Katie Meyer - A Valentine For The Veterinarian

If so, she needed to stop. That wasn’t who she wanted to be or what she wanted to teach her daughter. Which meant she needed to bite the bullet and at least try to be open-minded, try to be friendly. Even with the sexy cop standing in her living room.

If Alex had been a little less tired, maybe he would have picked up on Cassie’s confusion earlier. As it was, the look on her face when she’d found the hundred-plus-pound dog in her house had been priceless. He gave her credit, though; she’d stood her ground without flinching. She’d correctly read Rex’s body language and known he wasn’t a threat, despite his size. Heck, even some of his fellow officers were skittish around Rex.

Tough and beautiful. A dangerous combination. He’d once described his ex, a fellow cop, the same way. Then she’d dropped him for an assistant DA and he’d shifted his assessment from tough to cold-hearted. But Cassie, although she’d been less than friendly when he’d first met her, didn’t seem to have the calculating nature that had doomed his relationship with his ex. Cassie tried to hide them, but her emotions were right there on the surface, reflected on her face like the rays of the sun off the ocean.

She had her eyes closed as she felt her way over the kitten’s body from head to tail. Watching her slender but capable fingers skim the soft fur had him wondering what her touch would feel like. Her husband, if she did turn out to be married, was one lucky bastard.

Who probably wouldn’t be happy to find a stranger staring at his wife this way.

Not that she’d even noticed. She’d all but forgotten Alex. Her brows knit in concentration. All her focus was on her small, purring patient.

Better take it down a notch. Focus on the issue at hand. “Is he going to be okay?”

Cassie made a noncommittal noise, then slid the earpieces of a stethoscope into place. A few tense minutes later, her face relaxed into an easy smile. “Lungs sound good, no evidence of any kind of infection, and his heart sounds great. At least, what I can hear over the purring.” She nuzzled her face against the now ecstatic creature. “He seems none the worse for wear, just hungry and cold. It’s lucky you found him when you did—the forecast is calling for another cold front to roll in by the end of the day.”

He suppressed a shudder, despite the warmth of Cassie’s cozy kitchen. An image of the kitten, all alone in the cold, flashed through his head, and he made a mental note to pick up one of Rex’s favorite chew bones at the store later. The big dog deserved a reward, for sure.

As if reading his mind, Cassie opened a whitewashed cupboard and pulled out a box of dog biscuits.

“Can the hero here have a treat?”

“Of course. He’s off duty, and he’s definitely earned it.”

“What about you?” She tipped her chin toward the kettle on the stove. “I’ve got hot water for tea, or I can make a pot of coffee. If you have time, I mean.”

“Tea would be fine, thank you.” He normally stuck to coffee, but there was no point in her making a whole pot just for him. Maybe the coffeepot was strictly for her husband, although it didn’t look as if it had been used yet this morning. Her mug, purple with pink paw prints on it, sat alone on the empty counter, smelling of peppermint and flowers.

Come to think of it, there’d only been one car in the driveway. Her husband could have left for work already, but there was nothing in the kitchen to indicate a male presence. Surreptitiously, he scanned the room. No dirty breakfast dishes, no mugs other than hers. Even more telling, the decor ran to pastels and flowers. The evidence was circumstantial, but certainly enough to introduce reasonable doubt as to the existence of a Mr. Marshall.

Accepting the tea, he told himself it didn’t matter one way or the other. She’d made her opinion of him, and his profession, perfectly clear when they first met. But as he sat across from her in the cozy kitchen, his dog at their feet and a kitten in her lap, a new, friendlier relationship seemed possible. Which didn’t explain why he cared if she shared her home, or her bed, with another man.

He’d obviously been up too long. That was all. Sleep deprivation could mess with your mind. Everyone knew that. After a few hours’ sleep, he’d remember all the reasons he wasn’t looking for a relationship, especially with the firecracker of a redhead sitting across from him. For now, he’d drink his tea and enjoy a few minutes of company before going home to his empty apartment.

When he’d first taken the job in Paradise, he’d suggested he and his mother share a place, but she’d just chuckled and said he would need his own space for “entertaining.” Right. He’d had only one other person in his apartment since he moved to Paradise, and that was the cable guy. Between the new job and the extra training sessions he’d signed up for with Rex, he hadn’t had the time or energy for dating. Which was fine by him.

Although right now, enjoying the morning light with a beautiful woman, he wondered if he wasn’t missing out after all.

Unwilling to explore that thought, he finished his tea and stood, the chair scraping against the terrazzo floor.

Startled by the noise, the kitten leaped onto the table, nearly overturning the china cups.

“Sorry about that. I’ll get this guy out of your hair and be on my way.” He scooped up the kitten with one hand. “Thanks for checking him out—I didn’t know where else to take him.”

Cassie stood to escort him out. “What will you do with him now?”

Good question. One he hadn’t thought through yet. He’d been worried about the little guy making it. “I’ll have to keep him for a few days, I guess, while I ask around, try to find him a home.” Frustrated, he rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “Guess I’d better stop and pick up some food for him first.” He nearly groaned with frustration. His tired body was crying out for a bed, but he couldn’t let the little guy starve.

“The stores won’t even be open for another hour.” Cassie’s eyes went from man to kitten. “I can take him to the office with me, get him fed, wormed and cleaned up, and then you can pick him up before you start your shift tonight. How does that sound?”

“Like you’re my guardian angel. Thank you.”

She blushed, the pink accentuating her soft coloring. “I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for him.” Her firm tone was a contrast to the camaraderie they’d shared in the kitchen. The friendly interlude was over, it seemed.

“Either way, I appreciate it just the same. What time do you need me to come get him?”

“The clinic closes at six, so any time before then is fine.”

He could get a solid stretch of sleep and still have time to get food and the cat before his shift started. Thank heaven for small favors. And the angels who delivered them.

Cassie had spent way too much time thinking about Alex today. Really, any time thinking about Paradise Isle’s newest lawman was too much. But between Emma’s incessant questions over breakfast and the knowing looks and suggestive remarks from her staff, she’d found her attention forced to him more times than she could count. Not that it took much forcing. The sight of the rough-around-the-edges deputy cuddling an orphaned kitten had triggered something inside her, reminding her she was still a woman, not just a mother and veterinarian.

She eyed the gray bundle of fur that had triggered today’s chain of events. “You’re a troublemaker, you know that?”