Page 41 of Tempting Fire

Chapter Eleven

Zarek was on one of his twenty-four-hour shifts. She’d dropped him off at the station so she could use his truck to go to her appointment. Hell, she didn’t even have to be tricked to go, she was beginning to look forward to her time with Dr. Michaels.

It was like a cloud was lifting and she could see the world a little more clearly. But in some ways it made things suckier. Eventually she would need to leave Dallas, get a job, deal with her family. It was the last that made her shudder. Maybe she would move away from Tennessee, she had always wanted to move North, maybe Montana. As soon as she thought that she discarded the idea. Too cold.

She wandered around Zarek’s house, Slayer following her. He had his leash in his mouth. Couldn’t be more blatant then that. These days she could actually trust herself to walk around the neighborhood without a panic attack. Of course, having a dog that weighed more than she did definitely added to her sense of security.

“Come on boy, I’ll take you out.” She swore she could see him smiling under all that hair. She attached the leash and took him out the front door. This time she only had to check twice that the door was locked. Progress.

She decided to go towards the small park, that way they could take a mild run around the swings. Slayer loved that, and God knew she could use some exercise. She’d lost a lot of muscle mass with her weight loss, so a little bit of a jog and then some of Zarek’s protein powder should help her out. When Slayer figured out where they were headed he pulled at the leash in excitement.

“Hey, not too hard.” As soon as she said the words, he immediately came to her side. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with apology. Would Zarek allow her to take his dog to Montana? She bit her lip. She didn’t just want Slayer to go with her, she wanted Zarek to go with her too.

She got to the park, and gave the leash more play so that Slayer could run with her following him. He kept her running, so she didn’t have time to think, thank God.

“Okay, done boy.”

She sat down on one of the swings, breathing hard. She tried not to think anything but the pretty Texas day. It sure was a pretty state. No, must consider Montana.

Slayer barked. She looked at eyes that were level with hers.

“Okay, is it Miller time?”

Slayer barked again. Apparently, it was. She got up from the swing. They could both use some water. She should have brought some with her. What was she thinking?

She took a sedate pace back to the house, talking to Slayer the entire way.

“So what do you think. Does Montana sound good. You’ve got a mountain of fur, you’d probably love the snow. Now that I’m feeling better I’m not cold all the time.” Still the idea of winter six months out of the year did not sound good.

Slayer barked three times.

“Well I guess you’re in agreement.” He barked some more, and that’s when she looked up and saw another car in the driveway. “What the hell?”

The garage door was open. She fumbled for her phone, and pressed in Zarek’s number. He answered on the first ring.

“Somebody’s at the house.”

“I know Cupcake. It’s me. You’re outside with Slayer, right?”

“Yes, I took him for a walk.”

“Stay outside. I’ll come out in a minute, okay?”

He sounded pissed off.

Before she could respond, he hung up.

What the hell?

Well, time for the old Chloe to step up. She sure wasn’t going to just stand outside with her thumb up her ass. Something was up. She peeked inside the sedan and saw the paperwork for the rental car agency in the backseat. She’d bet her bottom dollar that it was one of her family who was inside with Zarek. He was mad because she was being ambushed.

But she could handle Zoe, this was her sister and her problem, not his. She looked down at Slayer. “Come on boy. Time for you to meet my twin. Let’s see how you handle two of us.”

She went through the garage and started opening the kitchen door, and heard angry male voices. She cringed.

“You’ve put us off long enough.”

“If she wanted to see you, she would have called,” Zarek’s voice was icy.