Love in a Nutshell (22 page)

“You’re kidding, right?” she asked. “You can’t possibly be about to fire me.”

Matt looked shocked. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want sorry. I just want my job.”

“Kate, I have to do this,” he said. “Yes, you survived this just wet and scared, but you said it earlier—this attack was aimed straight at you. I can’t keep placing you in harm’s way.”

“I know all that, but you’re forgetting one crucial thing. I can’t eat, repair The Nutshell, or begin to plan for the future without money. And I need the bonus to stop the villain who plans to take my house if I can’t get current on my mortgage by Thanksgiving.”

“How about if I keep paying you? You can have the bonus money, the whole thing.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to let you pay me for doing nothing.”

“Why not?” Matt asked. “Apparently, I do it for Jerry all the time.”

“With you or without you, I need to find out who did this, or I’m never going to be able to put what happened in the brewhouse behind me. And what about you? You need this thing solved as much as I do. We must be getting closer if the creep’s pushed it this far.”

Matt started to speak a couple of times, but cut himself off. She waited.

“Okay. Work here,” he finally said. “But understand that means you’re going to be with me twenty-four/seven.”

She smiled. “I think they have employment laws against those sorts of hours.”

He gave her another frustrated look. “You know what I’m saying, and you know why. Someone is after you, and that person isn’t messing around. So, when we’re here, you’re with me, and when we’re not, you’re in my house.”

She wanted to say he was exaggerating the situation, except that she’d just been treated like a beer additive.

“And at the risk of sounding even more like I’m trying to run your life, did you get the locks changed out at your place this week, Kate?”

“Actually, no.” She’d been in a haze of poodle contentment and had forgotten Matt’s suggestion.

“So anyone can walk in and hide until they’re ready to come out. Does that sound about right?”

“Yes,” Kate admitted.

“And do you have any walls or floors or a bathroom?”

“Jeesh. I have some walls and floors. And the bees are practically all gone.”

“You like living with ‘some’ bees in a gutted house with no locks on an isolated stretch of the lake with a psycho after you?”

Kate kicked at the floor and looked at her shoe. “It’s not gutted, it’s decorator-ready. And, besides, every house has ‘some’ bees.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Then it’s settled. I’ll come with you while you pack. You and your poodle will stay with me until an arrest is made and your house is renovated and one hundred percent bee free.”

“That could be a very long time.”

Matt shrugged. “True.”

He’d sounded almost happy, and secretly, Kate was, too.

“And you know that we’ll probably end up wanting to kill each other,” she said.

He smiled. “Old news.”

“And that people are going to talk.”

“They always do.”

But what was gossip mere seconds ago now would be true. She, Matt Culhane, a fussy poodle, and a three-legged dog were going to be shacking up. The circus had just come to town.

SIXTEEN

Matt thought his house was pretty cool. He’d put a good couple of years into harvesting the timber from his property and then building the place. Because it had been designed to suit his needs, he’d never thought too much about how others might view it. Until now.

Kate climbed out of her Jeep, then scooped up Stella, who’d hopped into the driver’s seat as soon as it had been vacated. That was close to their actual dog/woman relationship. To be totally accurate, Stella should have been driving the car.

Kate checked out his house. “I take it you had a thing for Lincoln Logs when you were a kid. This is one very impressive adult version thereof.”

“You know what they say … The bigger the boys, the bigger—”

“We’ll probably do better if we don’t talk about the size of anything, especially your toys,” she said, lingering by her vehicle. “This seemed a lot more sensible in the abstract than in reality. You … me … under one roof…”

He smiled. “I like it. A lot.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

Okay, and she was worried that she’d like it a lot. She was worried she’d like it way too much.

“Come on in and have a look around,” he said.

They climbed the cut flagstone steps to his front porch. He opened the door for Kate and the pooch.

She hesitated again. “Is Chuck in there?”

“Yes, but don’t worry about him. I’ll lock him in my bedroom until you and Stella get settled.”

Kate stepped across the threshold. “Wow. This is gorgeous. There’s a lot more light than I expected.”

Matt had designed the house so that the back of the main living space had an expanse of windows overlooking the pond and woods beyond.

“It’s a good-sized place, but there aren’t that many actual rooms,” he said. “I’ve put you in the only other fully enclosed bedroom, right next to mine, since I didn’t think you’d want to deal with the loft.” He pointed to the ladder that led to the house’s half-floor. “The space up there is good, but the climbs up and down might be tough on the poodle.”

She set her dog down. “A Stella-accessible room would be nice.”

If this were Chuck, he’d be cruising and sniffing around. Not Stella. She checked out one floor tile and put her nose in the air. Matt guessed she wasn’t much for the scent of hound. And she clearly wasn’t into him.

After stowing Chuck away, Matt led Kate to the guest room. Stella stuck to her side.

“It’s pretty basic.” He gestured at the queen-sized log bed he’d built from wood they hadn’t been able to use in the house. “You have your own bathroom through there.”

“Works for me.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, and Matt watched as she leaned back on her palms like she was testing the mattress for play. His favorite kind of play … Matt couldn’t look away. In his mind, he’d already joined her. They were both wearing a helluva lot less, and Stella was napping elsewhere.

“Nice,” he said.

Kate flopped back, arms spread, luxuriating on the patchwork quilt he’d swiped from his mother. “It is. It’s wonderful.”

Matt hadn’t been talking about the bed. He’d been thinking out loud, congratulating himself for maneuvering Kate into his house and his life. He moved closer to Kate and the wonderful bed, and a low growl sounded from somewhere very close to his left ankle. He looked down to see Kate’s dog baring piranha-sharp teeth.

“Stella, stop that,” Kate said. “You’re going to have to get over it. We’re guests here.”

The dog’s lip curled upward even more and Matt knew he had to make a tactical retreat until he stocked up on treats. He was going to lose this battle, but the war wasn’t over.

Matt backed off. “What do you say we move on to the kitchen?”

The galley-style kitchen wasn’t large, but Matt had built it to last, with granite countertops and quality appliances. Not that he used much of anything but the microwave.

“We haven’t talked about cooking,” he said.

“And we should probably keep it that way, too,” she said. “My cooking would scare you. How about I’ll fend for me and you fend for you?”

“Sure. But if I decide to actually cook a meal, I’m going to cook for you, too.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling. She moved closer to the fridge, where he kept various niece—and now nephew—photos and scraps of kid art on the door.

Kate pointed to the hospital baby shot of Maura and Todd’s latest. “There’s TJ.”

Matt nodded. “Yup, that’s the bruiser. How did you know they were calling him TJ?”

“From the birth announcement.”

“You got a birth announcement?”

“Of course,” she said. “And I’m going to the pamper mom party that Lizzie is throwing next week.”

“Party? I didn’t know about a party.”

“It’s for women only. Lizzie probably wouldn’t think of mentioning it to you.”

Apparently, Kate was more looped into the Culhane clan than Matt had known. This was yet another sign that his sisters had a full underground social machine in place. A slightly ominous thought, but since it also meant Kate was both watched over and building friendships that might make her feel more at home in the town, he’d learn to deal.

“Anything else you’d like to share?” he asked.

“Not a thing.”

*   *   *

AFTER SIX
days with Kate under his roof, Matt was having a hard time imagining her not being there. Unfortunately, the man-and-poodle relationship remained nothing to brag about.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me being here on card night?” Kate called from the kitchen. “I could always meet up with Ella for a girls’ night out.”

“You’re cool here,” Matt said as he stowed beer by the poker table set up in his living room. “Chuck likes having you around.”

Plus, Matt didn’t want Kate too far out of sight. He remained spooked by last Thursday’s near miss, and he flat-out enjoyed her company.

Kate came into the room with her dog trotting after her. She handed Matt a bowl of potato chips, and he stuck them on the table.

“I’m glad
Chuck’s
fond of me,” she said. “Probably best that I stay in tonight, anyway. After all the fries I chowed at work today, if I ate any more bar food, I’d never fit in these jeans again.”

“Couldn’t have that,” Matt said, eyeing both the jeans and the hot curves that filled them. For two days, Matt had fought hard not to give in to temptation and touch her. He was done fighting.

Matt took a step toward her. Stella growled. He glared at the poodle.

Kate couldn’t help a little smile. “I’ll go grab that sandwich tray.”

She cruised into the kitchen, but Stella kept eyeballing Matt.

Figuring it couldn’t hurt, he tossed the dog a potato chip. The poodle crunched through it in three chomps. She wagged her tail at Matt, clearly seeking more. Just to see if the chip-eating had been a fluke, he gave her another. It disappeared immediately.

Matt smiled. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

A knock sounded at the front door, and Bart and Travis came in. After they dumped their jackets on the sofa, Bart handed out cigars.

Kate popped out of the kitchen with the sandwich tray. While she said hello to Travis and Bart, Matt put the tray up high enough that Chuck, who was faking a nap by the fireplace, couldn’t grab it.

Kate spotted the cigars and wrinkled her nose. “Do you guys really smoke those things?”

“Sure,” Matt said, though his usually just smoldered in the ashtray.

“Gross.”

Travis cut his eyes to her. “Ever tried one? You should before dissing them.”

Kate laughed. “Thanks, but I’m still recovering from the beer tasting. I’ll just mosey on into the kitchen and think healthy thoughts while I eat my salad. Come on, Stella, let’s go.”

Stella stared at her owner, but didn’t move from Matt’s side.

Kate motioned to her. “Come on, girl.” When Stella stayed put, she said to Matt, “It looks like you two are getting along better.”

“We’re working on it,” Matt said.
One chip at a time.
“Don’t worry about her. She can hang with us for a while.”

Kate gave the poodle one last, speculative look and headed back into the kitchen alone. Five minutes later, Matt’s brother-in-law, Jack, arrived with a bottle of Irish whiskey in hand.

“Let’s get rolling,” Matt said. “Todd called this afternoon. He can’t make it. TJ has him too sleep-deprived to function.”

“Which is why he should be here,” Jack said. “We could use a donkey.”

Bart poured everyone a shot. “We still have you.” For a second, Jack looked as sharp-edged as his red brush cut, but then he joined in on the laughter. After that, the ceremonial opening whiskey was downed, some bull was shot, and stacks of quarters were lined up.

Matt slid the dealer button in front of himself on the table and shuffled the deck.

“Texas Hold ’Em,” he announced to the players.

Kate wandered back into the room. “Is Stella still here?”

Matt grinned. “Right next to me. Jealous?”

“Possibly.”

Matt chose to take that as a sign that she wanted his company, and not the poodle’s.

“Have you ever played poker?”

She paused. “Once.” Maybe no one else in the room could read her, but Matt knew she was messing with the truth. Kate’s tell was a subtle widening of her eyes.

“So, Kate, want to join in?” Jack asked in a casual voice.

“I guess I could. I mean, if it wouldn’t slow you guys down too much?”

“Never!” Jack said.

He clearly thought he’d landed his donkey, but Matt bet Jack was going to keep the tail and big ears.

“Sure, then,” Kate said. “I’d love to.”

Matt gave Kate his chair and half his quarters. After he’d brought another chair from the kitchen and settled in next to her, a low growl sounded from beneath the table. Matt grabbed a couple of chips. He popped one into his mouth and subtly let the other one drop to an overly possessive poodle.

“Since we have a new player, how about we go with a little straight poker, aces high, sevens wild? And I’ll sit out on the first couple of hands and help Kate get started,” Matt said.

The table agreed, and Matt dealt.

Once Kate had her hand, he moved his chair closer to coach her. Stella wasn’t square with the new arrangement and let everyone know by barking.

Matt edged the potato chip bowl closer. He was going to need it.

A couple more chips and many hands later, everyone was played out. Jack, Travis, and Bart had rounded up their remaining change, razzed Kate about her big win, and headed home.

Kate now sat at the kitchen table as Matt worked his way through the last of the night’s mess. Stella was flopped at her owner’s feet, zoned out on carbs.

“So how many times have you really played poker?” Matt asked, hoping to keep Kate’s attention from the chip-enriched poodle.

“Lots,” Kate said.