Love Is a Four-Legged Word (16 page)

The “little slut” bit did it for Tom. He grabbed Stoddard by both shoulders and flung him against the brick wall behind him. “Touch Maddy or the dog and you won’t know what hit you.”

Even with the breath knocked out of him Stoddard didn’t fold. He coughed and spluttered and then choked out a laugh. “Temper, temper, Mr. Attorney.” Tom pushed against his chest so he couldn’t move.

Stoddard continued, “I planned to seduce her, you know. Get my money that way. I knew she fancied me. But you got there first.Wish I’d known she liked it rough.”

Tom glared at him, fighting to keep his temper banked down. Then, disgusted, both at Stoddard and his own lapse in control, he dropped his hands from the Englishman’s torso. He felt soiled from the contact and wiped his hands down the sides of his suit jacket.

“In the morning I’ll get a judge to issue a protective injunction to keep you at least five hundred feet away from Madeleine Cartwright,” he said.

Stoddard brushed himself down. “Don’t waste your time, O’Brien. I’ve beaten you to the courthouse. I’ve already filed a petition to contest my great-uncle’s will. One way or the other I have every intention of winning against you, your whore, and that filthy mongrel.”

 

 

 

When the doorbell rang just minutes after Jerome left, Maddy shuddered. “Don’t even think about letting him back in,” she said to Serena.

Serena squinted through the peephole. She turned back to face Maddy. “It’s not Jerome out there, it’s Tom,” she said.

Tom! After nearly a week it was Tom. Maddy couldn’t help the unreasonable leap of her heart. She put her hands to her chest to try and stop its sudden furious pounding. Then she went to smooth her hair. She must look a mess after a long day at work.

“Don’t worry about your hair, you look lovely,” Serena whispered. “Should I let Tom in?”

“Yes. Of course.”

She didn’t have a chance to even think about what she’d say to Tom. Whether she’d tell him she’d missed him. Whether she’d say she’d made a mistake about his use-by date, that maybe, after all, he had some more shelf life left.

Tom’s dark brows were drawn in a scowl, his mouth a grim line. “You’re supposed to be in hiding. Why the hell did you let Stoddard in?”

Shocked by the anger in his words, she took a step back. “I didn’t. Serena did. She kept him here so we could call the police.”

“The police.Why? Did he hurt you?”

She frowned. After Jerome it was such a relief to see Tom. He was so strong. So solid. So darn sane. Yet he seemed more agitated than ever. She shook her head. “No.”

He closed his eyes in relief. “Thank God.”

“But he did try to kill Brutus again.”

Tom’s eyes flew open. “What!”

“He came armed with a block of chocolate.”

Tom appeared struck dumb by her words. “Chocolate. To kill Brutus,” he finally managed to get out. “You’re, uh, sure about that?”

“Sure, I’m sure. You heard Serena at the studio last week. Chocolate is toxic to dogs, and Jerome was carrying the biggest block you’ve ever seen.Wasn’t he, Serena?”

Maddy turned around to seek affirmation from her friend but Serena wasn’t there. She’d disappeared inside without Maddy noticing. And now she was alone with Tom in a hallway that suddenly seemed very small.

 

 

 

Maddy was wearing the short denim skirt that showed off her long, slender legs and a top that made no secret of the shape of her lovely breasts.

Tom tortured himself for a moment by wondering what underwear she had on. And how it would be to slowly strip it off. He took a deep breath to steady himself but all that did was to intoxicate him with her scent.

He inhaled the familiar lavender, this time blended with ... was it lemon? Had she been baking lemon meringue pie, perhaps? Another forbidden-to-him treat with all that pastry and egg yolk. He wanted to kiss her and find out. Hell, he wanted to kiss her just because he wanted to kiss her.

He bent his head to do just that but then abruptly pulled back. In the days he hadn’t seen her, he’d been working on a complicated case of corporate fraud. But thoughts of Maddy had kept intervening no matter how hard he tried to push her to the back of his mind. The senior partners didn’t help, either. Every time he encountered one, they asked him about Maddy. About the dog. But most of all about the bonus. The bonus Jackson, Jones, and Gentry needed and that would bring Tom a giant step closer to his goal.

No. He could not let her distract him from the main game, tempt him with happily-ever-after-type scenarios that were not part of his five-year plan.

It wasn’t that he thought his world would collapse if he deviated from the plan. But he was in no mood to test it. Back when his father had left, Tom’s world
had
fallen apart. And he hadn’t liked the feeling. The rigidly constructed plans had kept him steered on course ever since. And impressing the partners with that bonus was a part of it.

So he’d vowed that there would be no more
kissing occasions
. Only to find the sight of flesh-and-blood Maddy had him wanting and yearning all over again. It was too damn complicated.

He stepped back. He cleared his throat. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Fine,” she said in a small voice. She seemed to have sensed his rejection, and he had to force himself not to draw her to him in a reassuring hug.

Instead he assumed his best lawyer voice. “Stoddard didn’t threaten you?”

“Me?” She looked surprised. “With the chocolate? No. Chocolate definitely isn’t poison to me. I figure with all the chocolate I’ve consumed in my lifetime that I’m immune. No matter how much theo ... theobromine or whatever it’s called is in it.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her words. She put the craziest twist on things. Crazy but utterly endearing.

“No. I mean did he threaten you personally?”

Her eyes were huge in her heart-shaped face. “Why do you keep asking me that? You’re freaking me out.”

“I met Stoddard outside on the sidewalk. The gloves are off. He told me he’s going to contest Walter’s will.”

Maddy took a sharp intake of breath. Tom couldn’t help noticing how enticingly her breasts rose on the intake.

“What does that mean?”

“He’s a blood relative who was not provided for by the estate. It could get ugly. But rest assured, I bulletproofed Walter’s unconventional will.”

“Still, Jerome’s got a chance of disinheriting Brutus?”

“Not if I have anything to do with it. But it’s perfectly legal for him to have a shot at it.”

“What happens to Brutus if Jerome wins? Would I get to keep him?”

“I’d make sure of it. No way could Stoddard be allowed near him.”

Maddy’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not all, is it? You’re not telling me everything.”

Tom paused. So much of what he’d deduced about Stoddard this evening was just instinct. He had to be cautious. And how could he tell Maddy the Englishman had called her a slut and a whore?

“Stoddard is not a nice guy, Maddy.” That was the understatement of the year. “The point is I’m worried that having failed with Brutus he might try to hurt you now.”

She paled and the scattering of freckles stood out on her nose. “Me?” she said slowly.

“The way he sees it, there’s just you and Brutus between him and Walter’s millions.”

“But that’s insane.”

“Maybe. I don’t like that he knows where you’re living.”

She put her hand up to her mouth in mock shock. “You mean he might toss a poisoned bagel into the kitchen window for me to have for breakfast?” She laughed, but it was a high-pitched laugh that didn’t reach her eyes.

Tom gritted his teeth. He couldn’t bear to think of anything happening to her. He wanted to protect her, make her see the seriousness of the situation, but at the same time he didn’t want to distress her too much by alerting her to the psycho intent he’d seen in Jerome’s eyes.

“Who knows what he’s capable of? I believe it’s imperative that both you and Brutus stay out of his way until the twenty-one days expire.”

“You mean, like, go into hiding again?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “He did say he’d be back to get Brutus when we least expected it.”

“Did he?” So now Stoddard was open in his threats. “He’ll also alert his media buddies to your new address.”

Maddy twisted her hands together. “My editor told me she didn’t want to see my photo anywhere but on the pages of
Annie
magazine. I have to stay out of their way.”

“I agree.”

Maddy thought out loud. “But I don’t have anywhere to go. None of my other friends have room for me and Brutus.”

Tom took a deep breath.What he was going to say he would probably regret. There was no subsection in the plan to cover this contingency. “I figured as much. What you really need is access to a secure apartment with a twenty-four-hour doorman where you can hide out in safety. Where no one unauthorized can get in or out.”

Her mouth twisted. “Yeah. Sure. Like they drop out of trees every day,” she said.

He cleared his throat. This was no-going-back time. “Well, maybe not every day. But certainly today. Maddy, I want you to come and stay in my apartment with me. Now. Tonight.”

Maddy was shocked into silence. She stared disbelievingly at Tom before she finally found her voice. “Stay with you? In your apartment?”

“That’s right. I bought the apartment as part of an investment portfolio. It’s registered under the name of a company, so it would be difficult for anyone to trace you there. You’ll be safe.”

Safe? thought Maddy. That depended on his definition of safety. Safe from Jerome and unwelcome reporters maybe. But what about safe from Tom and the attraction she didn’t want to feel? “Just you and me?”

“And Brutus.”

“Of course.”

“There’s just one problem.”

“Yes?”

“There are no dogs allowed where I live.”

“No dogs,” she repeated, knowing she sounded dopey but seizing on the opportunity to distract herself from the thought of being alone with Tom in his apartment. And to stop the surge of excitement that flared through her. “So what do we do about Brutus?”

“We think of ways around the restriction.”

“You mean break the rules? Are lawyers allowed to do that?”

“Well ...” he said and the dimple appeared for the first time that evening.With a great deal of effort, she refrained from leaning forward and kissing it “hello.”

“We’ll have to smuggle him in and keep him completely under wraps,” he said.

“Which might not be so easy with Brutus.”

“Correct.”

She looked up at Tom. Some of the strain had gone from his eyes. He had never looked more handsome. Her heart did a series of disconcerting somersaults.

“Brutus has a pet carrier that Walter used to take him to the vet.”

“Too obvious.”

“What about my suitcase?” She answered her own question before Tom had a chance to comment. “No. Too confined. He’d panic. And when he panics he po-”

“I don’t want to know about that scenario.” Tom grimaced.

Maddy thought. “I’ve got just the thing. We’ll disguise him as shopping.”

Tom’s eyebrows rose. “Shopping?”

“I’m a chef. I’d be bringing food into your house, right?”

Tom nodded.

“I have a big woven straw market basket. It’s deep, it has air holes, it has handles. And I can cover the top with a dishtowel. No one would dream there was a dog in there. We’ll smuggle him into your apartment in my shopping basket.”

Twelve

Brutus did not want to be stuffed into a shopping basket. He did not want to be tucked in with a dishtowel. He protested. He barked. He scrabbled with his claws and scratched Maddy’s arms. She yelped. Tom cursed. Then Brutus jumped out of the basket, scampered off, and hid behind Serena’s sofa. To inform the humans of his extreme displeasure he peed on Serena’s rug.

Thank heaven for the wonders of veterinary science, Maddy thought as, much later that night, she found herself outside Tom’s imposing apartment block on South Beach. She had parked her car at a parking garage a few blocks back.

She was carrying her shopping basket with Brutus safely inside. Protruding from one corner, for authenticity’s sake, was a bunch of celery and a couple of leeks. From inside the basket emanated the faintest of doggy snores.

Tom strode beside her, carrying her hastily-packed-again purple suitcase.

“Good thing Serena still had some of the dog sedative the vet prescribed for Snowball when he travels,” Maddy whispered. “But we’d better get Brutus inside before it wears off.”

Tom stopped mid-stride. “Don’t call him Brutus,” he hissed. “The whole country knows Brutus the millionaire mutt. That would be a dead giveaway. We’ll have to call him something else.”