Collared (Going to the Dogs) (23 page)

“It’s a bitch, babe,” he laughed.

She rolled her eyes. “I guess I deserve that. So how about the Hamptons? How about you ask Shane to cover for you?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed.

“Shane, I need you to cover for me in the morning. I’ll be in around noon.” He listened, then growled. “None of your damn business, Bowsky.” Then he hung up.

“What did he say?”

“He said I was no fun. And he’s always got my back.”

#

Why Caleb had her wear a bathing suit under her clothes, and carry this crazy clown cup when she was not a fan of clowns—clowns were scary—was a mystery to her. But he didn’t let her ask any questions, and she had to wonder how much payback she was going to have to pony up for making him wear a tux and sit through five minutes of the opera.

The Hamptons trip had been so much fun, with the dogs scampering in and out of the waves as she and Caleb ate. The scrumptious lobster salad Missy Scott had prepared for her in the gourmet kitchen of her and her husband’s prestigious Hamptons B&B, The Seawind Inn, was accompanied by a very good vintage bottle of wine and fresh-baked crusty rolls.

After wiping down the dogs and settling them down in the house with their dinners, they’d made love in the surf under the moon, something Harper had never done. Caleb had freed something inside her, and she beginning to believe that it was a good, good thing.

But she still struggled daily with whether or not she should trust Caleb with the information about Jeffrey. Also, he should really know about her past, but she couldn’t seem to let go of that last wisp of doubt. She wasn’t absolutely sure about the wisdom of leaning on anyone. What if she got used to it and then it was gone? No, better to keep herself safe and not give up too much control.

Her steps slowed when she saw where he was dragging her. Skeeter’s BBQ Shack. She turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. “What is this, exactly?”

The music from inside was pumping, people were spilling out of the place, and the cheering was so loud she could hear it from where she was standing.

“Barbecue. Don’t you like barbecue?”

“I like barbecue, but what else is going on here?”

He grinned. “You’ll love it. Come on.”

Her stomach jumped when Caleb paid the cover and they pushed their way inside.

As soon as they cleared most of the crowd and got closer to the bar, she saw it. It was a mud pit…and suddenly two and two made four. “Oh, hell, no!”

But Caleb signaled to someone as he grasped her arm and dragged her forward. Someone spoke over the loudspeaker and people stopped talking.

“Ladies and Gentlemen and I use that term loosely! Welcome to Skeeter’s. We have a slippin’, slidin’, slingin’ and flingin’ night of madness and mayhem in store tonight, with some special guests. Four lovely ladies to get down and dirty!”

People cheered so loudly it hurt Harper’s ears.

“We will hose ‘em off when they’re done. Then, after we have the main attraction, we’ll take any comers ready to get flingin’…or be a prissy, and we will pinky promise to not get you dirty.”

“Up first is Princess! She’s got attitude to spare, and I have it from an authority who knows, she’s a scrapper! Up against her is Goth Girl. Let’s not underestimate her. She’s ready for the Zombie Apocalypse!”

“You ass! You got Poe involved! I can’t
believe
this!”

“After their match we have a tough, competitive woman who doesn’t like to lose, Dog Whisperer, and her opponent The Nurturer, who has assured me all she wants is to nurture her opponent face-first into the mud.”

She looked down and saw Poe slip her feet into the mud, dressed in her bright blue Gonzo suit. Harper couldn’t help but smile. God, she loved that girl. She looked up at Harper and stuck out her hand with her palm up and gave Harper a “bring it” gesture, her face fierce.

Harper shook her head, stepping back, right into Caleb. “Poe’s pregnant. I can’t fight her.” Then she saw Drew, Owen and Jared standing at the edge of the ring. “Oh, I see. They’re in on it.”

“Sure, you can. She cleared it with her doctor.”

“Dammit!”

Caleb had such a smug grin on his face she wanted to smack him. “This isn’t for the opera, babe. I didn’t get my mom helper at my table at the tea party.”

“Crap. Who snitched?”

“You keep forgetting, sweetheart, I’m a freaking detective.”

Harper gave the laughing men a narrowed-eyed look and she turned around and shoved the clown cup into Caleb’s hands. Right there she stripped off her Donna Karan silk T and her stylish cropped jeans. Slipping out of her Jimmy Choo sandals, she threw them at him, but he was too fast and caught them.

She marched over to the pit and stepped inside. “Poe. You. Are. Going. Down.
Hard!!
” She whispered, “Not really. That was for the crowd.”

Poe’s eyes twinkling, she played along. “We’ll see about that, princess!”

Twenty really dirty, gross minutes later, two pins out of three, Harper won and stepped out of the pit. She had mud in places that she didn’t want to talk about. When Brooke passed her with a high-five, Harper said, “Good luck with Callie. That girl scares me.”

Brooke laughed. “I got this. My curves are going to help. I got twenty pounds on her. She’s only a hundred pounds soaking wet.”

Really, getting hosed off in a public place wasn’t exactly Harper’s idea of a good time, but when she saw Caleb bonding with the dog park’s babes’ menfolk, she smiled.

Brooke did prevail, and after they finished their match, Harper drank beer out of her damn scary clown cup and ate so many ribs her stomach bulged.

As they walked out, still talking about how much fun they’d had, Caleb bent down and whispered in her ear. “You really are a good sport. Shane bet me you wouldn’t do it. I won twenty bucks thanks to you.”

She punched him hard in the ribs and felt great satisfaction when he sucked in his breath. He threw back his head and laughed. She couldn’t help it. She laughed with him.

It was definitely a night she would never forget.

Back at her penthouse, Caleb wrapped a towel around her from behind and pulled her back against him, nipping the side of her neck.

“I think I finally got all the mud off me.”

He chuckled against her neck.

“I’m glad you’re so amused.”

“You were a totally kick-ass warrior princess!”

She whipped a towel at him, which he neatly caught and used it to pull her against him again. He grabbed another towel off the rack and stepped up behind her to gently rub her hair.

“What are you doing tomorrow afternoon? Do you have it off?”

He gave her a wry smile. “Yes, I have Saturdays off. Is this a surprise like mine?”

“No, just a surprise. You game?”

He pushed her head to one side and dropped a warm, damp kiss on her neck. “Yes, I’m game.”

All of a sudden, her heart contracted. It was there, right on the tip of her tongue, the truth. And the desire to tell him, to reveal that truth, was so strong it actually made her insides ache. She knew he couldn’t possibly guess at what she had hidden.

She wanted to grab his shoulders and hang onto him, spill her guts to him. Tell him everything about Aiden, about Jeffrey. About how she was feeling. Her heart skipped a beat. Oh, God. There was so much more at stake here, so much. She squeezed her eyes closed as his mouth trailed kisses across her shoulder.

When they slipped into bed, he pulled her close, snuggled his face into her neck and fell asleep.

Sleepless from all the pressure drawn into the tight ball of energy lodged in her chest, she extricated herself and pulled open the door to the balcony. Blue slipped out with her and Harper sat down in one of the chaise lounges. Blue nudged against her, as if feeling her tension. “Why aren’t you all over your boyfriend? Hmmm? I don’t blame you, sweetie. He’s pretty wonderful.”

Blue nudged her again and Harper petted her, trying to soothe her. She lay her head on Harper’s lap.

She looked out over the city that never slept, thinking about her so-called charmed life. She’d spent most of it isolating herself from people, keeping them at arm’s length.

That was until a year ago. Until she met those three women who meant more to her now than Harper could express. The trust she’d put in them had just come naturally as they built their friendship.

She trusted them. They were, besides her family, the only people on the planet that she fully trusted.

She looked toward the bed. He rolled over, and the light from the moon illuminated his face. So beautiful. Both inside and out. She shivered in the warm air. Dedicated cop. Warm, caring, smart.
Hers
.

Her brain scrambled to weigh all the pros and cons; but it was in constant flux with the reactions of her body, and her heart, and it was all such a huge jumble, there was no way she could make a rational judgment.

Her heart was on the line and she’d be risking it. All of it. Because if she gave it to him, he would get everything.

But her mind wouldn’t stop spinning, teasing her with ridiculous and dreadful possibilities, ones that should certainly seem outrageous at best, terrifying at worst. And yet she couldn’t stop that little voice from whispering, tauntingly, teasingly, that perhaps it was possible she
could
somehow give him all her trust, everything she was holding back. All of it. Possible he could somehow be the one man with whom maybe, just maybe, she could have it all.

When the limo stopped and they got out, Caleb frowned. “We’re at Yankee Stadium?”

“That’s right. It’s where the Yankees play.”

“I know that. It’s on my back doorstep. What are we doing here?”

“I thought you’d want to attend the 1:05 game. My family has a box here, but if you’d like, you could watch the game from the dugout.”

He shook his head. Could have sworn she’d just said he could watch the game from the dugout. “Dugout? Did you just say dugout?”

“Yes, Caleb. I know the owners of the Yankees. Some of that schmoozing I mentioned. I’ve already cleared it with the manager. If you want to watch the game from there, we can.”

It took a bit to really wrap his mind around what was happening. He couldn’t seem to speak, he was so overwhelmed.

She took his hand and started walking with him, but he stopped her and kissed her. Kissed her hard. Pulling back he looked into her eyes. “This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Her eyes softened and she cupped his face. “After our discussion the other night, I was sure you would love it. Our rivalry is over. It’s clear that we are willing to do what it takes to be in each other’s world. I’m not sure how this is going to work, but let’s try.”

“So many parts of me are overjoyed by what you just said. Actually, that part’s even more exciting for me than meeting the Yankees.”

“I know what parts you’re talking about.”

He took her hand and settled it on his chest. “That’s not the part I’m talking about,” he said quite seriously.

Her eyes raised to his, then widened as she looked from her hand, her palm spread over his heart, back up to his face. “Wow.”

“Wow,” he repeated.

“Freaking A.”

He grinned. “Freaking A for sure.”

She smiled then, too, while still looking a bit dumbfounded.

“Now we’re both astounded.”

She nodded. “We are, indeed.”

He met the team. The freaking Yankees. He was a total fan boy and even got an autographed baseball, like a little kid. They spent most of the game in the dugout, and it was the freaking thrill of his life.

But he wanted to be alone with Harper, so they went up to her box. Her empty, private box.

Harper couldn’t have been more thrilled with Caleb’s reaction. She’d wanted to do something very special for this wonderful man. She still couldn’t bring herself to tell him everything. That, she was sure would come in time. But she wanted a relationship with him, to see how this would progress.

“Harper,” he said softly, his lips trailed around to the sensitive skin at her nape, which had her catching her breath.

He locked the door and settled down on one of the couches.

“We can’t see the game from here,” she said, but gasped when he pulled her onto his lap.

He cupped her breasts, gently catching her nipples between his fingers as he squeezed. A moan slipped out as she arched into his hands, and thoughts of the game dimmed substantially.

“Caleb—”

“Shh.”

“But, we—can’t—”

“Yes, we can,” Caleb murmured roughly. “Right now, I need you, need to see you come, Harper.” He stroked against the silk between her legs as he continued to toy with her nipples and pressed harder and harder kisses against her neck. She was going to stop him. This was risky. Anyone could come in here who had key. Even her family.

But she wanted him, remembering how he had covered his heart in front of the stadium, the look he’d given her when she’d given him the gift of the Yankees. The joy that gave her that her pull, her wealth could be used for him. Thinking how humbling it was to have such a man make that declaration to her. So she let her eyes drift shut, let the sensations take over, let Caleb take over, and promised herself that she’d regain control the moment it was over. Promised herself that she’d come to terms with Caleb and his effect on her. He slipped his hand inside and brought her ruthlessly to orgasm.

She was still shuddering, still lurching against his hand and his oh-so-clever fingers, when he slipped them out. He whipped her around to face him, taking her mouth with his, a hard demanding kiss, even as he slid his hand between them to tear at his clothes. “Let me in,” he breathed against her lips.

The raw truth of it was she was craving the feel of him filling her up as she’d never craved anything before. His steely arm banded across her lower back. “I need you, Harper,” he ground out. She felt helpless to stop the feeling that surged inside her, tears pressing on the backs of her eyes. Desperate, she tried to help him hike up her skirt, pressing her face against his as he tugged at his pants. The hard heat of him made her more frantic. Caleb groaned when he bared himself and the tip of him touched her burning skin. She cried out when he jerked her down on top of him.