Page 17 of Shadowed Rubies
Now that I had her to myself, I saw that she was cradling her tiny dog in her arms. An irrational surge of jealousy overtook me as I glared at the little animal as he rested against her ample chest. It was probably warm and soft there, and it was exactly where I wanted to be.
Determined not to show my envy, I said, “Hey, Bruiser,” as I reached out a hand to gently rub over the pint-sized animal’s pointy ears.
Dani said, “Oh, he doesn’t like other males,” at the exact same time as Bruiser began kicking his feet and scrabbling against Dani’s chest.
My first instinct was to recoil from the agitated canine as his eyes bulged in my direction, but I didn’t want to look like a giant chicken in front of Dani.
Her surprised gaze travelled between me and her pet until she finally said, “I think he wants you.”
There was nothing I wanted less than to take the wiggly animal, but Dani was holding him out toward me. I reluctantly accepted the small dog, and he immediately burrowed into the crook of my neck and snuggled against me.
“He likes you!” Dani sounded delighted. “He must realize that you’re the one that saved his life.”
Cradling the dog against me wasn’t completely unpleasant, and Dani seemed overjoyed by it, so I would gladly hold the little ankle-biter for a while––as long as he didn’t growl or snap at me.
Dani smiled up at us as she scratched the side of her dog’s neck. The tiny, shaky animal leaned in to her touch and closed his buggy eyes. I couldn’t blame him for that reaction because I was certain I would do precisely the same thing if she were caressing me.
“I wish there was some way I could repay you for saving him.” Dani’s voice sounded soft and sincere.
Immediately forgetting all of my vows not to pine after her, I said, “How about if you allow me to take you on a date?”
The timing and execution of my request were spot-on, so I was left feeling rather stunned when Dani gently took Bruiser back from me and said, “Thank you for asking, but the answer is no.”
20
Dani
As I scurried out of the firehouse, I wondered what kind of moron I was. Max was handsome, charming, friendly, sexy, kind, and a freakin’ firefighting hero that saved my dog.
How could I turn down a date with him? It would have most likely been the romantic highlight of my entire life, and I said ‘no thanks’ to it.
Even Bruiser was glaring up at me as if I had just lost my mind. I had to glance away from the dog’s unrelenting stare, but I could still feel him judging me, so I said, “I know. I know. I made a huge mistake.”
I plopped down on a bench just outside the fire station. Feeling the need to justify my decision, I added, “But it might have been an even bigger mistake to go out with him. He’s obviously irresistible. If I fall for him, I’m bound to get my heart broken.”
Bruiser blinked up at me as if he was trying to relay a message to me through mental telepathy.
Mrs. Branson crossed to the other side of the street without a crosswalk, which seemed a bit out of character for her, until I realized that I was sitting here having a full-fledged conversation with my dog. She was probably desperate to put as much distance between us as possible.
Well, great, now I’ll be known as the lonely, loony doctor that wanders aimlessly around town with no one to talk to but her dog.At least I managed not to say that thought out loud.
I needed to get up off the bench and go check to see how my mom was doing today. She had seemed so lost since Dad’s passing.
It would probably also be the appropriate thing to do for me to check on Molly Malone, but I was less inclined to do that, since she’d been so bristly about Dean. There was no denying that now would be a good time to stop by her place because Max was at work, so I knew I wouldn’t run into him.
Sighing, I realized that is a good portion of the reason I didn’t want to go right now. The thought of ‘accidentally’ running into Max made my heart skip a beat.
The dog of judgment in my lap craned his neck around toward the door to the fire station as if he was hoping for a glimpse of Max. I couldn’t bring myself to blame him because I would be doing the exact same thing if my pride wasn’t in the way.
The knowledge that I needed to get moving soon or risk Max finding out that I was sitting outside his workplace made me tap my foot impatiently. Knowing that I needed to go and actually doing it were two very different things. Something glued my butt to that bench. My guess was that something––or someone––rhymed with Stax Stallone.
Bruiser spared a glance of his big brown eyes up at me before turning back to stare at the door. He couldn’t have made his message any clearer if he had been able to speak fluent English.
I huffed out a frustrated breath, not quite able to believe that neither of us had any more will power than this. Bruiser’s gaze never wavered from the door.
“Okay, okay. I’m going.” I said to the dog, no longer caring who heard me.
Steeling my nerves, I took a deep breath and stood up. I walked back into the firehouse with purpose, deciding that I could at least look confident––even though my insides were in a hurricane tunnel of turmoil.
