Blind Love (10 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Boy Meets Dog

Ben took one look at Lauren’s flushed face and knew the asshole in question had arrived. Jealousy brewed inside his gut, and with it, anger. The realization he had no damn right to feel either pissed him off even more.

He turned to watch the red truck pull up. Didn’t see a gun rack in there but it didn’t mean the driver wasn’t carrying. By the time the vehicle parked, every muscle in his body was tight and the pulse on his neck throbbed. Yeah, she wasn’t his and obviously would never be again. But if he had anything to do with it, she’d stay as far away from the lying sack of shit cowboy as possible.

Sunny came up and stood beside him. Arms crossed, eyes narrowed, she glared at the suspect. “Dickwad returns,” she muttered.

“Don’t call him Dickwad. He has a name,” Lauren said from behind him.

Ben chuckled. “Dickwad sounds right to me.”

“You like that, huh? Then you’ll love her term of endearment for you. Want to tell him?”

Ben raised his brows at the now red-faced blonde standing guard next to him. She batted her lashes and blew him a kiss.

“You two need to get inside,” he said, hoping they’d oblige.

“No,” they said in unison.

“And I don’t need a human barricade,” Lauren muttered.

Lauren’s hand pressed across the back of his and Sunny’s shoulders. His body warmed from her touch making it hard to stay focused. When she squeezed between the wall they’d created, her bare arm rubbed against his. Bolts of heat shot to his crotch. He savored the contact and fought the urge to see if it affected her too. At the moment, only her safety mattered.

When she took a step forward, Ben wrapped an arm around her waist. Lauren stiffened. He ignored the reaction and kept his hand firm on her hip. “Sorry, sweetheart, you’re not going any farther.”

To his relief, she stayed put and didn’t push away. She’d probably rip into him for this later, but he’d savor her proximity for as long as she’d allow.

Although Ben’s gaze was fixed on the activities in the truck across the lawn, his thoughts were on the woman in his arm. She was smaller, leaner than he remembered. When they were married, he would come home after long shifts to find she hadn’t eaten anything all day. Too consumed in whatever she was doing, food wasn’t even on her radar most of the time. From the feel of her, it seemed to have gotten worse.

Jack rose from his seated spot and barked excitedly. A small head bobbed from the back row of the vehicle. The chances of Gabe jumping out with a gun with his son in the truck were slim. Just in case, Ben moved in front of the women and kept a hand on the waistband of his jeans.

The driver side door opened. In denim, a faded tee and black baseball cap, the suspect climbed out and nodded his greeting. Ben scowled as the man’s attention lingered on her.

“Damn, why do the sexy ones have to be the serial killers?” Sunny whispered.

Sexy?

He looked the intruder over while the blonde continued her hushed commentary.

“Gabe’s walking to the passenger side. He’s getting his son out.”

As soon as Jack saw the two rounding the vehicle, he barked and wagged his tail.

Lauren smiled. “See? Jack trusts him too.”

Ben rolled his eyes but said nothing.

“I like him. But it doesn’t mean he’s not a killer,” Sunny replied. “Ooh. The poor kid just saw Jack and looks terrified.”

The little guy grabbed Gabe’s hand and inched as close to him as humanly possible. Seeing the kid terrified sent a surge of protectiveness through Ben. He swallowed down the urge to order the dog back; Jack would never hurt anyone.

“Scared of Jack? Really? Describe the kid,” Lauren said.

“Straight brown hair cut short. Huge eyes, blue I’m thinking but not for sure. He looks like the kid from
Home Improvement
. The middle one, remember him?”

Lauren nodded. “Yeah.”

“He has on denim shorts and a red T-shirt with a robot on it.”

Ben shook his head and tried to ignore Sunny’s ramblings. The child in question tugged on his dad’s hand. Gabe glanced over in their direction before squatting down and talking to him.

“Dick…damn, sorry, Gabe’s talking to the kid.”

“What happened to his wife?” Lauren asked Ben.

“Dead.”

“Yes, I got that part, but how?” Lauren hissed.

He considered not answering. The information was on a need-to-know basis but the reality was she did need to know. It might even help her steer clear of him. “Bullet to the head. They found her car abandoned by the side of the road and body twenty miles away in a ditch. No fingerprints. No sign of a struggle. Nothing stolen.”

Jack looked over at Ben and Lauren, whimpering.

“Free Jack,” she ordered and seconds later he sprinted across the lawn. The poor kid jumped behind his dad for protection as soon as he saw the dog charging their way.

“Did Jack run over there?” Lauren asked.

“Yup,” Sunny answered. “He’s a freakin’ horse compared to the kid. Anyway, Gabe’s talking to his son and petting your dog at the same time. It’s kinda sweet.”

“What do the police think was his motive for having her killed?” Lauren whispered.

He shrugged. “Probably wanted out of the marriage and it was a cheaper way to get rid of her.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. He’d never do that to his son. He understands what it’s like to lose a parent.”

The kid reached over Gabe’s shoulder and let Jack smell his palm.

“When you’re not happy, you do a lot of things you normally wouldn’t. Not attacking you, Ben, just sayin’,” Sunny said.

Ben flinched but didn’t respond—not much he could say.

“True, but murder? No, there’s more to this. Did they say why he wasn’t around much?”

He knew the answer but decided against sharing the information. “Only that he finished his tour of duty with the Marines a few months ago,” he said.

Whatever Gabe told the kid had the little guy peeling himself off his father’s back. He walked cautiously around, while Gabe kept a protective arm on his shoulder. Jack waved his tail and waited.

“Your dog’s trying to make friends but the boy’s scared shitless. And as far as Gabe’s concerned, you don’t know what he’s capable of. It took me a couple of months to figure out what an ass Scott was and you’ve spent what barely a day with Gabe? He could have been playing you the whole time,” Sunny said.

“No, he wasn’t. I know when someone’s playing me. I can smell it.”

Lauren’s statement had Ben raising his brows. It had been something he’d wondered a lot about. How long had she suspected his affair? He brushed the question away and tried to stay focused.

“That man did smell mighty fine and he’s so damn hot…”

Ben cut Sunny off. “He could be a good liar.”

Sunny nodded, “Just like Scott.”

Lauren bit her lip. “Maybe.”

Jack inched his nose next to the boy who in response, turned and wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck.

“Aww, poor kid. I think you need to go over there and help him.”

He glared at Sunny to shut up. She raised her brows and glared right back.

The child stayed frozen as Jack smelled his neck. When the dog whined and licked the kid’s ear, the poor guy tried to climb Gabe like he was a tree.

“You’re right. I’m going over there.”

Ben grabbed her arm. “Not alone, you’re not.”

“Fine, but you keep your mouth shut.”

He kept a hand on her back and guided her across the lawn. When she squatted in front of the kid, Ben about had a heart attack. She was now positioned very close to the threat. Instead of pulling her away, he kept his hand close to his gun and eyes focused on the suspect.

Gabe stayed on his knees with the kid wrapped around his neck. The two men stared each other down.

“Hey, there. My name’s Lauren. I’m your neighbor. What’s your name?”

“Evan.” His voice came out muffled from having his nose pressed into Gabe’s shoulder.

“Hi, Evan. This big dog beside me is Jack Sparrow. We call him Jack.”

The dog wagged his tail and licked Lauren’s face. “Jack, say ‘I love you’.”

Both of Gabe’s hands were visible, but Ben stayed on alert.

When the dog yodeled his response, Evan turned his head. The kid’s eyes doubled in size.

Lauren smiled. “Dogs can’t talk, right? And they can’t. But sometimes they can make noises that sound like they’re talking. And Jack’s a special dog. He’s trained to smell when people need help. Like me. I need his help a lot because I’m blind.”

“You are?” Now Evan had turned completely around and peered into her face.

“Yup, I am. Jack’s my guide dog. He helps me get to places and do things.”

“Wow.”

Both Evan and Gabe gazed at Lauren with looks of awe on their faces.

She smiled and kissed the dog’s neck. “He is wow. But what makes him even more wower is he can tell you’re a little scared and he wants to help you.”

“He does?”

“Yup. What he wants to do is to give you a kiss and let you hug him so you’ll feel better. I do it all the time with him when I’m scared. If you’re okay with trying, why don’t you give him your hand and see if it helps?”

“Gabe?” Evan said, still glued to his dad.

“It’s okay, Sprout, he won’t hurt you,” Gabe whispered.

The kid reached out his palm. Jack put his paw on it and panted.

“He wants me to shake his hand,” Evan announced, giving the furry foot a shake.

When Jack licked his cheek, instead of screaming, he laughed.

Acid burned in the pit of Ben’s stomach, from the way the man was eyeing Lauren.

“Thank you. For everything,” he said to her.

Lauren’s smile faded. “I didn’t do it for you.”

“I know.”

Ben cleared his throat but said nothing. She nodded. “Well, I better get back inside. Jack, you coming?”

The dog whined back his answer.

“He seems to want to hang out with your son.”

Gabe had yet to blink much less look away. “It’s mutual. Would you mind if they played together for a little while?”

Lauren bit her lip and Ben prayed she’d say no. “You wouldn’t hurt him would you?”

“Do you think I would?”

She shrugged. “You’re obviously capable of a lot more than I realized but no, I don’t think you will.” She got up from her spot. “He’ll come home when he’s ready to, or send him over when you guys are done, whichever happens first.”

“Leaving Jack with him wasn’t a good idea,” Ben said as he walked her to her door.

“He can take care of himself. Did you notice Evan called him Gabe?”

“Yeah, I did. The man wasn’t around much. He probably doesn’t deserve to be called Dad. Now
did you notice
I kept my mouth shut like you asked?”

She laughed. “Yes, I did. Good job.”

“So what’s the verdict? Will I be in the house or in the car?”

Lauren leaned against her front door. “You can stay in the guestroom if you do something for me.”

He kept his arms firmly crossed and feet planted for fear of leaning over and kissing the lip she currently bit. “What’s that?”

“I need you to search some public records.”

The back of his neck tightened because he dreaded the answer to his next question. “For?”

She opened the door and turned to him. “Is the
for
important?”

“If it’s about your neighbor, then yes. This isn’t one of Sunny’s books. Things don’t always end up happily-ever-after. It’s why we have detectives. They’re trained to do that kind of stuff and not get killed in the process.”

The minute she rolled her shoulders back, he was keenly aware he was fucked.

“Then don’t. And have fun sitting in your car.” She walked in and slammed the door in his face.

Chapter Seventeen

Erotic Dreams

Gabe heard his heart pulsing behind his ears as he crept into the dark living room. Gun cocked, he scanned the unfurnished space before scoping out the bathroom.

Empty.

In the kitchen, he checked around the counters and in the pantry.

Again, empty.

He lowered his weapon and shook his head. This was pitiful.

It was midnight. Evan was fast asleep on the air mattress upstairs. Every bug that hit the window or board that creaked had Gabe running surveillance. Too many things didn’t make sense and until he figured out why, he couldn’t afford to take any chances. Not when the little guy’s life might depend on it.

A light tapping on the glass of the backdoor had him raising the weapon and angling himself out of the potential line of fire. Through the side of the blinds, he peered out. What he saw made his jaw drop. Gabe lowered his weapon and leaned against the wall in shock. He had officially lost his mind.

With a firm yank of the cord, he opened the blinds all the way for a better look. Lauren stood on the porch staring back. Her brown hair hung loose. The beam from the flashlight in her hands reflected off her green eyes. But what had him questioning his sanity was the rest of her.

She was beautifully naked.

All parts of him stood at attention as he took her in.

The full breasts he had dreamt of more nights than not pointed back. They needed to be held and…taste tested. The wings of the little purple butterfly tattooed around her bellybutton seemed to flutter before his eyes. He hadn’t been able to look at those flying insects the same since their night together. His gaze dropped lower, to the small patch of brown hair between her legs. It formed an arrowhead, pointing him to the spot his dick currently throbbed to occupy.

Shoving the gun into the back of his boxers, he opened the door. The last thing he wanted was for her to change her mind. Before he spoke, she grabbed his face and her lips were on his—exactly where they needed to be. As their tongues got reacquainted, he savored the taste of her.

Damn, he loved peppermint.

He groped her breasts and stroked her nipples. When she moaned, he grabbed her ass, lifting her off the threshold. She wrapped her legs around his hips. Between the friction of her core pressing against his dick and her nipples rubbing against his bare chest, he wouldn’t last long. Their parts needed to connect. Now. Lips still glued together, he kicked the door shut and sat her on top of the kitchen counter.

Pulling away from the kiss, Gabe put his gun on the stool and dropped his boxers.

Lauren mumbled something.

He kicked aside his shorts and looked up. “What?”

Stunningly nude and panting, she smiled back. “I had an accident.”

What the…

The body was hers and so were the lips that formed the words, but the voice was wrong.

Another fucking dream.

“Gabe. Are you awake?”

His lids shot open. Instead of standing in the kitchen, he was lying in his sleeping bag. On his back. On the floor. In the bedroom. With Evan standing over him. His heart about leaped out of his chest along with his lungs. “What?”

The little guy jumped back immediately.

Gabe sat up and scanned the room while he worked on a softer tone. “Sorry, Sprout, didn’t mean to scare you. What’s wrong?”

“I had an accident and couldn’t find the sheets.”

Grabbing the pillow, he covered his erection and planted his head in his hands.

Another erotic dream gone to shit.

Evan twisted the sleeve of his shirt. “Are you mad?”

“No, not mad. You did the right thing. Give me a sec and I’ll be right there.”

After the kid left the room, Gabe laid back down and stared at the ceiling wishing like hell he had been able to get to the end of the fantasy.

He leaned against the doorframe and watched Evan snore. With the airbed and sheets dirty, he had no choice but to tuck the kid into his sleeping bag. The little guy’s lips tugged at the edges. A wave of sadness washed over Gabe. Even in his sleep, the poor kid had a hard time smiling.

Too many things didn’t make sense and his gut told him Evan had the answers. As scared as Sprout was, staying in Houston wasn’t helping matters. School was out for the summer and the tenants for the townhouse wouldn’t be moving in until the end of August. Which gave them almost three months away from Texas. Now Gabe just needed to get him to talk about whatever he was hiding.

Not an easy venture, considering the poor kid had buried his mother a few weeks ago.

He stared at the sleeping boy one more time before walking down the stairs. The last thing he wanted was to push the kid and make things worse.

While he waited for his cup of water to heat in the microwave, his thoughts wandered to his neighbor and her dog. In a matter of minutes, she had Evan making small talk. It had taken him weeks to have similar conversations with the kid. Not only that, by the time Jack was done, Sprout was playing. All of it gave him hope. Hope that with a little help from next door, this mystery wouldn’t take the whole summer to solve. Now he needed to figure out how to ask for her help and get over the fact Lauren was with another man.

Seeing the ex with his arm around her waist almost did him in. For fear of beating the shit out of the SOB, he forced himself to stay in the truck. Why she was giving the cheating asshole a second chance was a whole other mystery. He wasn’t even sure if Officer Ben was capable of smiling, much less making her happy. Telling himself the cop was the better option didn’t help either. For some reason, it just made the burn worse.

The sad truth was: she didn’t want Gabe. Not that he blamed her. Regardless of his reasons, he hadn’t told her the truth and the woman he’d married turned up murdered. Everything about him screamed to run like hell and don’t look back. To top it off, the friendly Denver PD had paid her a visit. He cringed for the hundredth time about how the conversation must have gone.

The microwave beeped. He pulled out the cup of boiling water and put in some cheap instant coffee. The brew was nothing like the fancy stuff from next door.

Everything she had was better.

During the days, he managed to push her out of his mind, but at night she always showed up, naked and waiting. Funny. The very thing he could never have was the one he fantasized about.

He took a gulp of the scalding drink and cursed as it burned his mouth.

Leaning against the counter, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander to the dream. Lauren sat on this very spot, her breasts heaving as she told him she’d had an accident. He looked at his growing erection and chuckled. Both of his heads were all sorts of fucked up.

A light tapping on the window had him putting down the cup and reaching for his gun. He walked over and peered through the side of the blinds. Gabe’s jaw dropped. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and opened them.

Like in his dream, Lauren stood on the other side. Only this time she was fully clothed. The organ between his legs pointed at the door, ready to welcome her. She tapped a second time, while he threw on a shirt to cover his very obvious problem.

He looked at the faded tee and muttered under his breath. The woman was blind. How the hell would she even know he had a hard-on?

Unless she wrapped her hand around it and…

His dick pulsed.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

By the third knock, he had managed to get his brain working and opened the door. His mouth went dry as he took her in. She stood barefoot in an oversized University of Denver sweatshirt and boxers. His fingers itched to twist themselves around her ponytail and tug her mouth to his.

She flashed a guilty smile. “Hi.”

Images of the things those lips did to him in his dreams ran through his head.

“Sorry if I woke you.”

Gabe grinned, if she only knew. He shook away the X-rated thoughts and tried to remember how to speak. “Everything okay?”

“Well, it’s Jack. He won’t let me sleep. He keeps whining and dragging me to the backdoor.”

God bless that dog.

The beast stood beside her and tilted its head, staring directly at Gabe’s tented boxers. When it tried to take a sniff, he pushed its nose away and positioned his hips behind the door.

“When I finally let him out, he dragged me here. I think he wants to be with Evan. Would you mind?”

“Nope
.
”
As long as you’re part of the slumber party…

She patted the German shepherd’s head. “Free Jack.”

The dog licked her hand and squeezed through, making his way up the stairs.

“Want to come in too?”

And sit naked on my counter?

She took a step back. “Sorry, can’t.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Can’t? As in you’re not allowed to?”

“Yup. As in I have direct orders to not be alone with you.”

Jealousy crawled up this throat. “Officer Dawson telling you what to do?”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Please. I only take orders from Sunny. The last time I didn’t listen to her she unscrewed my toilet paper holder from the wall and put it in a different spot without telling me.”

Gabe chuckled. “That’s plain wrong.”

“I know. She’s ruthless.” Lauren tipped her head toward her house. “I should go.”

“Do you want me to walk you back?”

She laughed. He loved the sound.

“Well, it
is
a closed yard with a seven foot fence. Not to mention the arduous and dangerous ten-foot trek to my door.” She wrinkled her nose and flashed a crooked grin. “But somehow, I think I’ll manage.”

He was speechless, until she started across the yard. Every part of him missed every part of her. Her smart ass comments, the way her eyes crinkled when she made said comments, and her laugh…

“Lauren?”

“Yeah?” She turned to him.

“You aren’t scared to be around me, are you?” For some reason, hers was the only opinion he cared about.

Her face softened. “No. I wouldn’t leave my dog with you if I was. I do think you’re an asshole, a liar and a cheater, but not a killer.”

He nodded. He could deal with that.

She was almost at her door and he couldn’t think of a damn reason to bring her back.

“You and Officer Joe Cool back together?”

“Goodnight, Gabe.”

His chest tightened as her door slammed. It was a stupid question. Why’d he even ask? Especially since it didn’t make a difference.

Did it?

Gabe shut his door and stared at the blinds. For the first time in a long time, he felt alone and didn’t like it.