Collared (Going to the Dogs) (15 page)

“That is for sure.” Brooke said, walking over, towing Boxer, who was still wrestling with Allan.

“So, what’s happening?” Poe said, corralling The Terribles and Daisy.

Harper turned to find all of her friends looking at her expectantly. “You all are so nosy.”

“
We’re
nosy?” Poe scoffed. “Look who’s talking, Madame Meddler Extraordinaire.”

“We’re going shopping tomorrow morning. He’s going to the Fairy Tea.”

Brooke laughed delightedly. “Are you kidding? Those little girls will eat him for lunch.”

“I know. He has no idea what’s in store for him. I have eight tables of six girls apiece, and I purposely only hired seven people to handle them. That leaves his table without a go-between,” Harper said, laughing. She was really curious about how he would handle those adorable, but rambunctious, little girls.

“Is Becca going to be there?” Brooke asked.

“Yes. Her mother RSVP’d for her. So Miss Becca will surely be running roughshod over her table.”

“I’m not going to be late for that,” Brooke said with glee. “A little payback never hurt anyone.”

“I say that we should all take him shopping,” Callie said.

Harper laughed. “He’d love that, I’m sure.”

“It may cut into Harper’s time with him. We shouldn’t horn in,” Poe said tentatively, but Harper could see that she really wanted to go. “But…um…everyone was right. He is really handsome in a sexy, rough, sort of way.”

“I’d say that he’s a match for you, Harper,” Brooke nudged her. “I think he melted your panties.”

Callie pressed her finger to Harper’s hip and made a sizzling sound.

They all laughed.

She shook her head and shrugged, playing it off. “He’s not easily intimidated, that is for sure, but you all can come tomorrow if you’d like. He won’t mind.”

“I’m in,” Brooke said.

“Me, too,” Callie agreed. “This will be fun.”

“Okay, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“It’ll knock him off his game. So I’m all for it.”

#

When Harper arrived at the get-together, she saw Jared and Poe sitting at the bar. Hugging them both, she sat down next to Jared.

“I’m sure that Poe told you that there’s a detective who needs to ask you about the security system.”

The muscles along Jared’s jaw tensed, and he looked away. After a taut silence, he exhaled heavily, rubbing at his forehead. “Shit, yeah, she told me you were robbed when she got home from the dog park. I’m really sorry that this happened to you. Why didn’t you call me when it happened?”

She’d known he was going to say that and she looked at him with affection. “And ruin your honeymoon? No way. I almost ruined your life. Besides, this isn’t your fault.”

His expression somber and understandably still angry at the circumstances, he said, “If my system failed or something else is going on with the system, then I take the responsibility, Harper.”

“Of course, you do.” She kissed his cheek. “But Caleb is extremely competent. He’s the best they have, and he’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Just then Caleb walked in, and Harper lost her train of thought. He looked so good that she couldn’t wait to get her hands on him tonight. But something tugged at her conscience. That wasn’t exactly the truth. She’d been looking forward to this get-together because he would be here and he’d get to interact with all her friends. She liked that she wasn’t a fifth wheel tonight. Tripp would never have fit in with her friends, but Caleb seemed able to comfortably bridge both her world and theirs effortlessly.

Her heart squeezed at the thought. But she shouldn’t allow herself to think in those terms. She’d have to open up to him, and that was something she never did. Never gave anyone the power to hurt her. Because, inevitably, they did. Even her friends. Because she cared for them, loved them, they could hurt her, and Poe had. The short time she’d been estranged from them was one of the most difficult times in her life. And she’d had some terrible times.

Caleb saw her and his eyes warmed, the dark brown deepening with interest and intense focus.

He walked up to her dressed in a pair of dark slacks, a crisp white shirt, a blue silk tie with a grey sports jacket over it.

He might be a bit on the rough side, but he cleaned up very, very nicely.

“Jared, this is Detective Shaw.”

Jared stood and they shook hands. “Pleased to meet you, detective.”

Caleb nodded to Poe and she smiled at him. “Call me Caleb. I have a few questions for you, Jared.”

“Sure.” Caleb and Jared settled onto the barstools.

Caleb filled Jared in on the robbery. “So you’d say this was a professional job?” Caleb asked.

“Yes, unless someone got their hands on the code. If they had that, then it would have been in and out.

“How could they have gotten the code?”

“Well, really, only three ways. Get someone to give them the code, be inside the penthouse and have the code, or hack my database to get it.”

“You’ve had no hacks that you’re aware of?”

“No, and as a security company I have to maintain pretty tough firewalls, but it isn’t impossible. I have a vetted and trusted employee who handles the codes for me. You could talk to her and see where that leads you. I’d be pretty surprised if she’s involved, but you can never be one hundred percent sure of a person and their stresses and motivations. Her name is Lacy Carmichael, and I can get you her contact information if you’ll give me your phone number. I’ll go to my office after this and text it to you.”

“Much appreciated.”

“I’d like to see the person responsible for robbing Harper arrested for putting her through this.”

Brooke and Drew arrived, and then Callie and Owen, just as the hostess was ready to seat them.

“So how did you guys enjoy your trip to Gozo?” Owen asked.

“Immensely, but Poe kept referring to it as Gonzo. That character from the Muppets.” Jared said, a wide grin spreading across his face as he glanced at Poe. “She is just plumb crazy fun everywhere we go.”

Poe giggled. “He’s my favorite Muppet, and he
so
loves his chickens. I think we’re kindred souls. No one really knows what species Gonzo is, and I think that people have a hard time figuring me out. We’re both ‘whatevers.’” She paused while everyone gave the waitress their drink orders. “I bought this bright blue bikini when I was there and kept referring to it as my Gonzo suit.”

“You’re my one-of-a-kind gal,” Jared said, giving her a quick kiss.

“That’s because you love me, cowboy. I see the way other people look at me, like Caleb.” She cut him a sidelong glance as Jared slipped his arm around her.

“Honey, in my job, I’ve seen all kinds and believe me, it takes all kinds,” he said, his tone amused and dry, as it often was, yet completely at odds with the intensity of his gaze. He seemed so at ease after just the second time meeting her friends the other day. Must be the cop in him.

“Haha. I bet. But when you first met me at the dog park, you did give my outfit a once-over.”

He smiled. “I wasn’t quite sure how you put all that together and made it work. It boggles the mind.”

“That’s our Poe,” Brooke said.

“She’s like Gonzo’s trumpet. You never know what it’s going to do—explode, spray water, or blow up a balloon,” Callie said.

“I think I should get the bartender here to start making Gonzo martinis. What do you think, ladies?” Harper said.

“Oh, my God, that is a
great
idea. Ingredients, people?” Poe said.

“Vodka.”

“You’re a genius, Brooke.”

“Too true.”

“Lime. That’s my contribution,” Callie said and Owen laughed and kissed her.

“Blue Curaçao,” Caleb said and everyone nodded.

“Perfect. Now we need something weird. Cinnamon?” Poe said.

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll go talk to him,” Harper said. At the bar, she made her request and he promised to make up eight and bring them over. She was having such a good time.

Back at the table things were still hopping. “I think we could just throw whatever in there and just make sure it’s blue,” Harper said.

Everyone agreed.

“While we were on our honeymoon, I teased Jared with this. In case you didn’t know how we met, Caleb, Jared is a Marine buddy of Harper’s brother, Aiden and earlier this summer, I was getting threatening letters. Harper, the meddler, asked Jared to go undercover as my bodyguard. Well, I needed a partner because I was entered in a dog dancing competition.”

“Which I had never heard of,” Jared said. “And I, of course, can’t dance.”

“Anyway, when Gonzo met Kermit and Fozzie on their way to Hollywood, he had an act with a dancing brick, and, of course, the brick couldn’t dance.” Everyone burst out laughing. “That was okay, honey, you could two-step, and that worked perfectly.”

“Yeah, I made Owen wear cowboy gear and say howdy the whole week after Jared’s performance.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, his voice deep. “And I enjoyed making her yell
yee-haw
, so thanks, Jared.”

He gave Owen a wry look. “I’d say it’s my pleasure, but it sounds like it was more yours.”

“Hmmm, where
did
you put that outfit, sweetie?” Callie said.

Owen high-fived Jared.

“So where are you from, Caleb?” Drew said. “With that slight accent, I’d say one of the boroughs, probably the Bronx.”

“Correct.”

“Whereabouts?”

“Arthur Street.”

“Ooh, tough.”

“It was, but I had three brothers to back me up.”

“Nice. That’s a heavy Italian neighborhood, but Shaw? Not too Italian.” Owen said.

“I’m only half, my dad’s a mutt.”

“Why did you become a cop?” Brooke asked.

“Growing up in that neighborhood, you see so much injustice, it makes you want to do something to change that. My uncle’s a cop and when my dad was busy with the restaurant he took me to Yankee games and told me stories. But what clinched was my bike was stolen when I was ten, and I was outraged. My parents had worked so hard to buy it for me. It was a pretty cool bike, too. Red BMX.”

“Did you get it back?” Brooke said.

“Damn right. I tracked them down, called the police, and they found the bike and returned it to me.”

“Nice work, Sherlock.” Owen said.

“Damn straight.”

“How many brothers?” Harper asked.

He turned to look at her, his hand finding hers beneath the table. “Three. Hudson and Hunter are twins, and then there’s Noah.”

Things started to break up after they had a few rounds of drinks. Jared promised to text the information to Caleb. After a few minutes saying goodbye and hugs and kisses, they all left the restaurant and went their separate ways. Harper shared a look with Caleb as they slipped into the limo and Jeffrey drove over to his house to pick up Quinn, who jumped in, settled on one of the soft seats and promptly went to sleep.

“Nice bunch of people, Harper.”

“Yes, I was so lucky to meet them all. Can’t believe it was only a year ago, and now one marriage, two in the works and a pregnancy.” She sidled closer to him. “I’d love to meet your friends.”

“Mine are a little rougher.”

“Why do you do that?” she groused.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel the need to keep warning you.”

“You don’t think I could be crude?”

“Um….no, I don’t think you could.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“You don’t have to prove anything to me, Harper.”

“Right now I’m so hot for you I could just do it in the back seat of this limo.”

“Tell Jeffrey to drive faster. I’ll take care of any speeding tickets.”

Harper laughed.

When they reached the penthouse, Caleb took her mouth right inside the foyer and she back-stepped toward her room, bumping into walls, which only made them grin at each other. She was so turned on, so ready to be with him fully.

Inside her room, she pushed the sport coat off him and made a soft, surprised sound when she encountered his weapon. She traced her hand over the leather shoulder holster, finding the leather warm against her skin.

“Sorry,” he murmured against her lips, and he shrugged out of it and carefully set it on her dresser.

Blue trailed in behind them, followed closely by Quinn. She took the sport coat in her teeth and walked over to the corner, dropped it and walked around until she was satisfied, then she plopped down and went to sleep. Quinn settled close to her and dropped off, too. Both humans chuckled. “I don’t think you’re getting that back,” Harper said, totally amused with Blue’s besotted behavior.

Her hands went to his belt and his covered hers. “Going straight for the dessert, my wild princess?”

“Awww, you are such a teaser, Caleb.”

He shook his head. “No.”

That was all he said as he brought her hands back to his shoulders and fused his mouth to hers again.

“More police brutality,” she whispered.

He made a soft chuckle in his chest, and she lost her mind when his hands settled on her waist and climbed slowly up her ribcage. “So beautiful,” he whispered, the sound of his deep, breathless voice taking her nerves on a rollercoaster ride.

Their mouths got a little more frantic, and he slipped his hand to her lower back and then curved his palm over her ass and brought her hips against his. She groaned into his mouth and he broke the kiss and buried his face in her hair, breathing hard and deep.

“Harper…”

She pressed her face along his silky beard. “I know. I feel it, too.”

“Do you?” he said, pressing kisses along her face, her jaw, taking her lobe into his mouth. She shivered as waves of tingles sizzled over her, settling like electricity in every cell of her body. When his mouth moved back to her lips, all that electricity ignited. “Caleb,” she whispered against his soft mouth.

He undid the clasp of her dress and she went for his tie. He ran his fingertips down her spine, pushing the zipper along as he went.

She grabbed the ends of the tie and dragged him closer, twisting it around her hands twice, holding him to her.

His mouth was wet, hot, and skilled, pressing and molding against her and igniting a slow burn in her belly, catching her sex on fire.