Haunt Your Heart Out

Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

James made twice-daily stops into Dog-Eared over the next couple of days. A coffee here, a new book to add to his growing collection there. Business had picked up as tourists stopped in on their way out of town to pick up gifts and trinkets from our tiny window display. Stocking stuffers to go along with the tiny bottles of maple syrup they’d gotten from the sugar shack down the road, evergreen-shaped keychains with “Vermont” etched across them, and local liquors sold in gimmicky bottles meant for the out-of-state crowd. Paperbacks were left behind, unwanted.

I sorted used books and tallied the store credit owed each customer. Charles had created a revolving “take a penny, leave a penny” situation rather than a money-making operation, except replace “penny” with “book.” Which is why the coffee and trinkets were necessary. If he adjusted the payout—a flat fifty cents per book toward store credit—maybe he’d be making some money.

I’d pulled three books from the latest box and set them aside to add to my own collection. One, a copy of Romeo and Juliet with the note “To my Juliet, with love. Wishing to create our own love story as sweet as this,” which proved the giver must never have studied Shakespeare, or preferred tragedy to true love. Though, the fact that their Juliet had dropped off the book at a used book store was evidence that perhaps their love story had a similar, hopefully less tragic, ending. Either way, the book had made it into my stack, where the secret would remain hidden.

The door swung open and a disheveled James hurtled toward the desk, glancing around the store.

“Hey, I was just about to kick back with a lunch break book. Got time to join me?”

He shook his head, his eyes wide and worried. “Have you seen Lulu?”

“No. What’s wrong?”

“She’s missing. I got back home from a consult at the historical society and the door was wide open. I think I forgot to latch it, or Julian did. Either way, the door was open and Lulu was gone, and I’ve been calling her and asking around and nobody’s seen her.”

I grabbed my keys from the desk, yanked my coat from the coat hook, and grasped for his hand as I passed, tugging him toward the door. “How long has she been gone?”

I flipped the sign to “closed,” pulled him outside, locked the door behind us, and scanned the sidewalks looking for the familiar curly-haired dog. There was no sign of her, no doggie footprints on the sidewalks.

“I don’t know,” James said. “I left around eight this morning and got home at eleven. I checked the yard, asked the neighbors, stopped into surrounding businesses, and nobody’s seen her. It could have been any time this morning. She’s never wandered off before. She’s probably freezing. Sorry I didn’t call before stopping at the store, I left my phone at the house. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“We’ll find her.” I directed him to my car and shoved him into the passenger seat, shutting the door gently behind him. I got into my seat, started the car, cranked the heat as high as it went, then turned to James. “Let’s go over it again. Where have you looked?”

He listed the places he’d checked, then I handed him my phone. “Call the animal shelter, file a report. Police department, too. We’ll find her.”

“Don’t you have to work?” James pointed at the store’s door where two ski-jacket-clad men jiggled the doorknob, peered through the front window, and consulted the hours sign hanging in the window.

“It’s fine, they’ll come back if they desperately want a book. More likely they just want to use the bathroom. Call the shelter.”

While he called, I backed out of my spot and began the slow crawl through town, eyes peeled for a cold canine on the lam.

“Text Natalie,” I told him. “Let her know we’re looking. She’s probably out plowing parking lots today so she can watch while she plows and let us know if she sees anything.”

“She’s just all I’ve got right now. I’ve had her since she was a puppy. My parents … I mean, they’re just … my family, my dad, isn’t … warm. Lulu is warm. I’m so sorry. Sorry I’m rambling, and sorry to drag you away from work.”

Apologetic and worried James was a complete turn-around from confident, witty James. He looked smaller, his shoulders collapsed and his head dipped. He held worry in the corners of his eyes and in his clamped-tight jaw. His brows pulled in as he scanned snowbanks and yards.

“Work doesn’t matter, I promise you. Text Natalie. Tell her if she finds Lulu, she can drop her off inside my house. She has a key and can get Lulu inside.”

While we searched, James’s knee bounced enough that the car was jiggling along with it. I reached over and squeezed his leg. James scrubbed his hands across his face but stopped tapping his foot for a moment.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

He nodded, lips pressed into a disbelieving line and eyes filled with concern.

We worked through the streets one by one, at a crawl, then backtracked to make sure we hadn’t crossed paths. As we turned onto the main drag for our third sweep of town, I caught a dark blur out of the corner of my eye. Lulu! I slammed on the brakes, threw my car into park, and flailed in her direction.

“There she is! Over there, running toward the parking lot!” The car was still running when I shoved my door open, jumped out, and ran toward Lulu.

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!” James dove out of the car and overtook me as he ran toward his dog. “You’re in so much trouble, what are you trying to do to me?”

He caught up with her, and she yipped at him, then jumped up to put both paws on his stomach. He knelt on the ground, wrapped her in a giant hug, and pressed his face into the fur at her neck.

At a glance, Lulu looked perfectly fine. Balls of snow had gathered in her fur, weighing down her wagging tail and the hair at her stomach. No limping or sign of soreness, just a furry, shivering ball of fluff enjoying the reunion as much as James was.

“Let’s get her in the car, she looks like she could use a warm-up.” I rested my fingertips on his shoulder as he cycled between telling Lulu how much he missed her, how worried he’d been, and how happy he was to see her. “Want to come back to my place? It’s closer, and I have a fireplace. I just need to stop by the bookstore quickly to close out the register and drop off the bank deposit. It’s been a slow day, so closing early won’t be a big deal.”

“You don’t mind having a dirty, wet, naughty dog in the car?” He rested his forehead against hers and smooshed her furry cheeks between his palms.

I shook my head.

“Or in the house?”

“Not a problem. I can make lunch.”

“Lunch sounds perfect.” He stood, scooped Lulu up into his arms, and carried her back to the car.

Lulu enjoyed barreling through the house, bounding off furniture, and knocking my plants off windowsills and shelves. Her zoomies lasted for fifteen minutes—then she curled up beside the fireplace and dozed, snoring loudly.

James settled into a chair in the kitchen, perched on the edge like he was prepared to dash out the door to take Lulu to the vet at the first sign of distress. She snoozed on, unaware that she’d shaken us both to the core—and I didn’t even know the beast beyond a handful of strolls through town.

“We have two options. Soup from a can in, oh, ninety seconds. Or soup from scratch using last night’s leftover chicken and whatever veggies happen to be hiding in my produce drawer.”

“I don’t want to impose,” James said. “Honestly, the fire is plenty. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Oh, I’m not doing it alone. We are going to make this soup together. Pick your weapon and get chopping.” I pointed to the knife block and winked at him.

He dragged a knife from the block and examined the edge a moment.

“Oh, it’s dull. I might have knives like an adult, but hell if I know how to sharpen them.”

I lifted my brows at him as he crossed the kitchen and started tugging open drawer after drawer until he found a sharpening block.

“I didn’t even know I had that,” I said.

“Dull is dangerous. Let me sharpen this, then I’ll chop some veggies.”

“Deal.”

I tugged the carrots, potatoes, and onion from the drawer and piled them on the cluttered countertop, then grabbed the bamboo cutting board from the drainboard. He dragged the knife against the stone and a satisfying swiick, swiiick, swiiick echoed through the otherwise quiet kitchen with each tiny swipe. His eyes focused on the blade, and mine were drawn to the way his rolled-up Henley sleeves showed off the muscles in his forearms. They tensed with each drag. Only slightly, but it was enough to get my attention. The subtle tightening had my eyes trailing up his arms, to the sleeved biceps, then to his square shoulders. I stopped my appraisal at his jawline, where the concentration was most evident.

I settled into the chair beside his, chin rested in one palm, eyes fixed on his profile. He licked his lips, then gritted his teeth, and I swallowed a sigh to keep from giving myself away.

“It’s really difficult to sharpen a knife while I’m being watched,” he said, not taking his eyes from the blade.

“It’s really difficult to focus on anything else with you flaunting your bare forearms like that. Honestly. Unfair advantage.”

He let out a chuckle that matched his smile’s power in wattage. If I’d have been standing, my knees would have been weak.

“How dare you come into my kitchen, sharpen my knives, and make me swoon. You are a true terror, James. An absolute nightmare.”

“Wait until you see how I use this thing. I’ve worked in multiple kitchens, and they don’t skimp when it comes to knife safety certifications.” He ran a fingertip along the freshly ground blade, examined the edge, and rubbed his fingertips together, satisfied with his work. “Though, based on the texts you sent Natalie, I’m not sure I need to work so hard to impress you.”

My stomach dropped straight through the Earth’s crust and deep into the core. “Oh, god.”

“Hey, now. You handed me your phone, after all.”

“How many did you see?” I grasped for my pocket, but my phone wasn’t there. James’s eyes sparkled as he watched me pat my jeans searching for the device. “Can we just forget how incredibly ridiculous I am and pretend you didn’t see any of them?”

“Oh, what, you’d ask me to forget about how the hair at the back of my neck is perfect for tugging? Or how my lower lip is begging to be sucked on?” He sucked his own bottom lip into his mouth experimentally, then let his teeth slide over it.

Heat crawled up my neck and my cheeks were on fire, but if I was already going down, why not own it? “So, did you see the one about your ass then?”

“Hmm, I absolutely did. One of my favorites, actually. Poetry. If you play your cards right, you might get to see what my ass looks like out of my jeans. You won’t be disappointed.”

“Your confidence is astounding.”

“You like it.”

I bit my lip and peered at him, challenging him to put the knife down and make his move.

He met my gaze and smirked, the dimple popping up in his chin to give his amusement away. “So, are we chopping some veggies here? Tell me what to do.”

And just like that, we were cooking again. The glint in his eye told me he was enjoying toying with me. “Veggies are on the counter. Slice ’em, dice ’em. Whatever makes you happy. If you’re good with that, I’ll get the stock and chicken ready to go.”

It took everything I had to keep from whimpering as he transitioned seamlessly from knife-sharpening to seduction to veg-prepping. He sliced completely uniform carrot rounds, diced perfectly shaped potatoes, and sliced the onion without shedding a tear—and I kept watch in my peripheral to make sure I didn’t miss a moment of it.

When he wrapped up his precise prepping, I tossed the soup ingredients into the stockpot and brushed my hands together.

“And now, we’ve got about twenty minutes before it’s ready. Any recommendations for how we spend our time?”

He crossed the kitchen in two long strides, a wicked grin replacing his usual playful smirk. With a hand at my elbow and another cupped behind my head, he dipped me into a kiss so smoothly my heart rate kicked up to double time. His tongue swept across my lips, then teased between them until I let him in. Our tongues mingled and blood rushed through my veins, swooshing in my ears and pulling away from my brain, leaving me lightheaded and euphoric. He let out a low growl.

“My lower lip is ready and waiting,” he whispered, his lips still pressed against mine.

I dragged my teeth against it obediently and giggled when his lips tightened in a satisfied grin. He pressed his weight into me, hips against hips and chests heaving in unison, pushing me a half step at a time toward the living room. I shuffled backward, fully trusting that he’d keep me from colliding into furniture or tripping over discarded boots. I gathered the front of his shirt into my fists, willing inertia to take over, and we careened toward the couch.

My ass pressed into the cushion, and he knelt beside me, one knee throwing the balance off, so I tipped into him. He tilted his head and leaned in to taste my mouth, my jawline, my neck, my collarbone, trailing kisses and licks the entire way.

“Sorry about work,” James said between kisses. “I shouldn’t have pulled you away.”

I pressed a hand to his chest, and he backed away instantly. The way he let me lead was so damn hot.

“It’s not a big deal. So, people didn’t get their afternoon dose of caffeine. It’s not going to make or break the store, promise.” Lulu trotted over and pressed her chin into my knee. I scrunched her ears in my hands, which roughed up her wiry fur, giving her a bit of doggy bedhead. “Besides, puppies come first.”

“Really, thank you for helping. The way I move around, I don’t have many connections. Just as I get to know people, I move on. Lulu’s been with me everywhere I’ve landed, and I couldn’t imagine not having her around. I shouldn’t have bothered you with this, but I was scared, and I saw your car and realized that having you beside me would probably calm me enough for rational thinking. Everyone I know in the area was working, so …”

I shot him a fake judgmental scowl.

“I know, you were working too. Have I said I’m sorry? And thank you?”

Everything screamed at me to back up: his confessions about not having many friends, and the reminder that he moved around constantly, never settling or allowing roots. He’d be leaving here, moving on just like he’d moved on before. Maybe he’d seek out a beachy retreat, or a desert, or a lakeside cabin next. Find the next documentary subjects.

But, this time, all I wanted to consider was the moment.

“Make it up to me.” I took his hand and pulled him onto the cushion beside me.

He settled into the seat, turned toward me, and kissed me slow and back-bendingly deep.

I dragged my fingertips up the back of his neck and received a full-body shiver in return that had nothing to do with our chilly hunt for Lulu. His lips parted against mine, and he traced the line of my upper lip with his tongue. My tongue met his and the two mingled, gently testing, seeking, wandering.

He’d smoothed on some minty lip balm at some point and the wintery tingle transferred to my mouth. I gripped the hair at the base of his neck—it was as marvelous as I’d imagined—and pulled him closer for another taste.

He slid a hand along my waistline and slipped his fingertips beneath the bottom edge of my sweater. A finger played at my waistband, hesitantly, giving me the option to say no.

He broke away from our kiss and leaned in to rest nose-to-nose. “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but …”

“By all means, presume, James.” I tugged my jeans button free and arched my back, tipping my head away from his. He trailed kisses along my jawline, down the center of my throat, and along my sweater’s neckline, sending a fresh wave of shivers straight through my core with each. He finished with a tiny nip at my collarbone, the scrape of his stubble leaving my limbs useless.

His fingertips slipped beneath my waistband, and I adjusted my weight to provide a bit of room for him to explore further. I warmed at his touch, and each kiss built upon the insistent wanting.

Until James rolled into town, it had been months since I’d kissed anyone, let alone had sex. Even when I’d still been with Kyle, sex was rare—he just wasn’t into physical intimacy, and we’d found a balance that worked for both of us. There was only so much one could accomplish with a vibrator.

James gripped either side of my waist and pulled back to look at me with a full body sweep. My chest heaved as I worked to catch my breath, but it was impossible. One eyebrow hitched upward, his mouth quirked into an amused grin, he waited.

“If you’re interested in continuing this discussion,” I said, leaning in to kiss his crooked smile, “there are condoms in my nightstand drawer. Gentleman’s choice.”

James ran a tongue along his top teeth, winked, and leapt off the couch, bolting for my bedroom. I swiped my hands through my hair, dragged my forefinger and thumb along my lips to wipe away any smudged lipstick, and straightened up in my seat while I waited for him to come back.

He returned with the whole forty-pack box of condoms in his hand, his lips pulled to the side. “Is this all you have?”

“Ha ha, super funny. We’re going to go through forty condoms.” I tossed a throw pillow his way, and he knocked it aside with the giant condom supply.

“Okay, well don’t get your hopes up there. All I meant was that these are expired.”

“Oh shit. By how long?” I tallied all of the reasons not to use expired condoms and considered bringing up the FAQs page on the brand’s website to see how serious they were about those expiration dates.

“About, oh, nine months.”

I gritted my teeth. An entire box, nine months gone. Shelf life was what, four or five years to start? I’d probably bought the box before Kyle opened up about being ace-spec.

“It’s, uh, been a while.” There. I admitted it. Out loud. “You don’t happen to have a secret stash in that coat of yours, do you?”

James crossed the room, shaking his head. “I’m good to wait, though.” He tossed the box of useless latex onto the side table and sat beside me, lacing his fingers with mine. “Besides, you don’t need condoms for this.” He pulled me into his lap, and I straddled him. He reached for the back of my neck and pulled my head toward his for another round of kisses that wiped my mind blank.