Guarded (4 page)

Wait. Bears don’t yelp. Plus, it wasn’t trying to bite him. No, it was pawing at his arms, not painfully.
Playfully?

A long, wet tongue slid across his hair, his ear, his
cheek.
And that growl he heard was followed by a deep woof. A dog, he was pinned by a dog. A great bear of a dog, but definitely the canine species as opposed to the Ursus americanus.

Dev slowly turned onto his back then drew his arms away from his face only to throw them up again when a slobbery tongue swiped from one cheek across his nose to the other. “Ugh. Serious dog breath. You need a breath mint, Fido.”

Shifting onto his side, he attempted to scoot out from beneath the beast, but the dog took it as a game and began licking him in earnest down the neck of his suit. If he hadn’t needed a shower before the dog knocked him down, between rolling on the cobblestone and the sloppy dog kisses, he certainly needed one now.

Hoping not to hurt the animal that was clearly looking for a playmate, Dev pushed at the beast’s midsection in an effort to make a break for it. He’d barely touched the dog when someone yelled, “Stop it, you big bear! You’ll hurt him.”

Okay, that wasn’t the first time in his life he’d been called a bear. Still, the words stung his pride. The average person might consider him to be bearlike, due to his large size, but he wasn’t an animal. He was a police detective. A cop. A friggin’ hero.

Although, at the moment he was in the least heroic position. Ever.

“Hercules, stop before you hurt him. You bad puppy,” the voice said, closer now. “I’m really sorry about Hercules. Are you okay down there? Give me a minute. I’ve almost got his leash on him.”

Ah, Hercules was the
dog’s
name. She was calling the dog a big bear.

The relief coursing through him at that knowledge was quickly overshadowed by a sickening realization. He knew that voice.

There was a distinctive clink of metal on metal and the dog was off him.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, then she laughed. The sound more exhalation of air than joy. “I’m really,
really
sorry. He doesn’t normally do this. But I guess all creatures crave freedom, right? Are you . . . are you hurt?”

His gut shrank at her melodic voice. Now? She had to show up and see him covered in dog drool and muck, lying on the ground, pinned there by a playful bear-dog.

Maybe if I’m lucky, she won’t recognize me beneath the slobber?

“Dev?” Her voice was closer now. He could feel her breath against his chin as she leaned down to look at him. “Is that you?”

“Uh . . . yeah.” Dev lay there for a moment. His arm still firmly over his eyes and his head throbbing. His luck was good for buckets of suck.

“Why, bless your heart. Devon Jones, it
is
you.” She sounded positively gleeful. “What are you doing down there?”

“Playing possum with Fido.” He tugged his arm away and blinked open his eyes. The starbursts were gone, but he’d have a nice knot on the back of his skull later. It was already coming up.

And there she was. Leaning over him, her hair a cloud of red curls around her face. Concern and confusion crowded into her sapphire-blue eyes. Her pink lips twitched. “Thank God, it was you Hercules tackled. How do you do it? You always manage to show up just when I need saving.”

If only that were true.

“H
I,
S
HELLS, LONG
time no see,” Dev said, then inwardly winced.

Long time no see? He was an idiot. Couldn’t he come up with something better than some lame-ass cliché?

Rubbing his doggie-licked face with his sleeve, he sat up but made no move to stand. Shelley Morgan was right here, in front of him. Even more beautiful than he’d remembered. Better. Unlike Jules, who was a little skinny for his taste, Shelley was full-figured. The kind of woman a man could take into his arms and not worry about snapping her like a twig. Her slim beige skirt hugged her hips like a groping lover. She bent closer to him, the buttons on her white shirt straining to contain her voluptuous breasts.

And suddenly, the cartoon wolves with their tongues rolling out at the sight of a beautiful woman made sense to him. He tightened his jaw to keep his own tongue in check. Three years of absence had done nothing to dim his attraction to his former college English tutor.

“Dev?” Shelley frowned, leaning closer to his face. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” But the word came out as little more than a growl.

“Oh-kay.” The dog tugged and she tightened her grip on the leash, then said in a rush, “Sorry about Hercules. He’s really a good dog.”

He glanced at her face, expecting to see the same nervous smile or blatant panic most people got when he growled at them. Instead, she beamed at him. Joy suffused her features, making her more beautiful.

“Thank you so much for catching him.” The dog tugged for freedom again. She clicked her tongue at him and shortened the leash, looping it around her hand twice. “Your timing’s impeccable, as usual.”

“Happy to help.” Rolling onto his hands and knees, he caught sight of the run in her stocking starting at her big toe and disappearing beneath her skirt. “Shelley, where are your shoes?”

She didn’t respond to him, clearly too busy trying to convince the great bear-dog to stay.

Dev cleared his throat and straightened to his full height until he towered over her, but he couldn’t stop staring at her toes. Her toenails were Christmas green and decorated with little white snowmen. He couldn’t quite hide his grin.

Somewhere nearby a bell jangled and someone with a remarkably young voice shouted, “Doc, did you catch him?”

She glanced around the street, clearly nervous. She held up a finger as if asking Dev to wait, then called back over her shoulder, “I’ve got him, Beau. Everything’s okay now. We’ll be in in a minute. Go back inside and wait for me, please.”

“Yes’m,” the voice called again, followed by the bang of a door closing.

Then she stood there, staring at him. His mind completely blanked at the look of delight in her blue-blue eyes. Suddenly, his years on the force meant nothing, and he felt as awkward as he had in his first tutoring session. So he said the first thing that popped into his head, “I came to town to find you.”

“I hope so. I sent you that e-mail asking you to come.” She laughed, her shoulders relaxed, and her eyes sparkled. A wide grin spread across her lips. When serious, she was beautiful, but when she smiled like that . . . full-on blind-side knockout.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re here.” She squealed and threw her arms around his waist. His arms went around her lush body as if they’d been designed for that express purpose.

Oh, sweet God.

She fit against him perfectly. He buried his nose in her hair. She smelled so good. Vanilla and sugar.

As spectacular as it felt holding Shelley close, the moment was definitely waning. Especially when the leash she still had looped around her wrist inadvertently tugged the massive dog tight against Dev’s leg.

Yes, that was drool soaking into his slacks and plastering the material to his thigh.

If it was on his clothes and he was hugging her, then . . . “Oh damn, Shelley. I’m getting you filthy.”

Shelley, still grinning, released him and bit her lip as she watched him fruitlessly try to de-slobber. He stepped back and tried to pull the Armani pant leg away from his body. What had he been thinking wearing them here? He should have worn his jeans, not just packed them. He knew this was a small town that had more farmers than bankers. Suits were fine for Tidewater, but here they just made him look pretentious . . . or stupid, since he
was
covered in muck.

“You’re really here?” she asked, joy still making her voice lilt. “How long are you in town? Do we have enough time to visit before you help me, or do you need to get back right away? Why didn’t you tell me when you were coming? Not that I’m sorry you’re here, but I would have been more prepared, you know? Look at me getting ahead of myself. I should have asked if you did it. Did you make detective before your twenty-fifth birthday? Although . . .” She frowned. “I wanted to ask you in person, but Cam said your girlfriend didn’t like us. So it would be best to give you two some space. I hope I didn’t cause you any problems by breaking the silence.”

Cam, you rotten sonofa . . .

Tension coiled in Dev’s shoulders and he rotated them to relax it away. That bastard had lied to her. Again. But standing in the middle of the street was not the place to have
that
discussion. Dev needed to move them to some place with a little more privacy.

“It’s great to see you too Shells. I’m in town for a few days. Why don’t we go someplace we can talk?”

She smiled and nodded, then repeated one of her questions. “Did you make detective?”

Dev couldn’t suppress the grin. “Yeah, I did. Last summer.”

She squealed and threw her arms around his waist again. Shorter this time, and she’d already withdrawn when she said, “I knew it! I knew you’d do it. Where are you working?”

“I’m on the Tidewater Police Force in the burglary/robbery division. My partner and I just wrapped up a pretty important case. A real career-maker.”

“I have no doubt you’re going to be the best.” The look in her eyes was pure hero worship. And a little unnerving. He’d seen that look from the police groupies he’d met over the past few years but had never expected to see it in Shelley’s eyes. As if sensing his discomfort, she added, “I bet your partner considers himself lucky to have you. You were always so smart and careful and—”

The big dog decided he wasn’t quite ready to give up his bid for freedom and gave a mighty yank. Shelley stumbled on the slick cobblestone. She might have hit the ground if Dev hadn’t caught her and held her close.

Her back pressed against his chest, her elbows in his hands. Crap. He had really covered her front to back in muck now. But she didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she didn’t mind.

“There you go rescuing me again.” She tilted her head up and to the side to look at him over her shoulder. A mischievous glint in her eyes. “Should I swoon now too? You know, go for the complete damsel-being-rescued-by-the-knight act?”

A surprised laugh burst from him. “Thanks, no.”

“That’s good. I suck at playing the helpless female anyway,” she said, chuckling. She pulled away, then turned to face him.

“Oh dear, you are covered. I’m really sorry.”

Dev glanced at his mud-encrusted suit and forced a grin. “It could be worse. I just need a shower.” Dev checked his watch. “Except, damn, I can’t check into my hotel until three.”

“Don’t worry about it. You can shower with me.”

Ah, yeah.
Now there’s a welcome any man could appreciate. His thoughts must have shown on his face because Shelley turned apple red.

“No! Oh God. I didn’t mean
with
me. I meant at my place.” Shelley blushed from her forehead to the collar of her tight top. “Oh my God. I can’t believe I said that. Ha! Freudian slip, much? No really, I uh, meant you can come over to my place and use my shower after I’m done. Or before. You can use it before me. Either way is fine.”

And that was one Freudian slip he could seriously get into.

Given the way she was blushing and rambling, Dev accepted with no small amount of regret that it probably was just a slip of the tongue.

“That would be great, Shells. I wouldn’t mind an opportunity to de-funk.”

Her lips curled into a grin. “You know, no one has called me that in years.
Shells
.”

“Really? You signed your e-mail that way.”

“I did?”

“Yeah. I suppose I could call you Dr. Shells, but that just sounds too formal.” He winked at her, relieved that some of his earlier awkwardness had disappeared. “I could call you Shelley, if you—”

“Shells is great,” she said quickly. “Really great. You’re uh, great. To . . . to come to Elkridge and help me with my problem. Mystery! The missing animals.”

Despite the smudge of dirt on her cheek and the sludge on their clothes, a sexual awareness zinged through the air. Riveting and echoing. Time suspended until a strong wind whipped through the street, chilling Dev’s legs.

“Like Hercules here?”

“What?” She blinked twice, then shook her head. “No, he’s not missing. He’s just trying to go on a walkabout.” And the dog gave a mighty pull on his leash that damn near toppled Shelley again.

“Mind if I take the dog?” He slid his hand down her arm to take the leash from her. The touch sent another sizzle of awareness, this time straight to his groin.

“Sure.” She stared at him another moment, her eyes hazy as if she too couldn’t deny that pulse of heat beating between them. She blinked and her expression shifted to something distant but still friendly. Shelley gestured toward the beast. “Hercules is a great dog for most people. Loving and gentle. But puppies like Herc crave a bit of freedom from time to time.”

“I’m glad to see your
issue
with man’s best friend has been resolved.” Dev slipped the leash off her arm. Immediately the animal sat down, his big tail thumping the cobblestone street. “Your gift of communicating with animals now extends to dogs? Or do you still call your gift a ‘crift’?”

“My cursed gift.” Her cheeks pinkened. “No, I don’t call it a crift anymore. God, I can’t believe you remember all that.”

“Kind of hard to forget your Dolittle gift, especially after I watched you talk your roommate’s cat out of that tree.” Dev rubbed the top of the dog’s head. “But then you couldn’t go into Cam’s house if his dog was there. I seem to recall Troian chasing you back into the car after a party our junior year.”

“Yeah, not my fondest memory.” She shook her head but grinned. “Nothing’s really changed in the animal kingdom. Except for Herc here, every canine I’ve met since I turned seventeen freaks out on me.” She glanced at the big puppy and shrugged. “I’m not sure why Hercules is different. Maybe because I helped deliver him by cesarean when he was born? I was the first human to touch him. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful he’s mostly immune to my weirdness.”

“Mostly?”

“We have an understanding. I rescue him from vicious attacking ferrets,” she turned and spoke directly to Hercules, “and he
doesn’t
run away and cost me my job.”

“Your job?”

“Hercules belongs to my boss, Dr. Kessler.” She glanced around anxiously, as if suddenly realizing where they were. “I really shouldn’t be standing out here. I need to get him back inside the clinic before someone sees that his pet escaped. The number one commerce in this town is gossip.”

At the other end of the street, the door to the diner opened again. Two women stepped out onto the street. They could have been twins, given their matching lace-collar tops, tan pants, and navy coats. Except the woman on the right was short, skinny, had blond hair and pale-white skin, and the one on the left was statuesque, had ebony skin and a short gray bob.

“Oh dear, the Elizabeths,” Shelley muttered, stepping backward, as if to avoid being seen. “They see me out here shoeless, covered in mud, and talking to a stranger, and it’ll be all over town in fifteen minutes.”

“Gossip, right. Understood. Why don’t you lead the way?” He gestured with his free hand, while he held firmly to the leash with the other. Shelley half-hopped, half-ran across the uneven stone street toward the clinic door.

Clicking his tongue at the dog the way he’d seen Shelley do a few minutes earlier, Dev signaled for Hercules to move. The dog responded immediately, trotting happily behind Shelley, but not too close.

The bells jangled as Dev, Shelley, and Hercules crossed the threshold. The door shut with a snap, and Shelley leaned against it. A wide, relieved smile on her face, she exhaled an exaggerated sigh. “Now that you’re here, I’ll show you around.”

Shelley scrubbed her hand down her face, smudging the streak of dirt on her cheek. It made her look adorable.

“Great,” Dev said, finding his voice.

But they didn’t move. They stood there. Shelley shoeless, propped against the front door. Dev covered in muck and filth, and that spark he’d felt all those years ago turned into a brilliant shining flame of molten attraction.

Hercules woofed, breaking the moment. Shelley laughed and shifted slightly to rub her left foot. “I’ve got so much to tell you, Dev.”

“Yeah, me too. But maybe you can start by explaining what happened to your shoes.”