Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)(5)

"How in the hell did he get up in that tree?"

"She's not a he, she's a she. And she climbed," Pea said.

"Oh, pardon my language, ma'am; I forgot you were there. I'm Griffin DeAngelo, captain of the Midtown Station." He tapped his helmet in an archaic and adorable gesture of a gentleman greeting a lady.

"I know!"

"You know?" He raised an eyebrow as if to punctuate his question.

"Yeah, you live down there." Pea pointed down the block directly at his house. Like a stalker.

"Remember, we met at the fourth of July block party last fourth of July, and also at the summer weenie roast and again at the pre-Christmas light hanging neighborhood meeting," she babbled, sounding exactly like a stalker.

His beautiful forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't remember."

Of course he didn't. No one remembered meeting her. "No problem, I'm um..." She paused as she stared up into eyes that were so big and blue and beautifully dark lashed that she suddenly and moronically forgot her name.

"Ma'am?"

"Dorreth Chamberlain!" she blurted, holding out her hand like a dork. "And the dog caught in the tree is Chloe."

He took her hand gently, like he was afraid she might explode at his touch. And why wouldn't he think that? She'd just told him that they'd met three times, none of which he remembered, and she was still standing there gawking at him like a kindergarten kid in a bubble gum factory. And her hair! Pea forced herself not to groan and pat manically at the frizzy mess she'd tied back in her favorite scrunchie.

"Check it out. It's a dog," said a young fireman who had joined them with two other men carrying an extension ladder.

"How the hell did it get up there?" said another fireman, with a laugh. Griffin cleared his throat and gestured at Pea.

"Sorry, ma'am," was mumbled in her general direction.

Pea laughed gaily, gesturing up at the tree, trying hard to sound perky and interesting. "She climbed!" As usual, none of the men so much as glanced at her.

"Climbed? She must be twenty feet up in that old oak," one of the unnamed guys said.

"She's a good climber. She's just not a good climber downer," Pea said, and then wanted to dissolve into the sidewalk in embarrassment. Climber downer? God, she really was such a dork.

"Well, let's get her down," Griffin said. The men went to work extending the ladder, and Chloe started growling.

"What kind of dog is she, ma'am?" Griffin asked her.

"She's a Scottie, but she thinks she's a cat. See, I have a cat named Max, and Chloe is totally in love with him, hence the fact she is clueless that she's a Scottie dog. Chloe is in denial. She believes she's a Scottie cat. I'm not sure whether to get her another dog, get her some Prozac or take her for a visit to the pet psychic."

Griffin laughed, a deep, infectious sound that made Pea's skin tingle with pleasure. "Or maybe you should just invest in a safety net."

Pea giggled and tried to have one of "those moments" with totally, insanely gorgeous Griffin the Fireman - one of those eye-meeting moments where a man and a woman share a long, sexy, lingering, laughter-filled look.

Naturally the moment did not happen.

First, her coquettish giggle turned into - horror of all horrors - a snort. Second, blonde and beautiful appeared on the scene.

"Pea! Don't tell me Chloe got caught in a tree again!"

Griffin immediately shifted his attention to her neighbor, who was hurrying up to them, her sixyear-old daughter in tow. "Hi, Griffin," she said.

"Good to see you again, Stacy," he said, and tilted his hat to her, too. Pea sighed. Of course he remembered Stacy - tall, sleek, always together-looking Stacy - even though Pea knew for sure that Stacy had only made one of the neighborhood meetings in the past year. With Stacy there was no way in hell gorgeous Griffin would give her another thought. If he'd ever given her a first thought. Even with a kid at her heels, Stacy was ridiculously 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."