My intentions had been good. I didn’t want to lie to her. I couldn’t lie to her. There was no way I could look her in the eye and deny what I felt for her. So I’d told the truth, in the most cruel and insensitive way I possibly could have.
I knew what I was talking about when I’d said she wasn’t a forever girl. She wasn’t the girl that wanted to get married, have two-point-five kids and settle down. But, the moment I saw my statement register on her face, I realized that wasn’t how she took it. She thought she wasn’t the kind of girl I would want forever. The real bitch of it was that, she was the only girl I wanted. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
Harmony was right. I am really bad at talking.
From the start, I’d handled things with Harmony ass backwards. Instead of being upfront and honest, I’d tried to keep my feelings bottled up, buried. I’d tried to distance myself from her. When that hadn’t worked, I’d gone all Jekyll and Hyde on her. One second I was telling her the reason I hadn’t had sex with anyone in a year and a half was because they weren’t her and the next I was ignoring her texts.
This ended tonight. I knew that she probably never wanted to speak to me again, and that was fair. But, somehow, I had to find a way to get her to hear me out. She had to know the truth, the whole truth.
As I pulled up in front of her house and got out of the truck, I noticed a man sitting on porch steps.
Adrenaline raced through me as I strode purposefully up the walkway.
“Can I help you with something?” My tone was in full job-mode.
He barely looked up from his phone. “No.”
I took a step closer. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s none of your business,” he said dismissively.
“Yes. It is. If you’re not going to tell me what you’re doing here, you need to leave.”
“Or what?” He puffed his chest out.
This guy could not be for real.
I took out my badge. “Or I can take you down to the station to have a little talk about trespassing.”
That changed his tune real quick. “I’m not trespassing. I’m waiting for my dog.”
No way.
“You’re Tim. The doctor?”
Harmony had dated this guy? He was such a prick. Of course, I probably wasn’t really in any place to pass judgment on who was or wasn’t a prick.
“Yes. I’m the doctor.” He said the word as if he was some kind of superstar.
Fuck. Losing Romeo would devastate Harmony. She loved that dog. I loved that dog. But, if it was Tim’s dog, there really wasn’t anything I could do. Unless…
Crossing my arms, I glared down at him. “Do you plan on leaving the country again?”
“It’s none of your business.”
This guy was such a tool.
“Actually it is, since you trust his care to incompetent dog-watchers. Do you know that there were six complaints from neighbors filed against Romeo due to his excessive barking? When officers followed up, several neighbors reported that he was left alone for days at a time; in the backyard with no shade, food, or water.”
“My buddy works a lot. He’s a doctor, too. And he had to go to Vegas and New Orleans for bachelor parties. Romeo was fine.”
“He was not fine. The morning that Miss Briggs took possession of him, he’d escaped and was picked up by animal control.”
“That was because he’s a little pussy when it comes to thunder. Harmony always babied him.”
That settled it. There was no way in hell I was going to let this asshole take Romeo back.
“Do you have papers to prove ownership of the canine?”
“Papers? No…I don’t. A patient gave him to me. I don’t have papers.”
“Well, possession is nine tenths of the law. Miss Briggs is in possession of the animal, therefore the burden is on you to prove ownership.”
“What?” Tim’s face scrunched up. “Fuck that. I want my dog back. It’s my dog.”
“Tim?” I heard Harmony’s voice behind me and I turned to see her standing with Romeo at her side.
As relieved as I was to see her, to see that she was okay, her timing couldn’t have been worse. I wanted to get rid of this douchebag before she had to deal with him.
“Tell him, Harmony. Tell him Romeo is my dog.” He sounded like a grade schooler telling his friend to tell the teacher it was his ball.
Harmony looked back and forth between us. “What…? Yeah it’s—”
“Call the dog.” I cut Harmony off when I saw Romeo’s body language.
“What?” Tim asked, like an idiot.
“If it’s your dog, he’ll come to you.” Stepping to the side, so Tim had a clear eye line to Romeo I repeated, “Call the dog.”
Tim looked down at Romeo and his energy changed. He licked his lips nervously as he bent down. “Come here, boy. Come here, Romeo. Come.”
Romeo stayed in place beside Harmony. In fact, he leaned into her.
“He just doesn’t remember me, that’s all,” Tim weakly explained. His tone turned harsh as he snapped, “Come. Now!”
“Don’t yell at him!” Harmony stepped in front of Romeo.
“Come here!” Tim moved down a step. “Now!”
Romeo growled and advanced in a protective move, blocking Harmony from the douche.