“And Nina.You know, Niiinaaa?—”
“Nina, hush!Dom, listen, it’s Marty, and my other partner in OOPS is here, too.Her name is Wanda.Can you open the door, please?We’re here to help.”
The hammer cleared its throat.“They sound lovely, Dominique.Do open the door.Of the four, I can assure you, Harvey is least likely to harm you.He’s akin to a gentle giant.”
With slow, terrified steps, still clinging to the knife, she continued to ignore the hammer’s advice and tiptoed across her hardwood floor, her hands clammy as she pressed her ear to the door.
“I have a weapon!”she warned them, fighting the wobble in her voice.“If you make one wrong move, I’ll—I’ll—”What, Dom?What exactly will you do?She’d never so much as killed even a fly in her lifetime.
Squaring her shoulders, Dominique narrowed her eyes.But a fly had never threatened her well-being.“I have a weapon and I’ll use it!”
She heard an amused scoff.“Ooo, I hope it’s shiny and sharp.I haven’t had dinner yet,” Nina cackled.
“Dominique?Wanda here.Please open the door.I know you’re afraid, but we’re here to help you.I promise you; wecanhelp.”
She had two choices.Climb out the window and run screaming into the night toward the nearest police station, where she’d tell them all about her talking hammer.Or…she could let the people on the other side of this door into her home.
And possibly die a gruesome death by group homicide.
Suddenly, someone jiggled the doorknob as she backed away and the door came flying open.Three women entered of varying heights, two of them beautiful and dressed to the nines, and the third, surely one of the most flawlessly perfect women she’d ever seen—on TV or in the movies or ever—wearing a dark hoodie, jeans, work boots and shirt that read:I Almost Gave a Fuck.Scared The Shit Out of Myself.
Behind them stood a towering hulk of a man, who she assumed was Harvey.
Wow.
Wow-wow.Harvey wasn’t only enormous, he was insanely good-looking.Blond, chiseled, bulky in all the right places, with thick thighs bunching his jeans and biceps pushing against a plaid flannel jacket.
Dom gulped.Now felt like the wrong moment to make note of something as superficial as how incredibly, ruggedly, gorgeously, fantastically handsome this man was, but it was hard to deny.In fact, his good looks almost made her gasp.
Fletcher, obviously sensing her fear, flew high up into her cathedral ceilings before swooping down and aiming for Nina—whose hand shot in the air just as he dove for the top of her head.
She snatched him out of the air so quickly, Dom barely had time to blink.
“No!”she cried.“Please don’t hurt him!”
Nina, and she somehow just knew this flawless woman was Nina, held Fletcher in her hand, curling her fingers around his small body.She looked him directly in the eye.“Would you look at you, buddy?Boy or girl?”she asked, as she gazed at Fletcher until he calmed in her hand, then she opened her palm, letting him settle in.
Licking her lips, Dom stared at their interaction in awe.Fletcher was protective for a creature so tiny, and he didn’t warm easily to strangers—just ask her last boyfriend, Amon.
She’d found Fletcher on a back road when she’d been investigating nursing homes for her grandfather, entangled in a plastic six-pack soda wrap, his tiny feet struggling to get free as he frantically called out in distress.
Carefully, she’d disentangled him, but his foot was injured, and she knew from watching countless YouTube videos he’d never survive in the wild.So she’d taken him to the vet, had him patched up with a splint, and during his healing process, they’d bonded—in a way that hadn’t only surprised her, but delighted her.
They’d been together for three years now, through the ups and downs with her grandfather’s debilitating health, and the loneliness and guilt she’d suffered, putting him in memory care.He’d been there after a life-altering experience that had changed her entire world.Fletcher had been there, loyal, goofy, steadfast.
As nutty as it sounded, he’d become her touchstone.He made every day bearable since she’d transferred her grandfather to memory care.
“Hey?”Nina nudged her as Fletcher rubbed his head against her cheek.“Boy or girl?”she repeated.
“Boy,” she mumbled, clinging tighter to the knife.“His name’s Fletcher.”
Suddenly, this amazingly perfect creature grinned.A smile so glorious, so full of straight white teeth and full, naturally red lips, it almost left Dom breathless.
She ran a gentle finger down along Fletcher’s breast.“Aw, hey, Fletch, I’m Nina.Aren’t you a handsome guy.So shiny.Who does your feathers?”
Fletcher’s beady black eyes locked with this stranger’s in genuine interest.With, dare she say, warmth?He curled his head into her raised fingers and made a soft cooing noise.
“Look at how nice this sweet, sweet boy is,” she said softly, her ember eyes warm.“Do you have treats?Show Auntie Nina where they are and I’ll get you some, huh?”
