Page 3 of Shattered
Six years later.
With my shoulder propped against the wall, I had the perfect view of the woman who'd been plaguing my every fantasy for the past seven months.
Harper Evans.
A woman as closed off as she was beautiful. She'd been living next to me for seven months, and the most I'd gotten out of her was the odd'hello'or'have a nice day."'Now I know at six foot four, and with ink covering nearly all of my skin, most people found me intimidating. But Harper practically ran in the other direction whenever she spotted me.
"Close your mouth, man! You're drooling."
At the sound of Brett's mocking tone, I gritted my teeth. We're not blood-related, but I considered the man a brother. Kindred spirits, each fighting our own demons.
Without turning to acknowledge my friend, I muttered a "Piss off"under my breath.
"Ya know, you're starting to look like a creeper, always staring at her like that."
With Harper still in my sight, I brought my beer to my lips and guzzled the yeasty brew. I swiped my palm over my beard and turned to give Brett my best shit-eating grin, "I'm not staring. Simply observing her excellent dog washing skills."
"You're observing what?" At the sound of my younger brother's voice, I let out a groan. Ever since Chase had found out about mylittle thingfor Harper, he'd been teasing me to no end. And it was getting old, fast.
I turned my gaze back to Harper just in time to see her laugh while an oversized Labrador was furiously shaking its wet fur. With both her arms stretched out in front of her, she threw her head back, her mouth wide open with laughter.
Damn, she was beautiful.
"He's ogling your employee again." I heard Brett tell Chase, who's the town veterinarian and also Harper's boss. She'd been in town all of three days when my brother had turned on the charm and convinced her to work for him at the animal shelter.
She turned out to be quite an asset to Chase. This event–washing the town folk's pets to raise money for the shelter–had been one of her ideas. Last month she'd arranged a bake sale and the month before that the employees of the shelter held a car wash.
And, yes, I'd been first in line with my truck.
"When are you going to grow a pair and actually talk to her?" Chase's voice sounded from beside me.
"Kinda difficult to do when she avoids me like the plague."
"Maybe she's afraid your appearance is going to give the kid nightmares." And that was my brother's favorite dig. Yeah, so maybe I was not as clean-cut as my brothers were. I had a beard, unruly hair, colorful tats, and an even more colorful past, but that didn't make me a bad person though.
And, my appearance definitely did not give little Flynn nightmares. I'd caught the boy on more than one occasion peeking through the fence while I was working on my bike. Unlike his momma, Flynn had a mop of winter-white hair and the biggest, brightest blue eyes.
"Don't you have puppies to wash or something?" My annoyance only grew when both Brett and Chase chuckled. With a huff, I pushed off the wall and flipped them the bird over my shoulder. Scanning the large patch of greenery that stretched over the park, I searched until I found the stall I was looking for.
"Let me guess," Lizzy said with a warm smile the moment I stopped in front of her table. "You're looking for a big slice of pecan pie."
This was what I both loved and hated about our small town. Everyone always knew everyone's business. Still, I flashed her my teeth in a broad smile, "The biggest you got."
Shaking her head, Lizzy pulled the pie closer and sectioned about a quarter of the treat for me. While she was busy, I studied her. She was beautiful. Tall and lean, with a thick auburn braid hanging over her shoulder. And yet, she didn't stir anything in me. No, the only woman capable of crossing my wires also happened to be the only one who wouldn't give me the time of day.
Female company was never in short supply. In spite of what most of my family thought about me that wasn't how I rolled. Leading a woman on when you couldn't offer her anything more than a tumble between the sheets didn't sit right with me. Whenever I took a woman to my bed—which wasn't that often—I always made sure they knew exactly what they were signing up for.
Unfortunately, a long night filled with hot no-strings-attached-sex didn't appeal to me anymore. Unless said hot sex was with the dark-haired beauty living next to me. Yeah, that wasn't happening anytime soon. With a quick thanks, I grabbed my pie and turned to stroll toward one of the benches.
I'd made it all of three steps when a whirlwind slammed into me from behind.
"Argh…Oh, come on!"
I knew that voice.
Spinning on my heels, I found the lovely Harper flat on her ass being drenched in doggy kisses. Her petite frame made the loveable Rottweiler look like a mauling giant. I eyed my pie and then the dog who wasn't giving Harper any room to get off her butt. With a sigh I tossed the pie into the nearest bin and then grabbed the over-excited pup in a bear hug, lifting him off Harper with ease.
"Why don't we give the lovely lady some breathing room, mmm?"
