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attractive.
But, surprisingly, the fireman s eyes slid back to her. Pea? he asked with a
raised brow.
Yeah, she said, shrugging and launching into the short version of her all
too familiar explanation for what everyone called her. Sadly, Pea is an
unfortunate childhood nickname that stuck.
Oh, come on! There s nothing wrong with your nickname. Pea s adorable, Stacy
said, grinning at her.
Yea for Pea! Stacy s daughter Emili chimed in. I like your name. It s cute.
But it s not as cute as him. Emili pointed up at Griffin. Are you married?
Pea s not married. Maybe you could marry Pea. She doesn t even have a
boyfriend and my mommy says that s a shame because she really is cuter than
people think she is cause
Pea sucked in air and felt her face blaze with heat while Stacy clamped her
hand over Emili s mouth and tried unsuccessfully not to laugh.
Thank the sweet weeping baby Jesus that Chloe chose that moment to snarl a
warning at the young fireman who was positioning the ladder against the tree.
Chlo! It s okay. Pea hurried over to the trunk of the tree and looked up at
the black snout and bright eyes. Chloe whined. Sorry, she doesn t like men,
she said to the fireman. I really don t think she ll bite you. But she will
complain. Probably a lot.
I ll get her, Griffin said.
She s all yours, Captain.
Griffin started up the ladder and Chloe s low, rumbling growl intensified.
Chloe! Manners! Pea called up to the perturbed Scottie. Please, God, please
don t let her bite him, she mentally telegraphed over and over. . . . Until
Griffin did something that made Pea s thoughts, as well as Chloe s growls,
come to an abrupt halt. He was calling Chloe, but he wasn t calling her like
someone would call a dog. He was, unbelievably, kitty-kittying her.
Come here Chloe, kitty-kitty. It s okay little girl. Come here,
kitty-kitty-kitty. . . .
Dumbfounded, Pea watched her dog s ears lift and her head tilt toward the
approaching man.
Good girl, Griffin murmured. Good kitty-kitty, kitty-kitty. He held his
hand out slowly and let Chloe get a good sniff of him. See, you smell her,
don t you? That s right, kitty-kitty-kitty, come on down.
Pea could only stand and stare as Griffin reached into the tree crevice and
pulled Chloe, who was still sniffing him curiously, into his arms and began
the descent down the ladder.
Amazing, Stacy said with a deep breath. How did he do that? Chloe hates
men.
He s too pretty to hate, Mommy, Emili said.
Honey, let s keep that for our inside thoughts, shall we? Stacy said. Then
she glanced at Pea and whispered, Even though it s totally true.
Pea pretended not to hear either of them, which was easy. Her entire being was
focused on her dream man striding toward her with her dog who was actually
wagging her tail held firmly in his arms.
Here ya go, ma am. He handed Chloe to Pea.
Th-thank you, Pea stuttered. How?
How? he repeated.
The kitty-kittying. How did you know to do that?
Just makes sense. You said she thinks she s a cat, and you have a cat,
right?
Pea nodded.
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That s how you call your cat. Right?
Pea nodded again.
I figured she d recognize the call.
Griffin scratched Chloe on the top of her head, and Pea watched in
astonishment as her dog her man-hating dog closed her eyes and sighed happily.
That s just part of it, though, Griffin said. I was counting on Chloe
smelling Cali.
Pea suddenly understood. Your cat?
My cat. Griffin gave Chloe one last scratch, then turned back to his men.
Okay, let s get this loaded up. Have a good day, ma am. He nodded politely
to her and then to Stacy. He winked at Emili, and then he was gone.
Em, honey, go on inside and wait for Mommy. I ll be there in just a second,
Stacy told her daughter.
Are you and Pea going to talk about how pretty that fireman was?
Of course not, honey. Now go on.
Kay! Bye, Pea. Emili skipped off to her house, singing a song about lemon
drops and unicorns.
Okay, I d forgotten how drop dead Mr. Tall Dark and Fireman is. I can
definitely understand why you ve had a thing for him for ages, Stacy said.
Pea put Chloe down and the dog trotted over to the tree and began sniffing all
around the trunk. Do not even think about climbing up there again, Pea told
her sternly. Chloe glanced back at her and snorted. I swear that dog
understands every word I say, Pea muttered.
Hello! Sexy, incredible man. We were talking about him and not your insane
Scottie.
She s not insane, Pea said automatically. And yeah, he s gorgeous and I
might have a little crush on him.
Stacy rolled her eyes, which Pea chose to ignore. But now he s gone. I don t
see the point in going on and on about him.
Like you haven t gone on and on about him before?
Pea silently chastised herself for the one or two okay, ten or twelve times
she d mentioned to Stacy how hot she thought their neighbor was. Whatever,
she said, trying to sound nonchalant and dismissive. He s still gone, and
there s still no point in talking about how gorgeous he is.
The point is, Ms. Totally Single, that he seemed interested in you.
Get real, Stacy. He wasn t interested; he was polite. There s a world of
difference.
Bullshit.
Stacy, he didn t even remember me, and today makes the fourth time we ve met.
Men like him are not interested in women like me.
So he has a crappy memory. Lots of guys do. And women like you? What does
that mean?
Pea sighed, and didn t feel up to mentioning that Griffin s memory hadn t
failed when she d walked up. Women like me short, plain, forgettable. He
belongs with a model or a goddess. He doesn t belong with me.
You know, that s your problem! You defeat yourself before you even start.
I ve told you before that all you need is a little self-confidence. You re
perfectly fine looking.
Perfectly fine looking. Didn t that just sum it all up? There was sexy Stacy
giving her what she really considered praise and encouragement, but the best
she could come up with was perfectly fine looking. She studied Stacy tall and
blond with her great curves, fabulous boobs and those cheekbones that made her
face look like someone should carve it out of marble. How could she possibly
understand what it was to be so average that you went through life being
invisible? She d never walked into a room and not turned heads. Pea would bet
the great raise she d just got that gorgeous Griffin had already forgotten
her. Men always did, but she would also bet that the firemen were discussing
her hot blond neighbor all the way back to the station. And then someone might
say something like: Oh, yeah, that other girl was there, too. Pea was the
other girl. The forgettable girl.
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So will you do it?
Huh? Pea said, realizing Stacy had been talking and she d not heard anything
she d been saying.
Stacy sighed in exasperation. I said, it s not even noon yet. You have plenty
of time to go into that fabulous kitchen of yours and bake a big plate of your
to-die-for brownies and deliver them to gorgeous Griffin at the station as a
thank you.
Let me think about that. Pea paused for half a blink. No.
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