. I’m married to Baby Wolf.” She beamed another smile. “’Course my husband, Jace, gets his boxers in a twist when I call him that. Helps to keep our men off balance, don’t you think?”
So the blonde was a relative, not a conquest. Interesting. Must be a close-knit family, unlike hers.
The lady extended a manicured hand. “I’m Wendy Anne, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you.” Becca shook her hand and glanced over the woman’s shoulder at the delivery guy bringing her pizza. “I wasn’t planning on attending the party, as you can see.”
Wendy Anne stepped aside so he could hand Becca her order.
She signed the charge slip on the top of the box. “Please tell the birthday boy I wish him well and I hope he grows up soon.”
Wendy Anne laughed, snatched the pizza from her and spun, keeping it out of her reach. “I’ll just take this and set it out with the rest of the food at Wolf’s. Meanwhile, put on the sexiest damn thing you’ve got and come on over.” She turned and winked. “Ignore the birthday boy, as you call him. Flirt with the rest of the firemen at the party. It’ll drive him nuts.”
“The guys on the Harleys are firemen?”
“That’s right. Wolf, my Jace and most of the men at the party are from Station Thirty-two over on Carpenter Street. Wolf heads the Marine Rescue Unit as well as serving as a fireman.” Wendy Anne glanced away for a beat. “You’re the first woman I’ve known my brother-in-law to show a real interest in since he left the SEALs.” More laughter bubbled forth from this likeable woman. “He even asked me which shirt he should wear tonight. He never does that.” She headed back toward Wolf’s townhouse. “Get your vixen on, girl. I’m going to enjoy watching you two dance around each other. Just come on in. Door’s open.”
Becca closed her door and locked it. “Einstein, that whole family is nuts. ‘Dance around each other,’ indeed. Do you believe what she said? I’m the first he’s shown any interest in?”
Einstein whined.
“Yeah. I don’t believe it either. What about all the women we’ve seen sashaying in and out of his townhouse?” She snapped her fingers and he jumped down from his chair. “Want some kibble, baby?” He followed her into the kitchen. “Don’t know what I’m going to eat.”
She was not going to her neighbor’s party. Although, for two cents, she’d put on that slinky red dress she saved for special occasions, strut over there and retrieve her supper. Not a bad idea. She’d saunter in, make eye contact with Mr. Ex-SEAL and leave with her pizza.
