Maid to Fit (12 page)

“Where’s Addie?” Ronnie asked as he approached.

“Spending the weekend with Kaitlyn,” Kayla replied.

“Want to meet the owner of Man Maid?” he asked. “I promised him I would stop off and
see Sergeant Buck after the game and have a beer or two with him, but knowing you’re
all alone tonight… I’d like to spend a little time with you, too. You might not have
missed me but I missed you. Are you interested?”

“I don’t know. I’d hate to fall apart over Sergeant Buck in front of your friend.
I’m humiliated enough that
you
were a witness to it,” she admitted.

“I expected better of you, Kayla. Discriminating against a veteran is just…
shameful,
” he said with one of his grins.

“Ronnie,” she admonished.

“What do I have to do to convince you to give Sergeant Buck a chance and to give me
a couple hours of your free time tonight?”

“I’ve been terrified of dogs for…forever. To be honest, I’m even more afraid of Sergeant
Buck than of a normal-sized dog. I’m just not sure there is anything you
can
do to change that,” she replied. “Believe me, I try to rationalize with myself. Not
all dogs are mean and vicious. Not all dogs bite. But then I see one and the fear
just comes right back.”

Taking her hand, Ronnie pulled her out to the parking lot and over to his truck. He
backed her up against the driver’s door and cupped her face in his hands. Then he
kissed her.

The kiss was intense. She felt like she was melting into the door of his truck as
he rubbed his thumbs along her cheeks and moved his lips over hers. She slid her hands
up his chest, but just before she could slide them around his neck to get even closer,
he again grabbed her wrists to stop her. He flattened her hands against the truck
door, released her mouth and kissed a trail of fire down her neck to her collarbone.

Nipping the sensitive area with his teeth, he whispered, “Good night then, Kayla.”

Pulling away, he grinned and then completely released her and stepped back. He was
using his incredible seduction abilities to convince her to go with him. But Buck
was
huge!
Could she spend any length of time around such a big dog without being completely
uncomfortable the whole time? She stepped away from his truck as he walked around
and opened the passenger door for her. He gave her a look, as if daring her to get
in.

This was
so
not a good idea. But what the hell? She hadn’t done anything crazy or potentially
dangerous in so long—she was due, right?

Putting her purse in ahead of her, she climbed up onto the bench seat and situated
herself in the middle.

When he climbed up into the seat next to her, she said, “Do you think my car will
be okay here for a couple of hours?”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure both you and your car get home safely. Call it curbside
service
by Ronnie.” He smiled.

“You are just not going to let that go, are you?” She laughed.

“No, at least not until after our full-
service
date tomorrow,” he said, leaning over and kissing her again. “You taste so good and
your mouth is incredibly soft. I can’t seem to quit doing this.”

“Well, if we keep doing this we’re going to end up under the bleachers before we ever
make it out of here.” She smiled against his mouth.

“I don’t think so.” He smiled back and kissed her one last time. “I should at least
get dinner and a movie first…and that’s not until tomorrow, remember?”

“
You
should get dinner and a movie first?” she said in mock outrage.

“Don’t worry. I’ll work off every bit of it afterward. I promise, I’m worth it,” he
said with a wink.

His grin wasn’t the only thing sinful about him. After starting the truck and putting
it in drive, he put his arm along the back of the seat—and around her—while he drove
with his other hand. She couldn’t help but smile at the picture they must have made.
At the moment she didn’t care what anyone else thought. Her belly was alive with anticipation
and excitement. She felt lighthearted and carefree for the first time in a long time.
He
was
worth it—every bit of money she’d spent to hire him and then some.

Soon enough they pulled into the driveway of a small ranch-style home, and he got
out, held the door open for her and led her by her hand up to the front door. A stocky
man who appeared to be about the same age as Ronnie answered the door with Buck at
his feet. The dog whined upon seeing her then sat down and turned his face from her,
glancing at her from time to time out of the corner of his eye. The dog almost looked
intimidated by her presence…if that was possible. She always thought German Shepherds
were supposed to be smart and protective dogs. This one seemed to be the one in need
of protecting—from what, she wasn’t sure.

“On days when you don’t take him to school for the kids’ practice,
this
is what I’m stuck with,” the man said, pointing to Buck.

“Sergeant Hawkins, this is Kayla Clark,” Ronnie said in reply.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the man replied, holding his hand out to Kayla. “Rusty. It’s just
Rusty now, no Sergeant anymore.”

She shook the man’s hand and he led her into a small living room that opened to a
dining room. The configuration made the house appear larger than it really was. Two
other men sat on the couch having a beer. One of the men was even bigger than Ronnie,
but appeared to be younger. The other man looked like a male model, complete with
fashionable clothes and green eyes that carried secrets.

“The big dummy is Ian and the pretty boy is Seth,” Ronnie said by way of introductions.
“Guys, this is Kayla Clark.”

Seth jumped up and offered her his seat then headed into the kitchen with Buck in
tow and came back carrying two beers. Seth handed one of the beers to Ronnie and then
made a show of unscrewing the cap of the second bottle in the crease of his arm, smiling
at her the whole time. Afterward he handed her the opened beer.
Pretty boy
was apparently a flirt, as well….
Geesh
.

“Aw, Pole, that’s so nice. For that you can sit on my lap instead of on the floor
with Buck where
dogs
belong,” Ian said.

“No, thanks. Buck smells better than you, bro,” Seth replied.

Buck edged his way a little closer to where Ronnie sat next to her on the couch, nudging
his head under Ronnie’s hand to receive the reassuring attention he was after. Buck
continued to look at her out of the corner of his eye, much as she did him. Perhaps
she had scared Buck with her fainting spell as badly as he had scared her. Could dogs
be afraid?

The guys were watching a show, intermittently talking among themselves. The longer
she sat there attempting not to worry about a dog that was easily the size of Addie,
the more she relaxed. As she loosened up, the dog also seemed to relax.

“How about a game of euchre, boys?” Rusty asked.

“Kayla’s a little nervous around Buck,” Ronnie explained.

“Buck, down,” Rusty said.

Buck slowly moved over to a large pillow and lay down on it, releasing a big sigh.

“There, problem solved,” Rusty said.

“Go ahead, I’m okay as long as he stays over there,” she said in response to the questioning
look Ronnie gave her.

The guys moved to the table behind the couch, and she watched television and listened
to them talk and joke with each other. She had been chilled from the cool fall evening
at the game, and she finally began to warm up a little bit. She snuggled into the
fluffy couch. Warmth invaded, she relaxed and dozed off.

* * *

Ronnie glanced over at the couch and could no longer see Kayla’s head. Looking over
to Buck’s pillow, he saw it was empty. A small shiver of fear raced through him. What
if Buck had gone over to Kayla and she’d fainted again and he’d been too distracted
to notice? The game had only taken a half hour, if that. Getting up from his chair,
he walked over to the couch and nearly had a heart attack.

Buck lay curled up in the seat that Ronnie had vacated and Kayla lay on top of the
dog, snuggled up like he was a favorite blanket. Both were sleeping. Turning to the
guys, he held his finger up to his mouth and they quieted down.

How would he wake Kayla without her freaking out when she noticed she was sleeping
on top of the thing she feared most? Thankfully, her soft breathing gave away the
fact that she slept rather than having fainted.

As he walked around to the front of the couch, Buck lifted his head. “Buck, stay,”
Ronnie said quietly.

Buck lay his head back down and Ronnie knelt beside the two as he heard Ian snap a
picture with his cell phone. Ronnie brushed Kayla’s hair back from her face. She looked
absolutely angelic when she was sleeping. He gently rubbed the backs of his fingers
down the one cheek that was not snuggled up to Buck.

When she finally opened her eyes he said, “You need to let Buck up so he can go outside.
Besides, we should get going. You are more tired than I thought.”

She sat up and looked at Buck, who refused to meet her eyes. It almost seemed like
he felt guilty for allowing her to snuggle up to him.

“I’m so sorry. How rude of me. I hope I didn’t hurt your dog,” she said, glancing
at Buck.

“He loved every minute of it, believe me,” Ronnie said.

“Pet him, though, if you really feel the need to apologize for drooling on him,” Ian
said.

Ronnie was surprised when she slowly touched the side of the dog and gave him a gentle
pat. The dog lay there, allowing it. “Sorry about that, Buck,” she said quietly.

The dog sighed heavily, as though he was used to that kind of mistreatment, and Kayla
actually giggled. Looking back at Ronnie crouched in front of her, ready to play interference
between her and Buck if necessary, she said, “He’s so…
warm
. I was cold after the game, and the next thing I know I must have just fallen asleep.
I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. I should have let you go on home and get some rest,” he said. “Come
on, let’s go.”

She let him pull her off the couch by her hand. As they headed toward the door, he
noticed Buck following right beside Kayla. Either she hadn’t noticed the dog or she
was beginning to realize that Buck wouldn’t hurt her. Buck followed them outside,
but rather than going around to the side yard to do his business, he followed Ronnie
and Kayla right to the truck and whined.

“You can’t go, Buck. No dogs in the apartment, you know that,” Ronnie said.

The dog looked longingly at Kayla and then lumbered over into the side yard. Ronnie
held the door while Kayla got in and then he slid in beside her.

He couldn’t help his smile. Kayla had felt comfortable enough with his friends and
his favorite dog to fall asleep. He really should have just let her go home after
the game, but after a week without her, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye again so soon.

But now it was time to take her home.

Chapter Seven

She couldn’t remember ever being comfortable enough around a dog to fall asleep, much
less snuggle up to the animal. Now she felt guilty that she might have been the one
inflicting harm on the poor dog by sleeping on him. Perhaps Sergeant Buck had arthritis
and she’d made it worse.

Her thoughts turned to Ronnie, though, when she felt his fingers sifting through her
hair to rest on the back of her neck.

“Are you going to be okay to drive home?” he asked, rubbing his fingers along the
side and back of her neck.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I really am sorry for falling asleep like that. Some date I am,
huh?” She laughed lightly.

“I don’t know…
yet,
” he said with a wink. “You work so hard I thought you might like to get away from
your desk even for just an hour to hang out with four guys and a mangy dog.”

“That is sweet. If it hadn’t been such a long week I might have been a little more
social,” she replied. After a pause she laughed. “That was probably one of the better
power naps I’ve had. Make sure you thank Sergeant Buck for me when you see him next.”

“You’re not going home to work now, are you?” Ronnie asked in all seriousness. “If
you say yes, I’m going to kidnap you so you can’t.”

Between the sound of his voice and the incredible feel of his fingers on her neck,
the shiver she felt made her hair stand on end. “No,” she said, trying to ignore her
body’s response. “Addie said something about a movie later, but since she’s not home,
I might just take a long bath and go to bed.”

“That was an image I didn’t need before you send me on my way,” he said, pulling into
the parking lot near the football field and parking next to her car.

Turning to her, his face grew serious. “It’s none of my business, but can I ask what
happened to Addie’s dad?”

She took a breath. It had been a while since she’d shared this story with anyone.
“We were young, seniors in high school. I thought I was in love and he thought he’d
finally lose his virginity. I still managed to graduate and go to college, with a
lot of help from my parents, especially my mom. He visited Addie a couple of times
when she was born and then moved out of state and purposely lost contact with me.
I wasn’t going to force him to be a part of her life, but Addie knows about him and
knows his name if she decides to go looking for her roots one day.”

“There hasn’t been anyone else?” Ronnie asked.

“There was a guy during my last year of college…. I thought there was something between
us until I told him about Addie,” she replied. “Since then I have been keeping my
nose to the grindstone. I don’t need a man to help me give Addie the life she deserves,
I can do it myself. I’ve not done too badly, until my mom got sick, but I
am
sorry I have to work so much, especially at the age she is now. She’s only two years
younger than I was when—”

“What about the life
you
deserve?” he asked.