Seducing Simon(52)

“I know,” she said hugging him again. “And I won’t be a stranger. I promise.”

“Better not be,” he said gruffly. “I’ll come drag your ass out of your house kicking and screaming if I have to.”

“Y’all ready?” A.J. shouted from the door.

“Be right there,” she called back. “Well. That’s it.” Matt threw an arm around her and guided her toward the door. “Let’s go get you unpacked.”

The three guys stayed to make sure Toni didn’t handle any of the larger boxes. Toward dinner, Matt and A.J. made their escape but Simon stayed behind, helping Toni put away the new dishes she had bought for the kitchen.

“Want pizza? I called in an order awhile ago,” she asked coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his back.

He turned in her arms and pulled her tight against him. “Sounds good.” He bent to kiss her. “Like your new house?”

“I do actually,” she said with a smile. “It feels homey. And it’s mine.

It’s a neat feeling.”

“Want company tonight?” he asked innocently.

“Hmmm, sounds like a proposition to me,” she said, snuggling deeper into his chest. This would be a perfect time to tell him. She faltered, finding it suddenly difficult to breathe.

She drew away and looked intently into his eyes. Eyes filled with such affection. And love? She drew in a deep breath. “Simon?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“There’s something I need to tell you,” she said in a low voice.

He looked curiously at her. “Sure, go ahead.” She opened her mouth to spill her damning secret when the doorbell rang. Nearly weak with relief at the interruption, she smiled. “Pizza’s here.”

Coward. Pathetic coward. She brushed her hair then threw the brush down on her dresser in disgust. She’d blown the perfect chance to tell Simon the truth. Closing her eyes, she cursed herself with vehemence.

Things were only getting more complicated. Before she didn’t want to tell him for fear he would commit himself to her out of obligation. Now, she feared his anger, his hatred when she was so close to gaining his love.

Feeling slightly nauseous, she made herself finish getting ready for work. Simon had left fifteen minutes ago for the station. She blushed when she imagined Matt and A.J.’s reaction to his spending the night with her.

If only she could be assured of his feelings. If he had any. No, she knew he had feelings for her. She just didn’t know what kind of feelings.

She groaned and clenched her fists in frustration. This was eating her alive, and she couldn’t take it much longer. She slipped on a light jacket and stepped out into the late November morning air. It was a bit cooler than normal for this time of year, and she wondered if they were in for a colder winter. Anything colder than mild was considered frigid, she thought with a smile.

At the vet’s office, she set about the morning routine as the early drop-offs for spaying and neutering flooded in. At nine when their regular patient load started to filter in, she was surprised to see Mrs. Hauffrey come in without her poodles.

“Good morning, Mrs. Hauffrey,” she said politely.

“Good morning, Antonia.”

“Do you need something for Fifi or Fritz?”

“Oh, I popped in to select a new collar,” she said airily.

Liar. She didn’t allow anything but the finest leather to touch her darlings’ necks. Toni narrowed her eyes waiting for the real reason for the harridan’s visit. She didn’t have to wait long.

As Mrs. Hauffrey made a show of looking over the selection of collars in a display by the desk, she turned and glanced back at Toni. “I heard you moved out to the widow Jameson’s house.” Toni clenched her teeth and rolled her eyes. Why her actions caused so much interest in Cypress she would never know. She was hardly worthy of an entire gossip session. “Yes, that’s right,” she said casually, busying herself with the charts lying on the desk.

“It’s about time,” the woman muttered.

“I beg your pardon?” Toni asked in disbelief.

Mrs. Hauffrey turned her full attention to Toni, smiling brightly. “I merely thought it was high time you moved out of that house. Highly inappropriate, living with three unmarried men. It’s no wonder you ended up in your present state.” Her tone was scandalized, and she puffed as she spoke.

Anger made Toni tremble, and she forgot any restraint she thought to practice. “Listen to me you, old windbag. I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks about me. Those men you sneer about are my family, and if nothing else, I defend my family. If I hear so much as a word about you spreading rumors about them, I’ll tell everyone what you really do when you supposedly attend Bible study in Beaumont on Tuesday nights.”

Mrs. Hauffrey flushed a dark purple. She opened her mouth then closed it again, her flabby jaws flapping up and down like a sheet in the breeze. “You…how…” she sputtered off unable to complete her protest.

She turned and stalked out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her.

Toni chuckled and shook her head. She should have done it a long time ago, stood up to battleaxe, but she’d never wanted to cross the woman. Now, if the woman was smart, she’d steer clear of Toni.

After a phone call to Lonnie at dispatch to confirm her schedule for the weekend, she collected her keys and headed home. Usually she kept the same hours at dispatch as Simon did at the firehouse so they’d have the same evenings off, but tonight she was looking forward to a night alone in her new house.