Free Love Bites by Lori Foster Page A

out of town at the time and left Smookie with my elderly neighbor, Ms. Albright. Well, it seems on this particular day while Ms. Albright was at the doggy park, your sitter approached her and asked for a favor. She said an emergency had come up.”
    Quest’s eyebrows lifted. “What sort of an emergency?”
    “She claimed that one of her aunts had passed away and she needed to leave town immediately.”
    Since he and Tawny shared the same aunts and all of them were alive and accounted for, he knew that wasn’t true. “And?”
    “And she asked Ms. Albright if she would watch your dog for a couple of days while she left town to attend the funeral. Being the Christian woman that she is, and since Ms. Albright had seen your sitter at the park on more than one occasion, she agreed. And when questioned, your sitter assured Ms. Albright that your Bandit was fixed.”
    Quest knew that part was far from the truth. He had meant to get it done but kept putting it off, mainly because he felt a pain between his own legs whenever he thought about it. “Bandit isn’t fixed.”
    “Ms. Albright found that out later when she walked in on them. My Smookie and your Bandit. Needless to say, she was horrified.”
    “I bet she was.”
    “She told me what happened the moment I returned to town. I called the vet and she said there was nothing that could be done, but for me to watch for any signs that my Smookie was pregnant. I did. She is. And it’s your Bandit’s fault.”
    Quest heard a sound and glanced over his shoulder. His Yorkie, who had finished his supper in the kitchen, strolled into the living room. Quest did recall that Bandit had been in a damn good mood when he’d returned from that camping trip. Now he knew why. Too bad there wasn’t such a thing as a doggy condom. And as far as Tawny was concerned, he’d seen her several times since then and not once had she mentioned anything about leaving his dog with anyone else while he’d been gone.
    He glanced back at his visitor. “Look, Ms. Capers, I have no proof what you’re claiming is true. I will speak with the person responsible for taking care of my dog at that time.”
    “Yes, you do that, Mr. Newman. And when she verifies my story, then you can give me a call.” She all but shoved a business card into his hand. “I think it’s only fair that you share the cost of Smookie’s vet expenses associated with this pregnancy.”
    “Share the cost?”
    “Yes, share the cost. After all, it was your dog who was someplace he shouldn’t have been,” she said, moving to get in his face.
    “And if your story is true, it was your Ms. Albright who accepted the responsibility,” he said, moving closer to get in hers. He was so close he could see her hazel eyes clearly and thought they were beautiful.
    “Need I remind you that if your sitter hadn’t lied, none of this would have happened.”
    She had a point there, but at the moment he wouldn’t agree to it. “Like I said, that has yet to be proven.”
    He took a step back. His mouth was too damn close to hers, and temptation was too high. It wouldn’t take much for him to be pushed to cop a taste.
    Quest checked his watch. He needed to leave now if he wanted to be on time for the rehearsal dinner. Tawny was one of the bridesmaids, so he would talk to her then. He shoved the business card into his pocket. “I’ll get to the bottom of this and call you.”
    “Yes, you do that.”
    She turned and walked away. It was then he saw the full picture. Her cute little outfit consisted of a low-cut pink blouse, snug-fitting black miniskirt and a pair of black polka-dotted stilettos that could probably kill. And speaking of kill , her legs were a killer pair. And that voice of hers…he could get a boner just from hearing it. She had sounded good even when her words came out stinging.
    He heard a doggy yawn and turned, catching Bandit in the act as he stretched across the floor, looking well fed and as if he didn’t have a care