Irresistible Force (34 page)

Shay shrugged. “Sure. I’m going to need a few secret ingredients. I’ll get those. And stuff for slaw.”

“You’ll make hush puppies, too?” James looked very eager for a yes.

Shay glanced down at Bogart who was napping on the floor between their chairs. He had already wolfed down his part of the Thanksgiving meal. “If you promise to keep Bogart out of the oysters this time.”

James grinned. So, Bogart had eaten hers that first evening. She’d offered him what was left, and lied about the fact. She’d been protecting Bogart and looking after his handler, even when she claimed not to even like him. Shay Appleton was a mystery that might never be completely solved. But that was okay. Because he planned on having all the time in the world to figure her out.

“Did everyone hear about James’s ex?” Allyson smiled slyly.

“Now, Ally,” her husband cautioned.

“Oh, but you all will want to hear this. She dropped that lawsuit against our little brother and Shay. Which I say is great news. She told reporters she had been misinformed and regrets any embarrassment she might have inadvertently caused.”

Shay stared so hard at her serving of lemon meringue pie it should have caught fire.
Inadvertent.
That meant unintentional, unplanned, accidental. Jaylynn’s lawsuit had been the exact opposite.

“Jaylynn also announced she’s been offered a new job out of the state.”

“What’s she going to do?” James’s tone was not a particularly encouraging one.

“That’s the best part. She said it’s with a morning show in Mobile, Alabama. But the girl who does my hair also does Jaylynn’s. She says Jaylynn confessed it’s as a weather girl because she couldn’t find any other openings.”

Shay lifted her gaze to Allyson.

Allyson met it and smiled. “Sounds to me like Jaylynn’s a sore loser liar who needs to get out of town before the truth gets out.”

“More pie, anyone?” James’s mom held out a sweet potato pie.

A little later, when they had a moment alone while washing up, a job they volunteered for, Shay nudged James aside with her hip as she moved to rerinse a glass he’d left soapsuds on.

“Your family’s different.”

James nodded. “They like you, too.”

“They like confrontation.”

He grinned that irresistible smile. “Cannons love a challenge.”

She grinned back. “So that’s why my attitude didn’t scare you off.”

“No, this is why.” He kissed her, quick enough not to get caught but long enough to be a promise of much more later. “The attitude was just familiar.”

He turned back to the dishes but Shay was tired of hiding her feelings. She slid between the sink and him, and slipped soapy hands behind his neck. She kissed him again, long enough to reveal that she would be more than holding her own later, and quick enough to keep him from taking her on his mama’s kitchen floor.

James nuzzled her neck, measuring the odds of getting caught versus assuaging the new hunger that had just sprung up.

She really did smell like forever, but he wasn’t going to tell her that for a while, maybe in a few months. Maybe sooner.

Bogart padded in and gave a bright bark.

Shay looked over. “Someone needs a walk.”

“Come with me. There’s a park at the end of the block with a wooded area on the other side.”

Shay turned and saw that the invitation in his eyes included more than a stroll. She smiled. “I’ll get my jacket.”

“I’ll bring a blanket.”

James winked at his partner who barked again then gave him what he would swear was a great big lolling-tongue doggy grin.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A veteran author of romance and women’s fiction, D.D. Ayres is new to romantic suspense. She believes the lure of romance is always the human connection. Put that connection in physical jeopardy, and we learn a bit more about who we really are. With her K-9 Rescue series, D.D. hopes you will enjoy her sexy, suspenseful portrayals of K-9 teams at their best. D.D. lives in Texas with her husband and a soft-coated Wheaten terrier named Zoe.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

IRRESISTIBLE FORCE

Copyright © 2014 by D.D. Ayres.

All rights reserved.

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St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / September 2014

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