Between You and Me

“That won’t be necessary,” she said.

“Really?” Logan asked. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You won’t be able to go back into the house and close the windows for . . . what, Captain, two hours, at least?”

“Sounds about right,” Bellamy said. “I’d give it four—or more, actually, unless you don’t mind the smell of smoke in your furniture.”

Logan nodded in agreement, his eyes holding his client’s. “And it’s seventeen degrees out right now.”

He saw the understanding start to dawn in her face.

“Way I see it,” he went on, “you have two choices. You can stay out here in the cold, maybe sit in your truck for a while, if that suits you. Or, you can go inside, quickly grab a few things, and let me take you into town so you and your dog can stay at a nice, warm hotel for the night. Which I’ll gladly take you to, and pick you up from in the morning to bring you home.”

He watched Tess as she shot a glance at the garage. Her SUV was in there, but the fire truck and captain’s car were parked in front of it.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Captain Bellamy said. “Why don’t I leave you two to discuss it.”

Tess stepped out of the fire truck. Still cradling Bubbles with both arms, she almost lost her balance. Logan held her arm to help her firmly onto the ground. She looked up at him, those wide marine-blue eyes locking on him, and said, “Option two sounds good to me. Thank you, Logan.”

“Of course. Can’t have you out here freezing to death.” He rubbed Bubbles’s head, bringing a short bark and licking. “You want to go in and grab what you need, or you want me to do it?”

“I’m going to need to put her down to do anything,” Tess said, glancing down at the ball of white fur in her arms.

“Gimme.” Logan reached out and took the dog. He laughed as she wiggled wildly. “Squirmy li’l thing, aren’t ya? C’mere, missy. Let’s get you in my truck for a few minutes while Tess and I get some stuff.” He glanced at Tess for permission, and when she nodded and smiled, he walked back to his truck. He turned on the heated seats and blasted the heat for a minute before setting Bubbles down in the backseat. “Don’t pee in here, okay, sweetie?” She barked in reply.

The captain drove away, leaving the fire truck and his men to finish up. Logan watched as the firemen set up the positive pressure fan in the front door to help force the smoke out of all the open windows. Walking back to Tess, he tried to gauge the expression on her face. Gratitude for sure, but it was mixed with something else, and he wasn’t sure what. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she assured him. “You’re being very sweet. To me, and to Bubbles. Thank you for that.”

He shrugged and said, “Just doin’my job, Tess. Here . . .” He pulled his scarf from around his neck and handed it to her. “Put that over your nose and mouth when we go inside. Still smoky as hell; you don’t want to breathe that in.”

She nodded, thanked him again, and turned away to go into the house. As he followed her, he noticed for the first time that though she was still wrapped up in his blanket, she was in her pj’s. She wore fleece pajama bottoms, red with black dots on them. It was only as he reached her side in the living room that he realized the dots were little penguins. He couldn’t help but grin. That was cute. He hadn’t pegged her to own, much less wear, anything that hinted of cute. She was so aristocratic, he’d figured she probably wore expensive satin pajamas to bed.

“I’ll just go upstairs and grab what I need,” she said. “Could you do me a huge favor?”

“Of course,” he said.

“If you could just grab”—she pointed to the corner, toward Bubbles’s layout—“a few of those toys next to her bed, toss them on top, and bring the bed to your truck, that would be really great. I have a feeling a hotel might be more open to my having a dog in tow if they see she’s got her own bed.”

He did as she asked, and she went up the spiral wooden staircase to her room. In five minutes, he had the dog’s stuff together and she was back with a small suitcase.