Under Fire (Elite Force 3)

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.

She existed.

And right at this time when she was feeling like anything was possible, into her life walked Brandon Harris. Big, quiet, and hunky, he showed up on her doorstep to discuss dog-sitting for his Australian shepherd, since his gym didn’t allow therapy dogs.

For nearly a month since then, she’d been waiting for a chance to get closer to him, and that opportunity had come tonight. She wasn’t letting it slide through her fingers.

Catriona shoved away from the warm metal of the truck. “I’ll leave you to finish up calls to whomever you need to speak with to do whatever it is you’re going to do to handle Rachel’s problem with the stalker.” She rested a hand on his arm briefly, but it was enough. “Take your time. I have plenty to keep me busy securing all the dogs so we can go.”

“Go?” He looked up sharply. “Where?”

“To Rachel’s condo, of course. At least a drive-by to check on things.” She looked back over her shoulder, a lock of hair catching in the wind. “We can be there for support if she’s heard about the explosion and shows up. Make sure she’s not alone, if some creep is there waiting for her.”

His eyes held on her hair. On her mouth.

She lost her footing on… nothing really. The ground was flat. Her balance was just wonky.

God, she hated her lack of experience with men. Oh, she’d had sex plenty of times. Starting with blow jobs on guys at those horrid cotillion classes and moving on from there. She’d kept trying until she’d figured out she just wasn’t good at relationships. After a while, it just wasn’t worth the effort.

Until now.