Irresistible Force (A K-9 Rescue Novel)(41)

When she thought of James everything else faded. Nothing seemed to  matter when she conjured up memories of him. In his arms, kissing him,  loving him, the world stopped. She could breathe freely.                       
       
           



       

"All ready?" Angie flashed five fingers, a fist, and then five fingers at her. It was 5:05.

Twenty minutes later, they had wedged themselves into a corner booth of a  local brewery, a different microbrew in front of each of them.

"Is James coming over to Raleigh this weekend? Or are you going down to  Charlotte to crawl all over his gorgeous co-" She glanced at Henry and  blushed. "Body."

"Neither." Shay hadn't missed the glance Angie flung Henry's way.  Usually, Angie was unflappable. She said things just to see how  outrageous she could be. But with Henry  …  hm.

"So, you got a guy?" Henry reached for one of the nachos piled on a plate in front of Shay.

"Sort of."

"He's a cop." Angie reached for one, too.

Shay surged forward, circling her arms moatlike around her plate. "Hey! Order your own food. This is lunch and dinner for me."

"Let's see. You got your dairy, your protein and vegetable, and your  starch." Henry bobbed his head. "I guess that constitutes a meal."

"There's no green vegetable there." Angie wagged a finger at the  platter. "Without something green that doesn't constitute a full meal."

Shay reached out and dumped her side order of jalapeños over the top of the stack. "Green vegetable. Ta-da."

"Damn. That was just mean, Shay." Angie didn't do jalapeños.

"Serves you right, criticizing my food." She slipped a chip piled with  beans and trailing hot cheese from her plate and leaned forward to bite  into it. Maybe she wasn't fluish, after all. Maybe she was just  weak-kitten hungry.

By the time she stopped chewing, Angie's and Henry's orders had arrived.

For the next couple of minutes all that happened at their table was chewing and swallowing and more chewing.

Shay watched as each of them slanted speculative gazes at the other when  the other wasn't watching. Something up here. Time to test her  hypothesis.

"So, Henry, you still seeing that girl from Durham?"

Henry darted a glance at Angie. "Ah, no."

"She was so not his type," Angie chimed in. "She claimed to be an  old-school video-game nerd. But she didn't know Samus Aran from Metroid.  Can you even believe that?"

Shay grinned. That answered one question. "So, who are you seeing, Henry?"

He ducked his head. "Not really anyone, at the moment." He half glanced at Angie again. "Just hanging with Angie."

O-I-C. Shay formed the letters for the words "oh I see" with her right  hand and then laughed. One really slow week at the office, they had had a  contest to see who could communicate most effectively without actually  resorting to speech. Nerd entertainment.

"It's not like that." Angie put down her fork. "Well, it's not."

Shay aimed raised brows at her. "Why not?"

"Because, well, because … " Angie glanced at Henry who had paused in chomping his burger to glance over at her.

Shay decided to push. "Why not?"

Henry dropped his burger onto his plate. "Yeah, why not?"

Angie went deer-in-the-headlights. "I didn't think-you never said. I  don't know." She glared down at her plate of Buffalo wings as if daring  them to take flight.

Henry picked up his glass of beer, grinning. "I guess that's settled then."

Angie looked up. "How is it settled?" Her sweet face went all evil  cherub. "You don't just get to nod and smile, fella. Are we seeing each  other or not?"

Henry choked, spewing beer out his nose.

Shay handed him a napkin, trying not to laugh too hard.

"Ah sure. You and me. I'd like that," he finally gasped out between beery sneezes.

Angel-face Angie returned with a smile to put Cupid to shame. "That's settled then."

Shay smiled. Her two favorite people were now officially seeing one  another. Maybe when James got back to town the four of them could  double-date. Like normal people. Like friends, even.

Unless she decided to keep James locked away all weekend in her apartment.

That possessive thought brought a sudden jolt of emotion with it. She wanted James all to herself.

It was a new feeling. Waaaay too soon for that emotion to be taken seriously.

Yet it felt good just knowing she was capable of it.

She'd never met a man and thought, yes, please, that one. On loan.  Possibly permanently. The feeling was more than enough for now.

Glad she hadn't turned down her friends' offer of company, Shay turned  to order another beer for Henry. From the corner of her eye she saw a  familiar face. Well, not exactly familiar. The woman from a week ago,  the one who'd called herself Carol? Carrie?                       
       
           



       

Before she could think why she was doing it, Shay was out of her seat. "Be right back," she told her puzzled companions.

Every sense tingled as she neared the bar. She took in the woman's long  lean body. This time she wore jeans so tight they seemed painted on,  much to the appreciation of the males nearest her. Dirty blond hair  stuck up under a battered cowboy hat, she leaned on the bar, one hip  jutted out while one booted foot rested on the rail. Something about  that pose struck Shay wrong. She seemed like a caricature of a hot  Southern college girl. Like Angie in costume. A great face and bod, but  she wasn't an undergrad sporting a false ID and a big thirst. She was  older.

Shay came up beside her before the woman looked her way. "Carly, right?"

"Right. And you're ah, shoot. I never was good with names." Shay didn't  help. The woman blinked but her smile stayed wide. "How are you, girl?"

"Why are you here?"

Carly's smile stiffened at Shay's tone. "Like I told you, I'm a regular  barfly." She made a big production of looking past Shay, leaning out  into the path of customers. "Where's that hot stud boyfriend of yours?"

Shay's gaze never left her face. Definitely closer to thirty, with those squint lines. "Why?"

Carly's attention snapped back to Shay's. "Ah, look. You're getting all  protective." She put out a hand to touch Shay's arm but Shay drew back,  halting the gesture.

Ignoring the rebuff, Carly continued grinning. "I'm just admiring, honey. He's all yours."

"Right." Shay let her gaze remain on the woman a moment longer.

When she turned away, she felt as if a hummingbird were trapped inside  her chest. She'd just stared down a woman who was thinking about  poaching her boyfriend.

Oh my God! She really had officially reached "my man" status.

Shay saw the doors to the bar kitchen swing open on her right and a huge  tray of food emerge. She heard a waiter behind her call, "Coming  through- Aw, fuck!" Then things went sideways.

Shay was bumped from behind and stumbled against a customer's chair as  an icy cascade of beer and glassware came flowing over her left  shoulder. It soaked her hair, her blouse, the man whose chair she'd  fallen against, and splashed every other diner at that table.

* * *

"I'm sure whatever beer is left will come out in the wash."

Angie was holding Shay's shirt under the hand dryer in the restroom  while Shay tried to rinse the beer out of her hair at the sink. "Who was  that woman at the bar?"

Shay grabbed for a handful of paper towels to squeeze the water out of her hair. "Someone I met last week."

"Dry enough." Angie shook out Shay's shirt. "She certainly is pushy."

Shay straightened up. "What do you mean?"

"She came into the office Monday. Said she needed a job and would Perry consider hiring her because you had recommended her."

Shay went still inside. "What did he say?"

"That's all I heard. I know he didn't hire her."

Anxiety bounded in and leaped on Shay, leaving her staggering around in her thoughts. She was still being followed.

Shay glanced back at the empty stalls to be sure they were alone. "Is she still out there?"

"No, she left as soon as you took that suds bath." Angie handed Shay her shirt. "You ready for a second beer?"

Shay shook her head stiffly. "My headache's back. I need to go home."  She pulled her shirt over her wet head. "But you and Henry stay."

"If you're sure?"

Shay nodded absently, wondering what that woman could possibly want. Was  Carly trying to get information about her for Eric? Was she the stalker  he'd hired? Wait, no. That was a man's voice.

Her headache kicked up a notch as anxiety dug deep claws into her. "I-I need to go home and-"