Roz Denny Fox - The Baby Cop

Though more men than women opted out of parenting and simply walked away, Regan had handled caseloads that dealt with both. When it came to ensuring that kids didn’t get the raw end of the deal, no set of rules was too involved or too tedious, in her estimation. That cop could sneer all he liked; Regan had unwritten promises to uphold. Promises she’d made long ago on behalf of kids who had no other advocate.

ETHAN HAD BEEN so irritated with Regan Grant when he left her office, he’d completely forgotten the reason he’d dropped by in the first place. He didn’t recall until he’d put Taz in his patrol car and driven off. As he braked for the first stoplight, the crinkle of the recipe card in his pocket reminded him he hadn’t delivered it.

He’d parted from Odella in the hallway. He’d been so hot under the collar because of Regan that he’d flirted shamelessly with Nicole when he stopped to collect Taz at the reception desk. Though he found her immature, he’d actually let her wiggle out of him the date of the next Schutzhund competition. Ethan’s initial plan had been to invite Regan Grant to attend. Well, forget that!

It was beyond Ethan how a woman he barely knew could alternately stir his pulse and push so many of his buttons. Before they parted, Odella had casually mentioned that Regan jogged every morning at 6 a.m. She even dropped the name of the high school where Regan used the track. Perhaps he ought to try to connect with her on some level other than work. It was obvious they were miles apart on that.

Jogging was good.

Healthy. Fresh air worked up a sweat and an appetite—for a lot of things. Ethan abandoned himself to a vision of what it would be like to take the cool CHC supervisor back to his house after a sweaty run, where they’d add to the sheen of sweat by tumbling across the sheets. He practically drooled on the steering wheel picturing the steam they could create if the lady wrapped her long legs around his naked hips. He sizzled thinking about it.

Taz barked in his ear, and Ethan realized he’d been sitting at a light well after it had turned green. People around him, heeding his marked car, hesitated nervously, as if expecting some calamity to unfold in the vicinity. Gritting his teeth, he looked neither right nor left, gunned the engine and took off.

“Sheesh, Taz, I’m some kind of cop. Here I am daydreaming about Regan Grant like some high-schooler.” He had been so busy categorizing the lady’s attributes, he’d have missed a bank robbery if it’d been going down on that very corner.

The dog placed a paw on Ethan’s shoulder and licked his cheek. While Ethan dipped his head to the side and rubbed his chin across the soft fur, Taz uttered a throaty whine of sympathy.

“Yeah, pal, not only do I strike sparks off her, she’s not too crazy about you, either. I think it’s plain fright, even if she tries to gloss over it.”

Ethan pulled up behind the courthouse at a site where he’d arranged to meet Mitch. “Maybe I should give her up as a lost cause, Taz.” He and Taz came as a pair. “Yeah,” he said, ruffling the dog’s fur. “It’s a case of love me, love my dog.”

Mitch opened the passenger door in time to hear the last of Ethan’s comment. “What, or maybe I should say who, has you talking to yourself, buddy?”

“Nobody.” Ethan fought a flush. “You know I always talk to Taz.”

“Right. Except this time you sounded like a lovesick moose. ‘Love me, love my dog,’” Mitch chirped in falsetto.

“Buckle up and shut up,” Ethan growled. “Since I know you won’t quit until you worm it out of me, I’m thinking about setting up an accidental meeting with Supervisor Grant tomorrow morning.” Ethan proceeded to tell his friend how, on a couple of occasions, Regan Grant had reacted oddly to Taz.

Mitch whistled. “If you want my advice—which you never take but which I’ll give you, anyway—write her off. She sounds phobic. You have about as much chance of a zebra losing its stripes as you do of unscrambling someone’s phobia.”

“You may be right,” Ethan mumbled. But he knew there was something about Regan that made him want to try.

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