Page 62 of Every Little Kiss
CHAPTER 12
It was past the lunch hour when Ford walked out of the Bear Claw Bakery, a hot pastrami sandwich in hand. Only instead of finding Bullseye in the Jeep where he’d left him, the dog was sitting on a bench in front of the shop, with a stray teddy bear next to him.
“Where did you get that one?” Ford asked.
Bullseye immediately began grooming his new friend.
“Not happening.” Ford grabbed the stolen stuffed animal right as Bullseye was about to start gumming his ear. Based on the amount of saliva dripping off the toy, he’d already given him a tongue bath. “This doesn’t belong to you, so tell me where you got it, and we are taking it back.”
Bullseye looked up at him with puppy eyes, as if saying he had no idea what Ford was talking about. When that didn’t work, he started howling. Loud and drawn out and a damn fine acting job. Everyone in the bakery looked out the window to see what the big, bad man was doing to that sweet dog.
“Fine, but if some kid goes to bed crying because he lost his Woobie, that’s all on you.” Bullseye didn’t give a rat’s ass. The second he sank his teeth into the bear’s neck, Ford could have sworn he giggled, which wouldn’t be a surprise since he was carrying the toy to the truck like a mama carrying her baby. Head high, spring in his step, tail straight up as if flipping Ford the bird.
Bullseye and Company jumped up through the open passenger door—the dog was too lazy to use the doggy door but he could open a truck door—and curled up with his new buddy.
With a stern look that was completely ignored, Ford closed the passenger door and then slid in behind the driver’s seat and unwrapped his sandwich. The warm scent of freshly baked rye bread and melted cheese filled the car, and Ford’s stomach grumbled. After three days of power bars and jerky, hot food was pretty close to heaven.
Not as close as kissing Liv,he thought, remembering the feel of her lips working his. She had great lips.
He was going for the first bite when someone tapped on the window.
Ford turned to find Harris’s mug in the window, stank face in full effect. He was in athletic shorts and aDADDIESAGAINSTDAUGHTERSDATINGmuscle shirt, and a couple of strands of sparkly beads were around his neck.
Ford ignored him and lifted the sandwich to his lips.
“We can do this here or while you’re packing your bags.”
Ford set his sandwich down and unrolled the window. “My mom warned me never to open my window to a man offering beads.”
“It was Mommy-Daughter Day at Emma’s dance studio. We were crowned Best Dance Duo, which means I get to throw the next class party, so don’t fuck with me,” Harris said, running a hand down his face. “And did your mom also warn you about what happens when you do an unsanctioned search without telling your boss?”
Ford took one last look at his sandwich and wrapped it up. “I had two days off, and a buddy from Shasta called asking for backup, so I went.”
“On a type-two search. You aren’t cleared for a type-two search.”
“I went as a volunteer. On my own time.”
“Thank God you didn’t go as the SEMR community-outreach officer. That guy seems to have wandered off and left some moron in his place, because no way would my guy, who’s one wrong move from mall security, gear up when he’s been benched. By two departments.” Harris was quiet for a moment. “I mean, that would be as reckless as trying to charm the panties off a citizen who’s in the middle of an active project with the department.”
“It’s not like that.”
“You brought her a cupcake! From Shasta!”
“They also had ones with little pacifiers on it,” Ford said, resting his elbow on the window. “Want me to go back and get you one?”
Harris lifted a brow, and Ford let out a breath.
Ford was the easygoing one of his team. He had to be to do his job, and he took a lot of pride in his ability to not let things rattle him. This thing with Liv, though, had him rattled. And not in a good way. “It’s not what you think.”
“Good, because I’d hate to have to bring up the single-mom code again,” Harris said, clearly not buying Ford’s brand of BS. “Because kid-free coed outings that involve morning walks on the beach, coffee on your back porch, and locking lips are definitely off-limits.”
“Ty told you?”
“You just did,” Harris said, shaking his head. “This is Sequoia Lake—that kind of shit gets people talking and women thinking. And women like Liv are new to all of this. She didn’t date a lot before Sam, and she hasn’t dated once since. A kiss to her might mean something different than a kiss to you.”
If his friend was going for the guilt angle, it was working. Ford had injected himself into a subject’s life, then began steering it in a direction that was in his best interest and not hers, knowing he was leaving in a few weeks.
What kind of mess had he gotten into?
