To Love and Protect (Must Love Diamonds 4)

She faced fully forward once more, her hands clasped tightly in her lap while she stared out at the sunlit road. He could tell being in the apartment, seeing the threat on her mirror again, and talking to the cops had heightened her apprehension.

“You mentioned the veteran foundation earlier,” he said as a distraction. “What do you do there?”

“A weekly vet check for the service dogs Grayson trains.”

“That’s cool. There’s definitely a need for that.”

“It’s a great program. They’ve been able to place almost a dozen dogs so far, and have a few more almost ready for graduation.”

“How long does it take to train them?”

“Depending on the dog, anywhere from eight to eighteen months.”

“What are you checking every week when you visit?”

“Well, the dogs don’t really need to be checked that often,” she admitted, “But, it’s a good excuse to spend time getting to know my brother, and I get to play with the puppies every week. My favorites are the German Shepherds. Grayson’s Remy is amazing.”

The animation in her voice had him shooting her a glance across the cab. “How come you don’t have one of your own?”

“I wish, but between school, starting construction on my clinic, and then the animal hospital, I haven’t had the time. It wouldn’t be fair to the dog.”

Understandable. “What’s the deal with the clinic? I remember my mom saying something about it, but that was last year already.”

Shelby made a disgruntled sound. “It’s been a bit of a mess. Permit delays, rezoning problems, and then I had to shut down construction when someone trashed the place just before Maverick was born almost two months early. Mae took a couple months off.”

He shot her another look, his fingers tightening on the wheel. “Is that what your dad was talking about a couple weeks ago?”

“It was last October, but yeah. Someone went in with a sledgehammer and destroyed everything. Besides the structural foundation, we pretty much have to start over inside.”

“They ever catch who did it?”

She shook her head. “After all the other issues, I decided to hold off for a bit and took the job at the vet hospital. But, Mae’s crew is restarting construction next week, so it’s definitely happening.”

He kept her talking about the plans for the rest of the drive, though in the back of his mind he added the sabotage to a growing list of things to look into. The driveway to the Diamond estate was full of vehicles when they pulled in shortly before eleven a.m.

Dev walked with Shelby up to the door, but she caught his forearm when he reached for the handle. With the temps in the low fifties, he’d pushed up his sleeves, and the warmth of her touch on bare skin shot straight up his arm. He’d been mentally drilling himself not to touch her, and his

first instinct was to jerk away. Recalling her earlier frown, he checked the action. The tight line of her mouth as she lowered her hand told him she still noticed his flinch.

“Please don’t say anything about my apartment, okay?” she asked as she pushed her sunglasses up on top her head. “I don’t want everyone freaking out instead of enjoying the after-wedding stuff.”

“I’m actually going to go hang out with Reyes at the barn.”

“Oh.” She glanced toward the stables with a slight frown. “I thought he was sick. Was it just a twenty-four-hour bug then?”

Supposedly. Dev suspected he’d skipped Loyal’s wedding for other reasons, but only shrugged in response to Shelby’s question and pulled out his phone. “Gimmie your cell number.”

As soon as she gave him the number, he sent her a text. “Now you got my number. Just text me when you’re ready to leave.”

She’d pulled out her phone to glance at the screen, then stuffed it back in her pocket. “Yeah, okay.” For a second she sounded disappointed. But then she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin to meet his gaze as she grasped the door handle. “That’s perfect actually. Tell Rey I said hi. Glad he’s feeling better.”

He narrowed his gaze at the hint of mutiny in her expression. When she stepped inside, he warned, “I’m serious about the text, Shelby. Don’t go anywhere alone.”

Catching the door before it closed, she rolled her eyes. “I’m in the safest place I can be, Dev.”

“Humor me. I’ll meet you up here when you’re ready, got it?”

She gave him a tight smile and a mocking salute, and then shut the door in his face.