Sweet Surprise (21 page)

Laughter bubbled in her throat. “Well, if you ever need any pointers.”

“Actually.” He shook his head. “I’ve been thinking of selling.”

“Why?”

“Like I said, it’s nothing special. It’s never felt like home. I’d probably do just as well living in an apartment.”

“You know what you need?”

“Yeah.” He leaned across the table and kissed her. When he sat back down he said, “That. That’s what I need.”

“Awww.” She reached over and patted his cheek. “You always know just the right thing to say.” Life felt really good right now. Fiona didn’t mind admitting that. And from her view in the cheap seats, it had a really good chance of getting even better. “What I was going to say was maybe what you need is a dog or a cat. A pet always makes a place feel more like a home.”

“In that case, what would you do if I showed up one day at your place with a puppy for Izzy?”

Surprise forced her to return the bite she was about to take back to the plate. “First, I suppose I’d have to pry her off you because she’d be so excited.”

“And then?”

“And then you’d have to pry me off you because I’d be so moved at your kindness.”

“I’d be more in favor of not prying you off me at all.”

“Well . . . I’m always happy to leave the door open for possibilities.”

“No worries.” He winked. “If it’s closed, I’m a fireman. I’ve got great door-busting skills.”

She got that. He’d certainly broken down her barriers in record time.

Things were definitely heating up between them. Unbidden, an image of Mike in his turnouts–sans shirt–flew into her head, and she wondered. Maybe it would be a whole lot more fun if she played the damsel in distress and gave him the opportunity to prove his
skills.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

She popped the spicy sushi into her mouth and smiled. “Just thinking about role-playing.” And wondering how fast she could make a fireman come if she called 911.

Chapter 14

T
aking chances had never been something Mike was comfortable with. Most of the risks he’d previously taken in his life had involved poor decisions.

Somehow, this one felt right.

As the sun dipped low in the sky, he headed toward Fiona’s house and hoped he wasn’t just fooling himself. Something had happened as he’d been walking through the tea gardens with her, holding her hand, stopping to kiss her by the waterfall and again on top of the stone bridge. Hand in hand, they’d strolled the grounds, making plans of picnics and taking Izzy to the zoo. Of scary movie nights on the sofa and hopefully, at some point, breakfasts in bed.

He felt like a total sap, but he couldn’t stop himself. Fiona brought that out in him. In a very short time, she’d come to mean a lot to him. She softened his hard edge and made him think further beyond just today. To his surprise it wasn’t a challenge to picture a future with her and her little girl. Time would tell.

He cruised past her darkened house, then headed toward the cupcake shop, hoping to find her and Izzy there. He pulled into the back alley and parked alongside her new-used car. Now the question was, had she locked the back door while she was in there alone like he’d suggested.

He tried the door and it opened.

Damn.

Yeah, this might be Sweet and probably one of the safest places on Earth, but it still wasn’t a good idea to invite trouble.

The irony made him laugh.

He
was trouble.

But she probably already had a good idea about that.

The kitchen area was empty so he headed into the front and found her working on a new display while Izzy played with a little plastic dollhouse and colorful mouse-sized furniture nearby. Both of them were too busy to notice his arrival.

“Thought you were going to lock the back door.” He tried to keep his voice low so as not to startle them. It didn’t work. Paper flew from Fiona’s hand while Izzy looked up, wide-eyed and curious. Until she noticed what he held in his hands.

“A puppy!”

Mike didn’t know anyone could move so fast, but before he could blink, Izzy rushed toward him. The pup’s heart beat as fast as hummingbird wings as it wiggled to get down. If Izzy’s grin was any indication, she was pretty excited. Not to see
him,
but the fuzzy brown-and-white pup he held.

“Can I hold it?” she asked.

“Of course.” He knelt beside her.

Izzy plopped down on the floor and held out her little arms. He placed the dog on her lap. It only took a second before the dog’s little white paws scrambled up Izzy’s body to lick at her face. Izzy’s giggles of delight made his heart go all warm and gooey. God, he was turning into a total fucking marshmallow.

“Oh, Mike.”

From his kneeling position, his gaze slid up a long pair of shapely legs and a curvaceous body. At some point in time, his eyes actually made it up to Fiona’s face. There he found moisture floating in her blue eyes.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

Hand covering her mouth, she nodded.

“Whose puppy is it?” Izzy asked.

The joy on her little face made him happy he’d pulled off the surprise.

“She’s yours,” he told her.

If you’d asked him before, he would have said it was impossible for her eyes to have gotten any wider after she’d first seen the puppy. That would have been a huge misconception.

“Mine?”

He nodded.

And then Izzy started to cry.

Shit. What did he do wrong?

Huge, wracking sobs broke from her little chest and left him frozen in place.

“Oh, baby.” Fiona picked both Izzy and the puppy up in her arms. Izzy laid her head down on her mother’s shoulder and continued to sob. Fiona soothed her with a gentle hand on her back and softly spoken words.

“I’m sorry.” God. He felt like such a fuckup. All this time, he’d thought she wanted a dog and that once she got one, she’d be happy. He’d never expected a reaction like this. “I can take it back.”

“No!” Both Fiona and Izzy shouted at the same time.

“These are happy tears,” Fiona explained. “She’s wanted a dog for so long. And when she gets something she really, really wants . . . well, this is pretty much the reaction. She just gets a little overwhelmed.”

“Are you sure?”

Fiona nodded. Izzy turned toward him with big crocodile tears in eyes so much like her mother’s. Then she held out her little arm to include him in the embrace.

He didn’t hesitate to join in.

As they all stood there with the wiggling, whining pup between them, Mike knew he’d found that special something he’d been searching for most of his life.

Once Izzy calmed down, Fiona set her and the pup down on the floor to play. Then she turned to him, wrapped her arms around him, and laid her head on his chest. “Thank you.”

He stroked his hand down her back. “You’re welcome.”

All was right in the world–at least for the moment. And that’s when Mike decided to strike while the iron was hot.

“So . . . as long as I’m her favorite person right now, would this be a good time to tell her about us?”

T
wenty-four hours ago, if anyone had told Fiona she’d have a gorgeous man in her house or a nippy, yappy bundle of fur hopping around on her floor, she would have told them they were crazy. In a good way.

Mike had followed them home to help Izzy and her puppy get settled in and to bring in the box full of dog food, toys, and assorted other necessities–such as a piddle pad–which Fiona had never even heard of.

From the kitchen, she watched Mike and her daughter on the floor playing with the puppy and laughing side by side. Her heart melted. Together, they’d told Izzy that they were seeing each other, and she’d accepted it like it was no big deal. Maybe her little girl knew better than she what she needed. A spontaneous jolt of happiness moistened Fiona’s eyes as she turned back toward her original task.

Mike came into the kitchen, where she was trying to throw together a spontaneous dinner with the limited ingredients she had available. “Can I help you with that?” He stood close behind her, and the heat from his big muscular body sent a dance of awareness down her spine.

“Sure. How good are you at chopping onions?”

“Excellent.” He took the knife from the counter and slid a sweet onion beneath the sharp edge. They stood shoulder to shoulder as he chopped the vegetable like a pro. His biceps flexed with each drop of the knife. “We all have to share cooking duties at the station.”

“What’s your specialty?”

“My grandmother had a knack for throwing things together.” He smiled with the memory. “Sometimes, the ingredients didn’t seem like they’d blend, but it always tasted delicious. My sisters and I have always called her casseroles
Avó’s Surprise
because you never really knew what was in it. I tend to follow in her footsteps. Though unlike her, I’ve never been able to re-create what I made. Each time becomes a culinary experimentation. Sometimes it turns out great. Other times, it ends up in the garbage.”

“Really?”

He looked up, miraculously without onion-induced tears in his dark eyes. “How about you put me to the test?”

“You want to cook?”

“Sure. Why not?”

Eager to see what he could create and, she had to admit, enjoy a little break, she lifted her hands. “Have at it.”

“Great. Then how about you go play?”

“Play?” There were thoughts she allowed in her mind when she was in the presence of her daughter. The images flashing through now were totally inappropriate.

“With Izzy and the pup.” His sensuous lips curled into a smile. “What did you think I meant?”

There was no way she could blurt out that she’d been thinking of him taking off that black T-shirt and running her hands all over him.

“I don’t know.” She grabbed her sweet tea off the counter and took a drink. “I haven’t been able to play for a long time.”

“Then take advantage of it now.” He nodded toward the living room. “I’ve got this covered.”

“Are you sure?”

His gaze fell to her mouth and lingered before coming back up to her eyes. “Damned sure.”

Several minutes later, Fiona fought to keep her focus on the puppy’s new trick of chasing her tail and not the sexy man in her kitchen whipping up something that smelled delicious.

“Have you given her a name yet?” she asked Izzy.

“Biscuit.”

“That’s a great name, Izzy,” Mike called from the kitchen. “How about you take Biscuit outside to go to the bathroom, then wash your hands for dinner?”

“Okay.”

Fiona picked up the pup so no accidents occurred on the way to the door. Izzy followed, happily skipping out onto the front lawn. Two sniffs and a squat later, they all headed back into the house. Fiona placed the pup in the large crate Mike had brought along with a blanket, stuffed lamb, and windup clock. Apparently, Biscuit had worn herself out because she snuggled right up to the lamb and, with a huge sigh, fell fast asleep.

Hands were washed, and they went into the kitchen to see what Mike had concocted.

In the center of the table sat a huge casserole dish filled to the top with noodles, ground beef, onions, corn, cheese, and some kind of red sauce. It smelled even more heavenly than it looked.

Mike Halsey could save lives, put out fires, serve the homeless, build princess castles, give a puppy to her little girl,
and
he could cook.

The X’s in his good-guy column were adding up. By her observations–and constantly craving the sexy man–there was really only one checkmark left to fill.

Studying his jaw-dropping physique as he set plates on the table, she had no doubt he’d exceed her expectations there too.

M
orning shot a rocket of light straight into Mike’s eyes. He tried to turn over and discovered that, at some point in the night, he’d fallen asleep on Fiona’s sofa. Last thing he remembered, she’d been there beside him, tucked in his embrace while they watched a DVD. Discovering their mutual love for horror flicks, they’d popped
Underworld
into the DVD. Between paying attention to the puppy, who loved to chew on Mike’s fingers, and chatting about things that most new couples found to discuss, Mike realized he must have completely conked out.

With the house quiet, he took a look around the room. Fiona’s choices in furniture and accents were neither too frilly nor too masculine. The fact that she had put together such a warm and inviting home, all from secondhand resources, made everything interesting. And made her even more admirable.

Maybe that’s why he’d fallen asleep last night. He’d been really comfortable and relaxed. The idea of going back to his own uninviting house, which had all the necessary elements yet none of the warmth, had left him cold.

He glanced over at the empty dog crate and figured the pup had somehow ended up sleeping with Izzy. Or Fiona.

In a distant room, he heard an alarm go off and glanced at his watch. It was 5:00
A.M.
Shit. He had to get to work.

He kicked off the blanket Fiona had no doubt thrown over him and sat up. At that moment, he heard the shuffling of feet on the hardwood floor and looked up. Fiona came into the room—mascara-smeared eyes squinting, hair looking like a tornado had touched down, and a holy-shit-I-can’t-believe-it’s-morning scowl pulling her lovely arched brows together. He wanted to laugh but didn’t think she’d appreciate it much.

“Morning.” Her voice was rough with sleep.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?” she asked.

“Pretty good.” He’d have slept better if he’d been holding her all night. “Thanks for covering me up. Sorry, I didn’t mean to crash.”

“Yeah.” A low chuckle rumbled from her chest. “You went out like a light right about the time Sonja turned to ash.”

“Guess I’m lucky I made it that far.”

She yawned and nodded. “Want coffee?”

He found himself smiling again. Beneath her rubber-ducky robe she had on a yellow sleep tank and blue plaid boy shorts. While the fact that she obviously wasn’t wearing a bra didn’t go unnoticed, he couldn’t stop staring at her feet as she shuffled toward the kitchen.

“Are those frog slippers?” he asked.

She looked down. “Kermit, to be exact.”

“I’ve never seen frog slippers. My sisters always wore house shoes that left dust bunnies all over the floor. But none had faces.”

“I have an entire collection.” She reached in the cupboard for the container of coffee grounds and filters. “Pigs, cats, zebras, monkeys, you name it. Some women drool over Louboutin’s, I lust after cartoon-character house shoes.”

He followed her into the kitchen. “I noticed the puppy wasn’t in the crate.”

“Nope. She’s on my bed with Izzy.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Her whining broke my heart. So I had to go get her. I’m surprised you didn’t hear her.”

“I must have been too far gone.” He reached for her, drew her into his arms. “You’ve got a soft heart.” As she leaned in, her sleepy scent curled around him like a warm blanket.

“Probably,” she said. “But if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone already knows. Just ask the Hawaiian-muumuu twins.”

She laughed. “They do have me pegged for easy, don’t they?”

“I’m good with easy.” He kissed her forehead. “And I’d love to stay for coffee, but my shift starts in an hour. So unless I want the Cap up my ass, I need to get on the road.”

They came together in an embrace like they’d been made for each other.

Maybe they had.

All he knew when he ended the kiss, lifted his head, and looked deep into her eyes, was he couldn’t wait until the minute he could kiss her again.