Page 48 of Raging Fires

Jake stood up and went to the front door. Might as well face this head on. He was bored enough that an argument with Kelli sounded appealing. As he stepped out onto the porch, Kelli got out of the car. Toby burst out of the car after her, not waiting for her to open the other door. He barreled up to throw himself against Jake, planting his front paws on Jake’s chest and trying to lick his face. Then he immediately dropped back down onto all fours and gave a hearty sneeze all over Jake.

“Gee, thanks, Tobe.”

The dog whirled and took off as quickly as he had arrived. He ran around the yard about five hundred times at top speed. Jake turned to Kelli, who was looking frazzled. “Rough day, huh?”

Kelli snorted. “Oh, just another afternoon at the vet’s with a dog that’s scared of a Yorkie but will fight to the death not to have his temperature taken.”

“Sorry.” Jake started to point out that if she hadn’t taken off early, he would have been there to help her, but he swallowed the words. Kelli was going to bitch at him about last night soon enough. Why start an argument early? Besides, Kelli looked she’d had a hard enough time at the vet’s already. “What did they do to the poor guy? Aside from sticking a thermometer up his butt—which I have to say, I would have objected to myself.”

That statement got a little smile from her, and as they walked into the house, she said, “Well, he’s been chipped, vaccinated for rabies, Bordetella and distemper/parvo, and we got a six-month supply of heartworm and tick preventative.”

Jake whistled. “How much was it? I’ll Venmo you.”

“Jake… you don’t have to pay for everything,” Kelli told him. “I’m fine with paying it; I’m the one who kept him.”

“Hey. Toby’s my man,” Jake protested. Why was she always so against him buying stuff? “He promised he’d take down Princess Fleek for me.”

Kelli laughed. “Not if today’s any indication.”

She went into the kitchen and knocked around for a bit, getting a glass of water and eating some of those weird veggie chips she liked—which, to be fair, were better than the rice chips, which tasted like… well, like nothing. She was wasting time, working up to something; Jake knew the signs. So by the time she came out of the kitchen with a serious expression on her face, Jake was braced for the lecture she was about to give him.

Kelli lifted her chin, looking him in the eye, and said, “I thought a lot about last night, and I want to apologize.”

Well, he hadn’t seen that coming. “Uhh…”

“What happened was my fault.”

Was he hallucinating? Had he entered an alternate universe? And what exactly was she apologizing for? “Kelli, it’s okay.” That was vague enough, right?

“No, it’s not. I wasn’t paying attention, but, looking back, I can see all the things I did wrong. I didn’t keep my distance. I should have realized where it was heading. And I certainly shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“I didn’t mind.”

“Seriously?” She put one hand on her hip, looking at him quizzically. “I laid down all these rules and then I was the one who broke them? You don’t resent that?”

“It’s kind of funny, actually.”

“Jake. I’m being serious here.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

“So I’m sorry. That’s all.” She was looking exasperated now. Did he have a talent for pissing people off or what? “And I wanted to tell you that I’m not going to do it again. If we got started, it would just lead to an even worse mess. It was stupid.”

Maybe so, but, damn, it sure had felt good.

“So.” She nodded, looking like she didn’t know how to end the conversation. He sure couldn’t help her there. “Well, then… I’m going to go back to work.”

Kelli walked out of the house. Jake went to the front door and leaned against the door jamb, arms folded, watching her walk away. Okay, so she was right. The idea of them hooking up was stupid. Supremely stupid.

But it wasn’t like stupid had ever stopped him before.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jake went outside and threw an old tennis ball for the dog for a while. He should go over to Gran’s and dig through his things. He was sure he had an old Frisbee or two there. Maybe he’d get that baseball bat too. Because you never knew. Toby wasn’t much of a guard dog—no surprise there. And Jake wasn’t going to scare off anybody with a Swiffer.

After Toby got tired, Jake roamed around inside the house, bored and restless. He couldn’t stop thinking about Kelli and her apology. As it turned dark and motorcycles began to show up in the parking lot, he decided he’d go over and have a steak at the Blue.

It wasn’t crowded when he went in. It was still early. But Man-bun Tyler was perched on one of the stools in front of the bar, where Kelli was serving. Carly came to the table to take Jake’s order, another woman trailing along after her.