solid forty minutes and she still hadn’t done her thing.
Considering he’d woken up face-to-face with Her Smelliness as he’d come to call Digger, he couldn’t wait to return the dog to her owner.
“Hunter?”
He heard his name being called and turned to see Molly stepping out of the new Starbucks that had opened next to the bar.
“Hey there,” he said, his heart picking up speed at the sight of her in tight blue jeans and a gold long-sleeved shirt with matching gold scarf that picked up the highlights in her hair.
She glanced down at Digger who’d begun to sniff at Molly’s feet. “Did you adopt a pet?” she asked.
“Hell no. The mutt is Lilly’s. I’m on my way to return her and be free.”
A grin tipped Molly’s lips. “Aaah, so females confine you?”
“Did I say that?” he asked, laughing.
“Just call it a woman’s inference.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“How was the party last night?” Hunter asked.
While she’d been at the party with Ty and Lilly, Hunter had been surrounded by takeout Chinese food cartons and legal files. He’d been working late, pulling together a defense for a man accused of stealing a car, which had led to someone’s death. In the end, Hunter’s strategy came down to relying on his client’s willingness to take risks in the hopes that the jury bought his story.
Molly shrugged. “It was okay. Parties aren’t really my favorite thing to do but everyone seemed to have a good time.” Her gaze shifted away from his.
He wondered if things at the mansion had been as happy as she’d like him to believe. Ty and Lilly would tell him for sure. “I’ve got to get Digger the Dog here back home, but I was wondering-”
“Yes?” Her eyes grew wide.
“I don’t have much free time right now because my case has been moved up but a man has to eat and it’s pretty lonely having to do it alone.” Leveling with Molly wasn’t easy but last night he’d decided he had no choice.
“Is that your lame way of asking me on a date?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact, it is. And not one of those joking questions where you can blow me off to paint your toenails,” he said, his tone as serious as he felt at the moment. “And not a meal I’m going to bring by your place so Anna Marie can listen in and take notes. A real date with real conversation.”
Last night, as Hunter had worked out the defense plan for his client, Hunter’s thoughts had strayed to Molly and the parallels of his case to his life. Could he ask another human being to take chances when Hunter was unable to do the same? He’d decided then and there to go after what he wanted, risking the rejection he’d been avoiding for years.
He just hadn’t thought he’d have the opportunity so soon. But as Lilly’s return reminded him, life was about taking chances.
Despite the dog pulling on the leash and his own desire to run before she could answer, Hunter took one more risk and reached for Molly’s hand. “So what do you say? Dinner?”
She surprised him by nodding. “I’d like that.”
He glanced down at their intertwined hands. “Me, too.”
The dog began tugging harder, obviously not happy about being ignored. He didn’t know how to break it to Digger but Molly was a lot better looking-and better smelling-than she was.
He gestured to the dog. “I need to bring her back home. Pick you up at seven tonight?” he asked Molly.
“I’ll be ready. Just tell me this is a casual kind of date because I’d really rather not dress up if you don’t mind.” She swept a hand across her jeans. “What you’re seeing is the real me.”
The always confident Molly spoke hesitantly, as if her dressing down might change his mind. Instead it turned him on more.
“So…would pizza and a beer be your idea of a good time?” he asked. “Because that’s more the real me than the guy in the suit you see every day.” He glanced her way and winked, enjoying the flush he brought to her cheeks.
She laughed. “Thank God.” With a wave, she took off down the street, leaving him staring after her, watching the sway in her step as she walked.
He yanked the leash, pulling Digger away from a wrapper someone had left on the sidewalk and turned the corner toward Ty’s. But he couldn’t take his mind off Molly and the fact that they were finally making progress in the getting-to-know-one-another department, no matter how small the steps.
He walked up the stairs and Digger immediately bolted ahead of him, pulling the leash out of his hands. “And here I thought I treated you pretty good,” Hunter muttered as the dog bolted to get away from him. “At least some women are beginning to appreciate my charm.”
Digger rose onto her hind legs and scratched at the door, her urgency to get inside ridiculous if it weren’t so pathetic.
He knocked on the door and when nobody answered, he pulled his spare key out of his pocket. “Ready or not, here I come,” he called, hoping like hell he wasn’t about to walk in on his two best friends in an embarrassing situation.
He glanced down, planning to slide the key into the lock when he realized the door was closed but not shut tight. “What the hell?”
Someone had jimmied the lock and once he turned the knob, the door opened wide. Smoke immediately hit him in the face, nearly knocking him over. Digger, who Hunter had already lost control over, bounded into the smoky apartment before Hunter could stop her.
“Lilly! Ty!” Hunter bolted into the apartment but smoke burned his eyes and forced him back out. His heart pounded in his raw throat and panic swept over him.
“Is anyone there?” he yelled before drawing a deep breath.
Nobody replied. He hit the door with his elbow. The smoke was too thick and dense for him to make it inside but he was determined to try. Before he could make his next move, he heard barking and a loud noise, as if someone had bumped into something.
“Lilly?” he yelled, loudly.
Next thing he knew, Digger bolted toward him, with Lilly stumbling behind her dog.
Hunter grabbed Lilly’s arm and pulled her out of the apartment. With Digger by their side, they ran for fresh air outside, banging on other tenants’ doors as they went.
Lilly fell onto the grass, coughing, while Hunter called 911 from his cell phone.
“You okay?” he asked, while Digger licked her owner’s face.
Lilly struggled to rise but he gently pressed her back onto the ground. “Rest,” he ordered. He glanced toward the building, grateful to see other tenants already on the sidewalk.
“What happened?” Lilly asked.
He shrugged. “Beats me. I was bringing your pooch back home. I knocked on the door, no one answered, so I let myself in and was bowled over by smoke. Much as it galls me to admit anything good about Her Smelliness, she just might have saved your life.”
“You saved my life, too. You showed up just in time.” Lilly exhaled hard and followed it up with a hacking cough. She grabbed her dog and hugged her hard, pulling the furry body against her chest.
Hunter’s adrenaline was still pumping through him like crazy. Before he could reply, fire engines sounded loudly and the red truck pulled around back.
What the hell had happened, he wondered and hoped they’d have an answer soon. Because if he’d spent another minute talking to Molly, he might not have reached Lilly at all.
Ten
Ty turned the corner by Night Owl’s and saw trouble immediately. A fire engine sat in front of the building and smoke billowed out from the windows of the apartments. Panic swamped him.
