When the music stopped, she glanced at the clock, surprised and chagrinned to see it was after midnight. Strangely, she’d forgotten to eat dinner, take a shower, or change into her comfy sweats. Also weird, her cats had curled themselves up under the window and hadn’t made a sound.
“You have black magic in those fingertips,” she whispered to her mystery man.
The next morning, she sat at her breakfast table, her gaze glued on the house across the street, curious to see him. And he had to be a him, or else she was going to be sorely disappointed in her reasoning.
The top half of a body appeared in the bungalow’s kitchen window, and she froze with her coffee cup halfway to her mouth. He was a he! With a grin, she gave a fist pump. Although she couldn’t see his features, the top half of him was built like a freakin’ warrior.
“No drooling, Riley,” she muttered. With a cup in his hand, he stepped onto his porch, wearing a pair of sweat bottoms and nothing else. She drooled.
Then two dogs followed him out, and she sighed. “My cats are going to hate your dogs, so that means we can’t have a hot affair, mystery man.”
The dogs, one of them the ugliest thing she’d ever seen, the other a mixed breed that looked to have some German shepherd genes, stayed at either side of him. Because she was a veterinarian and trained to notice animal behavior, she caught the miniscule hand signal he gave them. Ugly dog and mixed-breed dog bounded down the steps and raced around the yard.
Stupid man. Didn’t he realize they might run into the road and get hit by a car? She had lost more than her fair share of pets recently and didn’t want to see another one die. Damn if she was going to let that happen again.
“Are you crazy?” she yelled at him after going out onto her front lawn. The man gave her body a slow perusal that sent shivers right down to her toes.
“Probably,” he said.
What? Was he admitting he was crazy? She backed up a few steps. He took a leisurely sip of what she assumed was coffee, but who knew, maybe he was drinking booze already. She took another few steps back. Why couldn’t she learn to mind her own business?
“Excuse my curiosity, but was that just a general observation, or was there a reason for your question?”
The humor—was he laughing at her?—in his voice annoyed her. She marched forward. “Has it not occurred to you that your dogs might run into the road and get hit?”
“Yep,” he said.
She waited for more, then continued to wait. Why did the man have to be so freaking hot? Those broad shoulders and his six-pack abs made her want to press her fingers against his chest to see if he was as muscle hard as he looked. Dark brown hair, caramel-colored eyes, a killer body, and a day-old beard made for one potent man. It was the scruff that gave him a bad boy appearance, the kind of bad boy who’d always appealed to her, unfortunately. There wasn’t a soft thing about him, not even in his eyes. They were hard and cold.
“Bah,” she muttered when he remained silent. Waving a dismissive hand, she turned to go back into her house.
“Call them,” he said.
Don’t turn around, Riley. She turned. “What?”
“Call them. The ugly one is Pretty Girl and the black and tan one is Sally. Call them by name.”
Riley glanced up and down the street to make sure there were no oncoming cars. Okay, she’d show him what an idiot he was by playing his stupid game. “Pretty Girl, Sally, come here.” She clapped and crooned to them. They both ran to the edge of the sidewalk, sat their butts on the ground, and swept their tails across the grass. No matter how much she cajoled, they came no farther. Well, that was embarrassing, and the amusement in the man’s eyes grated.
“My bad,” she said as she slinked back to her house. At hearing his low chuckle, she lifted her hand and gave him her middle finger.
CHAPTER TWO
Cody cracked a rare smile as he watched the woman until she disappeared inside her house. “Did you just give me the finger, darlin’?”
Her hair—hanging straight down her back now—reminded him of a German shepherd’s coat with the different shades of dark browns, lighter browns, and the gold streaks. Nice bod, too. Very nice. And he liked the way her eyes had flashed with fire when she’d gotten annoyed with him. He wondered what her name was.
Didn’t matter, though. He was better off not knowing. The last thing he needed was the complication of a woman when his life was royally screwed up. He called the dogs in so he could dress for work.
As he headed for his car, his phone buzzed a text message.
Have a great first day on your new job, Sonny Boy. Hope it’s what you need to turn your life around.