Collared (Going to the Dogs) (7 page)

She and Blue trailed to her room and she got ready for bed. Blue grabbed her brush and bought it to her in their evening ritual. After giving it a good, thorough brushing, she found Blue’s doggie brush and gave her a quick grooming. The dog made a happy growling sound deep in her throat.

As she slipped into bed with Blue settling next to her, she decided she was willing to forego the return of her jewelry. It was true those pieces meant a lot to her. The five necklaces and one pair of earrings were very valuable, and the gems in them would bring in a lot of money for the thief, as well as the gold. But that wasn’t what was important. They had been her mother’s favorites. Harper had kept them in the wall safe so she could wear them whenever the mood struck. They reminded her of her wonderful mother, and it hurt to think that they might be gone for good. But Jeffrey was too important to jeopardize.

He had done something for her three years ago when she’d been kidnapped that trumped any desire she might have to use mementos to keep her memories alive.

He’d saved her life at great personal risk.

There was nothing more precious than that.

At ten a.m. Jeffrey dropped Harper off at her brother’s loft and waited outside while she talked to Aiden.

Her brother was there, which, as far as Harper was concerned, was at least something.

When she entered, sliding the big metal door open and closed behind her, he was sitting at a long table, dressed in a white tank top and a pair of old, beat-up jeans.

He looked up and smiled. He was unshaven, but the blonde stubble only really showed when it caught the sun and all the highlights of red and gold flashed. And his hair was getting so long he wore it in a short ponytail at the back of his neck.

She was well aware how handsome he was. But to her he was simply her baby brother.

Cleatis, Aiden’s Doberman jumped up from the floor and trotted over to her. He’d deliberately picked the dog out to offset her prissy poodle. Blue might be prissy, but she had class.

“Hi there, pretty boy. Aren’t you handsome today?” She petted the Doberman’s sleek head and he pushed his nose into her hand and licked her.

“Don’t encourage him. Faith spoils him rotten.”

Faith was Aiden’s manager. Personal manager, dog walker, all around girl Friday. “Where is your trusty sidekick?”

“She’s out getting coffee, so I’m glad you’re here. You can hold this while I finish up.”

“You don’t pay that girl enough.”

He snorted. “I pay her plenty and she’s happy.”

“You know she takes care of her Nana, right?”

“Nana?” he said with a clueless look on his face. His lips thinned and he looked down at the bundle of cloth on the table. “No, I didn’t know that.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “You exasperate me. How long has she worked for you?”

“A long time.”

“Do you even know her favorite color or flower?”

“She’s my employee, Harper. I try to keep that separate,” he growled, and she decided not to piss him off before she broached the subject that was going to set him off anyway.

“Here.” He set a ring in her hand and she clasped it. “You can sit down there.” He pulled it taut. “Okay, pull against my pressure until I tell you to stop.”

He started knotting a huge piece of silk that was saturated with a glowing mix of myriad blues.

“This is beautiful.” Aiden had taken up fiber art, and some of his pieces had sold for quite a huge sum. His opening had been in July, around the time that Poe and Jared met while Poe was having trouble with those threatening letters. The piece Aiden was producing today looked like it was going to be a tall as she was. He had copper pipes and other metals to the side of the table which she guessed he was going to incorporate into the piece.

“Faith painted it.”

Harper just shook her head. Didn’t her brother appreciate anything?

“You didn’t come here to talk about my beautiful silks, Harper.”

“You don’t have to be so surly, Aiden.”

“I don’t like to be pushed,” he growled, giving her a knowing look. Well, no one ever accused Aiden of being completely oblivious.

“I know, but Dad is worried and upset. How can you keep avoiding him?”

His expression went mutinous and guilty at the same time. “I know what he wants. I don’t think I can give it to him.”

“Then tell him, Aiden. Put it to rest. Dad would never force you.”

He stopped knotting the silk and clenched his fists. “Don’t you think I know that?”

There was an unnatural tension in every line of his body. When he looked up at her, his eyes were so tormented that she knew, with a startling clarity, that he was struggling with something that went down to his soul, and was eating him alive.

“It doesn’t make it any easier. I need…I need to think about things, but everything gets jumbled up inside me. I feel lost and crazy most of time. I just can’t face any type of decision right now.”

A sound drew his attention, and he turned to see Faith standing at the side door, her hands holding a drink carrier with three coffees in it.

For a moment they stared at each other, and Harper saw the sympathy on Faith’s face…and something else that Aiden had obviously never noticed. The woman was head over heels in love with him, and he was too traumatized to see it.

Even though she was a meddler, she knew Aiden wasn’t in any condition to handle emotional stress at this point, no matter what kind.

“Fuck!” he said and strode towards Harper. Brushing past her, he slipped out the side door and slammed it behind him. She’d reached for him, but he had either not noticed or hadn’t bothered to acknowledge it.

“You’ve got to give him time,” Faith said. “Pushing Aiden isn’t going to help.”

Harper sighed. “You’re right, but my father needs his answer. But I’ll explain to him that Aiden is still struggling, and my father will back off. I’m glad Aiden has you, Faith.”

“For all the good I’m doing. He has nightmares and I don’t think he’s sleeping well. The only thing that seems to calm him is being here and focusing on the work.”

“Has he seen a doctor?”

“Yes, he’s seeing a doctor, thank God, but he’d kill me if he knew I told you. He doesn’t want to worry you or your father.”

“That’s Aiden. Stoic all the way. And completely blind to the fact that avoiding us is creating more worry than any difficult conversation would. But please call if you ever need me. Whenever, okay?”

“Of course, Harper.”

“Tell him I’m sorry I upset him, and I’ll tell Dad he’s not ready.”

Faith nodded and set down the carrier. “Do you want your coffee?”

“Of course, you got it for me.”

#

She had Jeffrey drop her in front of McGinty’s right after they had a heated argument about it. Jeffrey didn’t like the looks of the joint, and he thought Harper should go back home. But she was doing this whether he liked it or not. She was the boss.

She was excited about this evening, and that alien sensation of butterflies in her stomach was just an offshoot of that excitement. She never got nervous. She pushed the weathered door open and stepped into the dim interior. It was filled with tables, and those tables were filled with men…well, at least mostly men.

She peered into the gloom looking for Caleb. But she couldn’t see him. Many eyes turned her way, and she smiled and walked up to the bar.

“Are ye lost, love?”

The bartender had a wonderful Irish accent. “No, I’m not. I’m meeting someone here.”

“You, love? Meeting someone
here
?” He frowned. It was clear he thought she didn’t belong. Well, that was just too bad. He was in the same boat as her chauffeur. Caleb would probably think the same thing.

Anticipation curled in her at seeing him again. There was something about that man that made her heart race, a raw energy that arced between them, and that was saying something.

She thought what probably every other red-blooded female thought when first looking at him
. Get him in bed as quickly as possible. Let me see what he has under those clothes.
But after talking to him, she wanted to see him in his own environment. Was there some common ground for them? It didn’t mean she didn’t still want to touch his mouth, his beard, his shoulders, make those brown eyes of his heat up. Make him see only her. No, that was silly, because she wasn’t a proprietary person at all.

A hook-up with Caleb was what she’d planned, but now she wasn’t so sure. There was something about him that made her nervous. Some…something she worried might snag her if she got too close.

“Is meeting here so surprising?”

“Aye, ‘tis, but what can I get ye?”

“A beer.”

He smiled and he pulled one from the tap as Harper sat down at one of the barstools. After a few minutes a man approached her.

“What you on about, boyo?”

“Just wanted to see if the lady would like to shoot some pool.”

“Pool? Yes, I love pool.”

He smiled and she turned to see two pool tables set up in the back.

“Miss, ‘tis a bad idea. Can I call ye a cab?”

“No, thank you. I have a ride out front.”

She slipped off the bar stool and walked with her challenger to the back. She held out her hand and he shook it. “I’m Harper Sinclair, and you are?”

“Dave.”

“Okay, Dave, you rack and I’ll break.”

He eyed her, and she felt sure she fit in perfectly with her jeans and ruffled white tank top.

#

Caleb walked into McGinty’s looking forward to throwing back a few beers, playing a little pool, and catching a few innings of the Yankees on the tube. When he walked in the door there was a mob of guys near the pool table. He’d already sent out feelers regarding Harper’s jewelry and was letting the street work its gritty magic while he hunted down his main snitch, Lang. He smiled at Mickey the bartender and ordered a beer. Mickey slid it down the bar, and Caleb lifted it to his mouth.

But before he could swallow, he sprayed the beer out in utter shock and horror.

The knot of men had opened, and there was Harper Sinclair, bent over the pool table in painted-on jeans and a frilly white top that left her gorgeous shoulders and back bare.

He looked down the length of her body, over the incredible curves of her ass to the backs of her shapely calves, to her three-inch animal skin sandals.

He wanted to devour her, to start at her delectable, full-lipped mouth and inch his way down to her pink, polished toenails.

He set his beer on the bar, while his gaze still wandered around her body. He was hovering on the edge of seducing her. He didn’t think it would take much if that impromptu dance last night was any indication of how much she wanted him.

“
Fuck
,” he said soft and slow under his breath.

“She a friend of yours, boyo?”

“I wouldn’t classify her as a friend.”

“Well, it’s past time she hit the road, don’t ye think?”

“Yes, I do. Leave it to me.”

He strode over there, the anger at her recklessness building with each step. She had no idea how much danger she was in, with half these men being drunken louts and the other half lecherous bastards. He ogled her when they’d first met, but you could bet the rest of them were already at least one giant step ahead of him. He shouldered the men aside and grabbed the pool cue right out of her hand.

Her blue eyes collided with his and his heart ratcheted up a couple notches. Damn…why did she have to do that to him?

“Hey, buddy! You messed up her shot.”

“She’s done,” he said over his shoulder and some of the guys took one look at him and backed off, but there were always men who either weren’t smart enough or were too drunk to recognize the danger they were in.

One of them shoved him. Caleb pivoted and grabbed the guy by the shirtfront, giving him a
back down or else
look. His best I’m-a-fucking-badass-and-I’ll-fuck-you-up look, that he’d perfected not only on the streets of the Bronx, but also in the mean, unforgiving streets of New York City, as a rookie cop, and now as a detective.

The dude backed off, but in the tussle someone else grabbed Harper, and she let out a soft cry of surprise when the other guy pushed her against the wall.

Caleb’s protective instincts gripped him and he lunged forward, hauling the guy off her. That was it. That was all it took. Harper had these guys so jacked up, it had been only a matter of time before someone threw the first frustrated punch. The whole bar erupted into a free-for-all. Harper was frozen against the wall, her mouth in a little O of surprise, her eyes wide with alarm.

A chair came flying out of nowhere straight towards her and Caleb jumped in front of her, grunting as he took the impact against the side of his body. It drove him back a few steps, and he snarled in pain as the chair slammed into his hip and glanced off his injured shoulder. He grabbed at his shoulder and stood there trying to breathe around the agony. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t completely healed. Pain radiated up and down from his shoulder to his calf, his hip throbbing where he’d taken the brunt of the blow. A bottle flew at them and he ducked it, grabbing Harper’s hand and dragging her low.

Trying to will the excruciating pain away, he met her eyes, and the sympathy there made his heart skip a beat. He didn’t need her feeling sorry for him. He rose and started to shove their way to the back alley door. She clutched at him like he was a lifeline.

Someone grabbed her again, and he reacted instantly, ignoring the pain. This time the guy was big, and he didn’t look intimidated by Caleb’s six-two, muscular build.

Then the guy hauled off and punched him in the face. Caleb was thrown sideways, swearing as pain vibrated through his cheekbone and he tasted blood from a cut lip. When he turned back around, he ducked and led with an uppercut, his knuckles stinging, the impact sending more pain into his shoulder, and he clutched it again. The guy was hardly fazed. Damn, this was going to require more than just a punching contest, and he had to get Harper out of there. Now!

The next punch the mountain man threw, Caleb got behind him, grabbing onto his thick neck, and wrapped both arms around the guy’s throat, ignoring his shoulder’s screaming agony. But he held on until the guy’s knees buckled and he passed out. Caleb glanced up to find Harper standing there staring at him like he was as dangerous as a crocodile, her eyes still wide and so blue. He grabbed her hand again and pulled her toward the side exit into the alley. When they exploded out the doors, he swung her around and pressed her back up against the brick wall.