Page 25 of Rekindle My Heart

Chapter 7

Wow, he still had his fingers. He caught the little flinch when he laid his hand on Erica’s back to usher her to the vehicle. It was so natural to touch her. They used to touch all the time. Nothing sexual. Their hand would brush in the popcorn bowl while watching a movie. He’d grab her arm to pull her down the hall, so they wouldn’t be late for class. Hell, he even let her paint his toenails. Black sparkles. She and Sarah busted a gut when the sparkles didn’t come off with the regular nail polish remover.

A groan at the memory slipped out.

They had years of casual, friendly touches. Then one night changed it all.

Now, an instinctual brush of his hand, guiding her, felt like more.

Erica gazed out the window. “I don’t think this part of town was ever pleasant.”

Ryan pulled his attention to the rundown homes and dead lawns. Mostly single-level houses on this street. The development had been all tract homes from the sixties.

“There.” She pointed. “The one with the second story.”

“Sure enough, Reggie was right.” Ryan looked at the front porch with dog chains bolted to the post. A chain-link fence bordered the front yard. No dogs though.

He parked in front of the home. He clicked the vehicle’s door handle, and as if sounding a bell for the gates of hell, two massive, black and tan dogs rounded the house at full speed. Their enormous bodies charged the fence.

Ryan yanked his leg back inside and slammed the door. “Oh, hell no.”

“They’re beautiful.” Her face lit with appreciation.

Ryan frowned. She was crazy. How had he not known that?

“Look at them.” She gestured to the two dogs.

He was looking alright. Sharp white teeth, broad heads, drool foaming, Ryan didn’t know if finding this drug dealer was worth losing a limb.

“Beautiful wasn’t the word I was thinking. Beasts. Hellhounds.” He swiveled his head from side-to-side. “No, not feeling like testing my insurance today.”

“Don’t be a baby. They are just doing their job. Come on.” She opened the door.

“What the… Get in the car.” Ryan reached for her, but it was too late. She was standing on the sidewalk mere feet from those snapping jaws.

“Well, shit. She can’t have all the balls.” He said a quick prayer he wouldn’t lose his today and stepped out. The barks magnified as he exited the vehicle. Ryan touched his ear. No blood, so he took another step closer.

His love of dogs had always been from afar, and at this moment, he’d like to keep it that way. But Erica had spit on that plan and thrown good sense to the wind.

“They need to realize we are friends.” She slowly extended the back of her hand, only a few inches from the chain-link fence.

“No!” Visions of her pulling back a bloody stump flashed in his mind. His heart rate skyrocketed.

“Shhh. Stay there.” She hushed Ryan, then continued to hum to the beasts. Their barks turned to growls.

“I’m pulling out my phone and dialing nine one, waiting on the last digit, I want to be ready, in case this goes sideways.”

“That’s not going to happen. These two beauties don’t want to hurt me. They just have a job to do.”

“If you mean scaring people off, it’s working. I’m scared and man enough to admit it.”

Erica ignored him. She cooed to the monsters snarling on the other side of the way-too-short fence and smiled. She moved her hand closer.

“Woman, you’re certifiable.”

“It’s okay. The stupid man won’t hurt you,” she muttered to the dogs, who were miraculously quieting down. Their lips slid back down over their massive teeth, and the stub tails twitched. Her hand touched the fence. Long tongues licked her.

“They’re seeing if they want to eat you. Don’t offer them a sample.”