Under Fire (Elite Force 3)

“I know, but still, you’re worried and so am I. I know I said it before, but I keep reminding myself, paid for a week in advance.”

He hitched his hands on his narrow hips. “Chances are slim she’s hanging out at her place, knitting dog booties. And she does deserve to get away after the hours she’s put in lately. Maybe she’s tucked away with some guy having the time of her life.”

God, he was hot. “But you’re still worried.” Which made him ever hotter. But was he worried about Rachel being on a date? “Uh, why are you looking for her?”

“Why do you ask?”

Because… she was jealous? And how pathetic was that? Still she pushed, “From where I’m standing, you’re more than concerned. You look really worried. Not that I’m diminishing how upset she’ll be over losing her stuff, but her dogs are safe here, and thank God she decided to step away for the day. Right? So all’s chill in the big scheme of things, as long as no one got hurt.”

He seemed to weigh his words carefully. “There’s a little more going on here than that. Rachel thought she had some kind of stalker. She reported it to the cops, but there wasn’t anything they could do.”

Catriona gasped. “You think someone actually set that fire on purpose?”

“It’s a distinct possibility.”

“Then we should call the police. Now.” She lifted her cell phone, ready to report… what? She wasn’t sure exactly, but someone should at least tip them off.

“I’ll handle it.” He gripped her hand.

Stopping her.

Searing her with his callused heat.

She swallowed hard and eased her hand away. “That’s right. You’re a cop, aren’t you?”

“Military. Yes…” The corner of one blue eye twitched. “But I’m on medical leave right now.”

“That doesn’t make you any less of a police officer. All the skills you learned are still there and they’ll listen to your suspicions.”

“You would think so.” He smiled.

Sorta.

“I can see how a cop could get cynical, but you do such an altruistic job. The honor in that just blows me away.” And she hated that he didn’t seem at all proud of what he’d accomplished. “You followed your dream. That’s really cool.”

“What about you? Is this”—he spread his hand to encompass her yard—“is it your dream?”

So they weren’t calling the police.

She knew a subject change when she saw one. But if he felt everything possible was being done to investigate the fire, then she trusted him. Clearly there was nothing they could do for Rachel right now.

Why not answer his question? She could actually take a moment to talk to him in the muggy night, the most she would get out of a man who refused to have dinner with her. Catriona leaned back against his truck, letting the ocean and night sounds seduce her.

“I wanted to study veterinary medicine, but my grades weren’t good enough.” And for once her parents refused to buy her way into something she wanted—even if she promised to marry another vet. Not that she would have been so calculating. But her mother had always been on her to marry a doctor, so she’d thought maybe…

She shook off her thoughts, not that he was rushing her. He had a way of listening and waiting that was rare. “I decided to be a vet tech instead. I left home with my dog Freckles and worked my way through. I held down a job at a shelter for about five years, then my parents passed away.”

There hadn’t been much money left—Vivian had been a conspicuous consumer. But there had been a mortgage-free house. A gorgeous beach home that wouldn’t sell for nearly what it was worth, in the current economy.

So she’d thumbed her nose at her mother and the entire neighborhood and started a doggy day care.

“I have the title free and clear to my parents’ house and decided to open Wags and Whiskers. I’m able to take in fosters and rescues. I’ve never been happier.”

She looked over the yard and the business she’d built. She offered obedience and agility classes. And she’d recently had a whole new world opened to her with some of her pets achieving certification to be therapy dogs. Not service dogs, but emotional support therapy dogs. She made trips to nursing homes and children’s cancer wards.

A dark grin welled inside her. Her mom would have approved of the visits to hospitals, since there were eligible doctors around.

But Catriona wasn’t there to snag some rich eye candy the way her mom would have wanted. She was there to make a difference. With her dogs, she had all the confidence in the world. For the first time, she wasn’t beige.