Two weeks later

Callie had taken Max out for a walk, figuring it would do them both good to get out of the boat. It had been a while since she had taken him for a walk. Duke, had been performing his neighbourly duty as he liked to call it but stopping by more often then she'd like, snagging Max's leash and disappearing with her dog for hours on end.

He didn't come empty handed either. Some times it was just a book, or bag of grocery's. A cup of tea that he knew she liked from riffling through her cupboards, a bar of chocolate or that one time he came with a flower.

She couldn't shake Duke, she had tried to shake like a dog trying to shake a flea. He dug in and held on for reason's beyond her understanding. It didn't bother her as much as she let on. It wasn't like she hadn't entertained the idea of finding a spot that was hers, a place where she belonged. Where she was safe. But Callie knew better, oh boy did her know.

After all wasn't that how her brother Cale had died. Got himself a pretty redhead wife, the two point five kids and the white picket fence. Wasn't more then five years and they found them. Now Cale and that pretty redhead wife of his are dead, and no one knew where the kids where. Callie had her suspicions, the five families did always like to recruit young. Easy to train a kid to do what they want to do.

No, Callie would find out what the hell Duke wanted, give it to him and be gone before winter's end. Safer for the both of them, and the town of Haven.

Before the incident on Duke's boat, Callie had taken Max for leisurely two hour walks, sometimes twice a day. They would leave the harbour, head into town window shop a bit before walking the trails that weaved their way around the town and the bluff that over looked the harbour.

Today was a shorter version, only heading up to town then she meant to head back. But she was waylaid by some Haven locals.

"Miss, miss." a man who was three maybe four inches stopped her on the street. He was balding, wearing large round glasses and was in his early sixties or close to it." I have a favour to ask you."

Callie looked at the camera he was holding in his hands and shook her head." Sorry, I'm kinda late."

"It won't take that long. Hey, I know you." the man said turning away from her to shout something to someone behind her. "Vince, Vince! Come take a look at whose out and about in Haven."

A taller man approached them, walking with long strands. He had shoulder length curly dark hair and looked a few years younger then the previous man.

"Dave, what is it?" Vince asked frowning down at the shorter man. " I was in the middle of something."

"Look who it is. This is our newest Haven resident, Isla Ferguson, but everyone calls you Callie right?" Dave turned from Vince back to Callie with a friendly smile on his face.

"That would be me." Callie replied through gritted teeth. She was going to punch Duke so hard, he was going to pee blood for the next week.

"You have to forgive my brother, Dave can be a bit forgetful." Vince told her as he reached down to pet Max." I'm Vince Teague, and this is my brother Dave."

Dave and Vince both stuck out their hands for her to shake, which she obliged before quickly sticking her hand back into her coat pocket.

Dave held up the camera, and told her " We run the Haven Herald together. We share the writing credits for the most part."

"It's equal Dave and you know it. Don't start griping because I got more lines then you last week." Vince shook his head at his brother.

Dave shot Vince an annoyed look before continuing. " I was originally hoping you could let me take you picture for the paper. Vince is writing a piece about outside winter fun, we've noticed you taking walks past our office. But not that I know who you are, how about an interview?"

"A what?" Callie raised an eyebrow and looked around for a way out of this conversation. There was no way in hell her picture was going to end up in a newspaper, let alone grant a freaking interview. She did not do dead very well.

"It's been awful hard to even get a quote from you about the incident on Duke Crocker's boat." Vince told her. " We went down to the docks to your boat, but we ran into Duke coming out of it."

"He told us you weren't interested in giving a quote on winter storms, you know due to your medical condition and all. He did help us out though, Vince." Dave bent down to scratch Max behind the ears. This caused Max to drop to his stomach, roll over so he was belly up and look at Dave with an expected look.

"Yes he was, but since we ran that story already we could do an new in town interview or maybe you could address some of the rumours about that really happened on Duke's boat."

"And what would they be, you know for curiosity's sake." asked Callie with a sigh. She reached up and rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands. This was not staying the background like she had planned. People were going to remember her in the town and that was a bad thing. A very, very bad thing.

"One rumour would be that there was some illegal actiivityes going on and they turned bad. Which knowing Duke's reputation that one's pretty high on the betting pool." Vince told her as he watch his brother give Max a belly rub. Dave always did have quiet an affection for dogs. " Another is that you and Duke had a steamy romance that involved a little rough play. That one is a favourite of the young ladies."

Where people fucking stupid in this town or on drugs?

"Neither. Duke just had the bad timing to go out to see with me in his boat. Rough sea's, bad storm I got knocked around." Callie told them, as she spotted a familer face down the street. " Do people really think Duke and I had some kind of kinky sex that night?"

"There are some." Dave confirmed standing up.

"I have a couple cracked ribs, a black eye and raw throat." Callie narrowed her eyes at the long, lean figure that was walking down the sidewalk towards them. Speak of the mother loving devil."I don't know what kinky sexy the two of you and the rest of the town get up into but Duke and I are not engaged in any sexual actively of any kind. Kinky, straight up missionary or nasty sex, there's none of it going on between the two of us. You can pass that around the rumour mill."

"Well that's quiet similar to what Duke said." Vince nodded his head, as he stored the information away. "For the most part."

"Oh, how was Crocker's statement any different then mine?"

"He said not yet, at least." Dave told her.

"Not yet what?" Callie asked as she tightened her hold on Max's leash when he saw Duke approaching. He was standing up, tail wagging like he was seeing a long lost friend for the first time. Max apparently had a better relationship with Duke then she did. It must be a guy thing she didn't understand.

"Duke told us 'that you weren't involved in any sexual activities, not yet at least'. I'm fairly certain that's exactly what he said to us, when we asked him to speak to you." Vince told her as Callie's face dropped.

He said what? To complete strangers, and now the whole town is talking about her soon to be sex life. Seriously, this month could not get worse. There was just no way.

"Excuse me, I have to go murder someone." Callie told them through clenched teeth stalking towards Duke. She grabbed his arm with her free hand and jerked him around, heading with quick steps that she was going to regret later towards his truck.

Dave and Vince watched as Callie lead Duke down the end of the street he had just come from. They both were thinking along the same lines, that this was a very interesting development.

Dave turned to his brother and proused a question. " Do you think she knows about the bet?"

"I doubt it. And if Duke Crocker has any sense in his head, he'll keep his mouth shut." Vince answered his brother as he moved a little further down the street in order to hear what Callie was saying to Duke. Dave started to speak but Vince waved his hand to hush him.

Callie didn't know what she was going to do with Duke, short of killing him and dumping the body. He was on a war path to make her life a complete utter fuck up. She hissed at him, throwing him a dirty look a she tugged harder on his arm. "You stupid idiot."

"Hello, Callie." Duke pried his arm out of her grasp and through it around her shoulders. He kept the pace she set, seeing the anger in her eyes, and wondered for a moment what he did to earn it. He had purposely stayed away from her the last couple of days to let her calm down from there last argument. Duke didn't like to see her so angry but Callie was so damn stubborn to just let him help her. "Good to see you this afternoon."

"Not yet, Crocker? I ought to kick you skinny ass right here for the whole damn town to see." Callie stopped short of the side hurt from walking to face, for a minute she thought she might just need to sit down but then the feeling past. " Your lucky that it would only make them more interested in me then they already are. Which by the was way more then I want them to be, by the way."

"What are you going on about? Cause seriously, neighbour you lost me." Duke told her giving Max a quick pat before taking the leash out of Callie's hand. He open his truck and whistled at Max. Max jumped up in to the drivers side of the cab, Duke tossed the leash in and shut the door. It was clear to Callie that this was not the first time that either man nor dog had done this.

"You hinted to the Teagues that we were going to engage in a sexual relations in the future when they asked you to confirm the rumor that we had some wild kinky rough sex on you boat the night of storm." Callie raised an eyebrow, her mouth set in a frown. "And now the whole town is talking about it."

"And there betting on it." The words slipped out of his mouth before his brain caught up to warn him that it wouldn't be smart to mention that. He could see her face go from mad to shocked to down right pissed.

"You are telling me that people in the town are betting on when we are going to sleep together or if we already sleeping together?" Callie asked him taking a deep breath to calm her self.

Duke frowned at his own stupidity. He actually thought the towns interest in their mutual sex life only mildly annoying and kinda enduring. But he doubted that Callie would find it anything but another reason to be mad at him. " A little bit of both but I can't be held accountable for their truly appalling gambling tendencies."

And he had two hundred on the bet that they would sleep together in two months. Duke was really hoping she wouldn't find out about that.

Callie sighed and said with frustration and anger leaking through, " I'm not even going to touch that. I just can't believe you couldn't just leave it at we weren't having sex."

"Yes, that's true. I remember saying something of the sort. We're not, last time I checked." Duke told her with an amused look on his face. He liked it when she was spitting mad, he liked the way her eyes flashed with angry at him. It turned him on. Made him wonder if she'd be this passionate, this intense in bed.

"But you just had to ruin it but throwing in a little male ego boost, huh? Not yet at least."

"Your mad at me for four little words, Callie?" Duke brought his arm up over her shoulder and steered her towards the grocery store. She hadn't showed the last time he had asked her over for dinner, and had tried to avoid him. But clearly in her anger she wasn't thinking clearly. It was her lucky night that this happened to be his one night off this week. "Why are you so mad? Are you tempted?"

"Am I tempted? Crocker have you done hard drugs today?" Callie looked at him like he grew a second head. She let him lead her into the store, picked up a green basket and thrust it at his chest. " I'm surprised your head can fit in here, you know with it being so full of yourself."

"Whatever you say, Callie." Duke smirked as he went down the produce isle. He noticed people looking at them from the corner of their eyes, or the few that blatantly stared. He just hoped for their sake, Callie didn't catch it. He picked up a few vegetables and felt for firmness. He placed a couple tomatoes, a bundle of asparagus, a few lemons, a bag of potatoes into the basket before moving towards the meat area of the store.

"You're an ass." Callie tossed out as she moved a head of him. "What do you want from me?"

"What do you mean?" Duke browsed the beef section, picking through the pre package cuts of meat till he got what he wanted. He cast a dark look at Sandy McLean, a girl he went to high school as he caught a snippet of her conversation to her sister when they passed them. She went red and shut up real quick.

"Don't play dumb, Crocker." Callie caught the look he tossed a loud mouth blonde's way and followed up with a hard look of her own. She wasn't deaf, blind or dumb, she knew people we not so subtlety talking about 'that no good Crocker boy, the newbie.' "What are you black mailing me for, cause really doubt your that hard up for a waitress at the Gull."

Duke walked down the spice isle, and replaced what he was out of at home. He could have taken her to the Gull for a meal, or had his cook make one for him to take home but he wanted to cook for her. Wanted to have her in his space, alone and without the ever present observing eyes and gossiping mouths of this fishbowl of a town. " I thought we talked about this before."

"I'm still a little misty on the details." Callie followed him, ignoring the aching pain in her side. Clearly she had over done her walk, and shouldn't have let her temper get the best of her. " You have nothing to gain from attempting to help me."

"Maybe I'm trying to be a nice person." Duke replied as they headed for the cashier. He grimace when he saw the overly perky brunette ringing in customers. Nancy Ann Rice, the daughter of the biggest mouth in Haven. If you wanted gossip you went to Belinda Jane, who was old as dirty and much more talkative. Duke would bet his last hundred dollars that Nancy would be on the phone to her mother as soon as they left the store.

"Looks like your going to be cooking a feast, Duke." Nancy smiled at him, pushing her chest out more. Although it would probably give her mother a heart attack to hear, but Nancy always did have a thing for the handsome Duke Crocker. She wasn't sure if it was his dark, bad boy looks or his sexy smile that made her want to lick him from top to bottom.

" What can I say, I like to cook." Duke replied, emptying his basket on the belt.

" I bet you cook real good too." Nancy gave her best smile as she slowly rang through his purchases.

"I try." Duke said looking over at Callie would was watching the situation between him and Nancy. He couldn't tell if she was annoyed or jealous. Or pissed off at him. He wasn't sure of much with her.

" So whose all this food for?" Nancy said, trying to bring Duke's attention back to her. She cast Callie a look, giving her the once over. She didn't see anything that she thought would keep Duke's attention for long. Or was even worthy of it in the first place.

"I thought I would cook my new neighbour dinner tonight." Duke watched as a bag boy came over and bagged his grocery's. He had caught the look that Nancy cast Callie's way, and didn't like it at all.

Nancy forces the smile to stay on her face as she rang the item through." Whose your new neighbour."

"Callie Ferguson." Duke told her frowning, he nodded in the direction of Callie beside him.

"Hi." Callie smiled at Nancy. " Nice shirt. Purple's not really your colour is it?"

"That will be thirty three seventy five." Nancy glared at Callie and held out her hand for Duke's money. " I like purple."

"So do I." Callie told her as she walked around Duke and picked up the three bags of food. "But, someone us just can't pull of that colour."

Duke handed Nancy the money and waited for the change. He took the bags from Callie's hand while shoving the change into the pocket of his jeans. "Come on, Callie. Let's go home."

Callie exited the store first, and Duke pretended not to hear the not so quiet conversation Nancy was having the bag boy. The walk to his truck was quick, he put his bags under the covered back and opened the door.

Max was sleeping, stretched along the whole of the cab of the truck. Seeing Duke's face he leap up and went straight for his face, tongue hanging out, drool flying.

"Whoa boy. I see you." Duke said, he pushed Max back a bit. He heard Callie get in the other side, and Max turned directions to try to lick her. Duke got in, shut the door and started up the truck.

"Max, down boy." Callie said in a tone she only used for Max. It was soft, at times playful and always loving. Duke wanted her to use it on him. " I'm not eating dinner with you."

"Yes, you are." Duke backed the truck up onto the street and headed out to the dock. He noticed as he drove the Teague brother's were still out on the street, and had been waiting for them to leave the store. "I can see your in pain. You don't have to hide it. And I know you haven't been eating much."

"I think I may call you friend Warnous." Callie told him running her hands through Max's fur. " I think he would find it very helpful to know you break into my boat in the middle of the night to go through my cupboards."

" We both know you wouldn't do that." Duke looked at her for a moment. He met her eyes, and caught the look she was giving him. " It's just dinner. I promise I won't tempt you much."

Callie snorted, and rolled her eyes. " You're an ass."