“Never met anyone who disliked dogs before?” He sipped at his coffee again, preferring not to answer the question directly.
“I have never in my life met anyone who didn’t like puppies. Kittens. Babies.” She shook her head as though it were completely inconceivable.
“Babies?” He paused in the act of lifting his coffee cup to his lips again.
As though he needed the caffeine after that statement.
“A very broad term.” She lifted her shoulders again, that graceful little shrug that lifted her br**sts and rounded them just a little bit more. Just delightfully.
And made his hands itch to cup them, plump them, possess them.
“Ah, a broad term.” He nodded sharply. “Whatever the term, if you want the puppy, take it home with you.”
“My lease doesn’t allow puppies.” She glared back at him.
“Neither does mine,” he snapped back, almost in triumph. Hell, he should have thought of that excuse before.
Maybe not. Her expression became entirely too skeptical. “You own your home, Callahan.” There was just the cutest little snap to her voice.
He almost laughed at her. He would have, but that little mutt scratched at the door again, reminding Logan— He didn’t need puppies, kittens, or babies. Things happened. Bad things happened, and they could get taken away. They could be taken away permanently.
“I know your landlord,” he stated coolly. “I’ll have a talk with him.”
And he would. The little mutt was killing him, but he didn’t dare allow himself to get attached to the dog. No more than he dared to allow himself to get attached to his neighbor.
For the briefest second, he glimpsed sympathy in her gaze before it turned curious. “Why do you have to be a grump all the time? I know for a fact that the man who warned me away from him last week isn’t an ass**le. Why do you have to pretend to be one?”
He finished his coffee.
“I am an ass**le,” he assured her. “It’s just easier to warn prospective lovers that it’s only one night. I like my privacy and I don’t like ties.”
Her eyes narrowed. Pretty, dark eyes that seemed to mesmerize him, ensnare him. And almost made him choke on the lie he just let spill from his lips.
Hell, maybe he was hitting his midlife crisis or something, because it was all he could do to keep his hands off her or his heart from wishing. Hoping.
He was too f**king old for this shit.
“You’re lying,” she said softly. “Do you think everyone I meet in town isn’t real quick to warn me of the dangers of living next to you?”
Fuckers!
Logan sipped his coffee before replying. “You’re not listening.”
“I rarely do, “she agreed. “But it’s been twelve years. Surely you can afford to have a life now.
“And just four weeks ago some nutcase decided to copycat the Sweetrock Slasher and nearly killed my cousin’s lover.” His tone was intentionally harsh. “And that was after he’d already killed another woman. No, Skye, I don’t think it’s safe yet to have a life. And it’s sure as hell not safe to have a dog.”
It probably never would be.
“She’s an orphan, Callahan,” Skye finally sighed softly. “Like you. Like me.” She gave a small sad smile. “For some reason, she seems to want you, not me, and not anyone else. That’s a gift you rarely get. Can’t you just take her in for a few days?”
Logan set his cup back on the counter, careful not to allow himself to feel anger or to show any emotion where that unneeded information was concerned.
“I can take it to the shelter.” He lifted his shoulders as though it didn’t matter. “I’m sure it can find a family there.”
The recrimination in Skye’s gaze was, frankly, pissing him off. Because she had no idea how much he wished—
She breathed in slowly, as though forcing herself to maintain patience, before she set her coffee cup on the counter carefully.
“You don’t need anyone, do you? Did you even check on your grandmother?”
“I don’t have a grandmother.” He kept his tone even, but the anger and the hunger for things he knew weren’t his still burned inside him.
“I saw her at the pharmacy the other day,” she said then, her tone too soft, too filled with sympathy. “She asked about you.”
“And why would she do that?” It was almost a sneer, but he couldn’t seem to get it just right.
Her shoulder lifted negligently. “I don’t know, but she seemed very worried.”
“Stop.” It was time to put his foot down and get her the hell out of his life and out of his head. “If you’ve heard the gossip, then you know everything. Stop being so f**king nosy.”
“And stop caring about you?” That couldn’t be an edge of regret in the question. “The big, bad, tough Logan can’t have anyone care about him, or care for anyone, can he?”
“They end up dead.”
And he couldn’t forget that.
“And you just sit back and accept it?”
“Hell, baby, it’s millions in cash, bonds, and property.” He laughed mockingly. “Wouldn’t I be stupid to turn my back on that?”
He would in a heartbeat if he thought it would change a damned thing.
But it wouldn’t. Just as leaving before hadn’t changed anything.
“You’re stupid if you think I believe a word of what you just said,” she said, her voice low now. “I listen to everything I’m told and I know how to put two and two together. Three big tough military heroes aren’t going to take this lying down. You’re here. You’re investigating it, aren’t you?”
Logan stared back at her narrowly. “I don’t give a f**k, Ms. O’Brien. All I intend to do is live here until those bastards die in order to prove to them they aren’t stealing a f**king thing from my parents or from me. After that, Corbin County can kiss my f**king ass.”
Silence stretched between them. Disappointment finally filled her gaze and the sight of it tightened in his chest, far too close to his heart.
“Do whatever,” she said coolly. “It’s time I head home. I have better things to do than try to charm Scrooge tonight. Have a nice, lonely life, Callahan.” She turned as though to leave.