Miracle Road: Eternity Springs Book 7 (5 page)

That’s when he heard the noise. Shrill, keening sounds. Mewling. Lucca’s eyes flew open. What the hell?

Rats. This house must have rats. Great.

Thinking to scare them away, he reached for the book on his nightstand and threw it hard against the closet door from where the noise appeared to be originating.
That’ll scatter ’em.
He’d see about a more permanent solution to the problem after his nap. He closed his eyes, wished the ibuprofen would kick in soon, and …
meee meee meee.

“Grrrr …” Sighing heavily and mentally flipping his family the bird for putting him into a rat-infested dwelling, he rolled to his feet, grabbed the iron poker from the tool set beside the fireplace, then approached the closet’s half-open door. “I warned you. You should have run when you had the chance.”

He lifted the poker with his left hand, yanked the door wide open with his right, and prepared to bash rat heads.

Lucca froze. Not rats. They looked like rats, but those weren’t rats. “Puppies?”

He set down the poker and squatted to get a better look. Yes, puppies. Three of them. Unless that bump was …

Lucca reached into the closet to push aside a pile of his clothes. He absently noted a sound behind him, but his hangover-dulled wits didn’t process it. Pain, however, processed immediately, so when the fangs sank into his ass, he knew instantly what had occurred. “Ya-eeh!” he yelled, jerking and shoving to separate the mother dog from his butt.

“Yarrrrgh,” the mutt growled back, letting loose of Lucca and planting herself between him and the closet, keeping her teeth bared.

Sprawled on his naked, aching ass, Lucca snarled back at the dog. He recognized her. She was little and fluffy and brown. Probably a terrier mix of some sort. She belonged to the sexy redhead who lived next door. “So why the hell did you whelp in my house, in my closet, on top of my favorite jeans?”

He went to stand and she lunged at him again. Crap. He shifted backward, giving her the stink eye as he climbed to his feet. He rubbed the bite and saw blood on his hands. Sonofabitch. The dog wasn’t wearing a collar. Wasn’t wearing tags. The lady next door damned well better have made sure the mutt had had her shots.

Lucca’s ass ached, his head pounded, his temper surged. He backed away from the dog, strode into the bathroom, and washed the bite with soap and water. He rummaged through the supplies his mother had added to the house but didn’t find any antiseptic. “Figures,” he muttered. Who planned for a dog bite? “Well, then, guess I’ll just have to borrow some from the neighbor.”

He paused long enough to grab a pair of gym shorts from the duffel lying on his bedroom floor and slip them on. He marched out his front door and arrived on her porch thirty seconds later. His gaze fell upon her doorbell, but that didn’t do it for him at the moment. He made a fist and pounded the door. Hard. Then he braced his hands on his hips, his legs spread in an aggressive stance, and waited for her to answer.

He waited. And waited. Pounded again. Waited. Waited. Yelled, “Hello?”

Hell. She wasn’t home.

He rubbed the burning bite and turned to leave, then stopped abruptly. Just like her damned dog, she’d sneaked up on him.

She had earbuds in her ears and a garden hose in her hand, and despite his general pissed-off frame of mind, Lucca couldn’t help but appreciate the view. Curls and curves, he thought. His favorite combination. He noted the burnished wisps that escaped the thick knot of red hair piled atop her head to frame big brown eyes. Faint freckles dusted a thin, straight nose above full cherry lips. She wore an oversized white tank top over a black sports bra and pleasingly short running shorts. Full breasts, shapely legs. Cute little bubble butt. Nice. Very, very nice.

But a hot body didn’t make up for poor dog-owner practices, he told himself when he shifted his weight and again felt the burn of the bite. He should call the cops and have her ticketed. He might do it, too, if the mutt’s shots weren’t up to date. He had connections, after all. Might as well make use of them.

Yeah, right. Like he’d ever want his brother and sister know he’d let a ten-pound mutt take a chunk out of his ass. The throb seemed to intensify as he started toward her. “Hey, lady.”

Not having seen him, she’d turned away and now stood at the side of her house watering a group of herb pots set upon a whimsical castle-shaped iron planter. While she watered, she swung her shoulders and hips in such a way that made him think a rock tune belted through her earbuds.

He stepped closer, raised his voice, and repeated, “Hey, lady!”

She startled, jerked around.

The ice cold water from the hose soaked his shorts.

He yelped and jumped sideways, away from the stream.

Hope squealed and dropped the hose. She yanked off her earphones and got her first good look at the man in her yard.
Oh, no. I shot the sheriff.

Almost immediately, she realized otherwise. He wasn’t Zach Turner. The eyes blazing out at her weren’t Zach’s striking blue eyes. These were emerald green shards of ice.

Not Zach. The brother. Lucca. My, oh my …

Hope gave him a closer look. He was tall, more than a foot taller than her own five feet five inches. He had the look of an athlete, with broad, muscular shoulders and flat abs and … her gaze lingered on the wet gym shorts plastered against him. All parts of him. Oh, wow. The man was big all over.

Hope felt heat sting her cheeks as she forced her stare back to his face. Unnerved, she went on the offensive, though the voice that emerged pitched higher than normal. “Excuse me, this is private property and you’re trespassing.”

“Your damned dog bit me.”

“What?” She glanced toward the fenced section of the backyard where Roxy should be. Had she dug out or found a hole? She’d been back there drinking from her water bowl not too long ago. “Where?”

“I’m halfway tempted to show you. On my butt, that’s where.”

His butt? Hope’s mouth twisted in disbelief. If Roxy was a Great Dane, maybe.

“I meant where were you when you were attacked?”

“In my bedroom.”

“Then you must be mistaken, mister …”

“Romano. Lucca Romano. And I’m not mistaken. Your dog bit me.”

“Actually, I don’t have a dog.”

“Oh, yeah? You say you don’t have a little fluffy brown yappy mutt? Then what are those?” He pointed at the two dog bowls sitting on her kitchen stoop.

“What I mean is that I’m not her real owner. I’m taking care of a neighbor’s dog until they get settled in their new home.”

“Not very well, apparently. You lost her.”

You lost her.
Hope closed her eyes. Her knees went a little weak. Of all the things he could have said …

“You let her invade my house and my privacy.”

His tone held that same accusatory note that her ex-husband had used with her, and it sparked Hope’s own temper to life. The jerk. The jock. Athletes often think they’re God’s gift to the world. Mark, her ex, had played college baseball and sometimes he’d been exactly the same way. She put the frost of a Rocky Mountain winter in her voice as she said, “I beg your pardon?”

“Yes, you should.”

“You have some nerve.” Hope braced her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. “Listen, mister, if Roxy found her way inside your house then you invited her in by leaving it open. Roxy is a sweet dog. If she bit you, then you must have done something to provoke her.”

His gaze had slipped to her chest. It remained there. Pig. She crossed her arms. “What did you do to her?”

“Nothing. I didn’t do a damned thing to that dog. All I did was look to see what was making the noise in my closet and she bit me on the ass.”

“Closet? I don’t understand. Are you saying Roxy was in your closet?”

“Yes. That dog is a pain in my ass in more ways than one. She had puppies in my closet on top of my clothes.”

Hope froze. “How did she get inside your … whoa … did you say … puppies?”

“Yes, puppies! Three of them. Maybe four.”

“When did she have puppies?”

“Sometime last night, I imagine. Maybe earlier this morning. Haven’t you seen her? Some sort of dog-sitter you are. I heard them a little while ago. I was trying to get a closer look when she came out of nowhere and sank her fangs into me.”

“Where?”

“I told you.” He hooked a thumb toward his rear, his expression peeved.

Hope pursed her lips to squelch the smile. She didn’t think now was the right time for it. “Not the little nip. The pups. I don’t know where you live.”

“It wasn’t a little nip. Think alligator mouth. The little bitch drew blood. And I live next door.”

“That makes sense,” Hope replied, thinking aloud. “Her former owners lived next door. Isn’t there a doggie door in the back? That must be how she got in. It’s her home, so maybe that’s why she went there to have her babies.”

Lucca nodded toward Hope’s house. “Well, that’s her home now so let’s get a box or a basket and get them moved.”

Hope frowned. “I don’t know … is it safe to move them? They were just born. I don’t have any experience with puppies. I didn’t even realize she was pregnant. I thought she was getting fat because she liked the brand of dog food I gave her.”

Shoeless, shirtless, and whisker-stubbled, Lucca Romano stood in Hope’s front yard oozing sex appeal. However, his eyes shot green fire as he braced his hands on his hips and declared. “Those dogs are not staying in my closet.”

Hope contemplated turning the water hose on herself. Instead, she walked over to the faucet and twisted the spigot, cutting off the flow of water. Her thoughts spun. Puppies. She’d had two female dogs in the past. Both had been rescue dogs whom she’d adopted and had come to her spayed. She’d wanted a puppy before Holly was born, but Mark had vetoed the idea. She knew puppies were a lot of work, but honestly, she couldn’t help but be a little excited.

“I’ll call Nic Callahan. She’s our town vet and she’ll tell us what to do.”

“You. She’ll tell you. I’m not dealing with puppies.”

And Hope wasn’t moving them unless Nic gave her the okay to do so, but that argument could wait. “I need to look up Nic’s number. I’ll be right back.”

She left him standing in the yard like a grumpy Roman god as she entered her house and walked through the mud room to her kitchen where she kept her iPad. She accessed the Internet, searched for the Eternity Springs Veterinary Clinic website, then added the number to her telephone’s address book. She could have done it from her phone, of course, but she’d wanted a little space from the man.

How had someone as nice and friendly as Maggie Romano raised such an ill-tempered son?

Hearing a noise, she glanced up to see Lucca Romano standing on her stoop, glaring at her. “What? I had to get the number.”

“I thought you might be trying to dodge me.”

Rather than dignify that nonsense with a response, she moved toward him. As she walked past her washer and dryer in the mud room, she scooped up an oversized rose-colored bath towel. When she opened the screen door, he stepped aside to let her pass, and she tossed him the bath sheet. “You’re all wet, Mr. Romano.”

He caught the towel and smirked. “You’re funny, Ms. … what did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t.” And she wouldn’t. Not even a Roman god physique could overcome the disposition of a badger.

He dragged the towel across that expanse of male chest and waited. She decided to let him wait longer. She thumbed the number of Nic’s veterinary clinic, and after three rings the answering machine clicked on. Feeling petty, Hope managed to leave a message without mentioning her name.

As she prepared to disconnect the call, Lucca interrupted. “Ask her if she gave that dog a rabies shot.”

Hope slipped her phone into the pocket of her shorts. “Roxy’s shots aren’t due until January.”

“Good. Glad to know that … Gertrude.”

She returned the smirk. She didn’t know why she was being stubborn about telling him her name. It was stupid, really, but something about this man brought out the ornery in her.

He wrapped the towel around his hips, eyeing her speculatively. “Ready to go get the puppies?”

“I do want to see them.”

He made a sweeping gesture and bowed his head. “After you, Ethel.”

This time instead of smirking, she snorted, then started across her lawn toward his house. He trailed after her, oblivious to the curious looks he attracted from a car with Kansas plates. “If you won’t tell me your name, of course I have to guess.”

As they crossed her front walk, Hope took the conversation in a different direction. “I really like your mother, sister, and brother.”

“You know them?”

“Of course.”

“Right. Of course. They’re pillars of the community.”

Hope’s eyes widened at the bitterness in his tone. He might have heard it himself, because a moment later he added, “They are good people. I have a great family and I love them very much.”

Okay, maybe he wasn’t one hundred percent jerk. Ninety-five, maybe. No lower than ninety-three. “I know your mother was thrilled that you agreed to help her with her B&B.”

“I don’t know how much help I’m going to be. My remodeling talents are limited.” He shrugged and changed the subject. “I think there’s an empty box in my garage that you can use for moving the puppies. The clothes she used for her nest will need to be tossed, but I’ll donate a couple towels to the cause.”

“How generous.”

By now he’d overtaken her with his long-legged strides. He glanced back over his shoulder and flashed her a smile with plenty of teeth and masculine challenge. “Oh, Esmeralda, you don’t have a clue as to just how generous I can be.”

Hope almost stumbled as sexual awareness rose up like a trip wire. Holy guacamole. The man wielded that smile like a weapon, and it wasn’t even a very nice smile. Imagine what he could do with a real one—a smile that reached his eyes.

His brother Zach had a nice smile, something she’d noticed at a baseball game the week before when she’d watched him flirt with his wife, Savannah. If Lucca Romano had any of his brother’s charm in him, he’d be lethal.

Not that he’d ever turn any charm he might have on her. She wasn’t the type of woman who attracted the attention of a man like this. He was a professional athlete and coach, a Ferrari who lived his life in the fast lane. She was a girl-next-door kind of girl, closer to a golf cart than a sports car.