Free Forever After by Catherine Anderson

feeling regret.
    “Mr. Masters, please don’t take this wrong. But this situation can’t continue. Your dog wouldn’t let me near my daughter. What if she’d been hurt and needed medical attention?” Hugging her waist more tightly, she made fists on the chenille of her robe. “I don’t want to be difficult. But if this happens again, I’ll have to file a complaint.”
    “I realize that.” He bent to fondle his dog’s ear. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s always been protective of kids, sometimes to a fault, but not without reason.”
    Meredith bit the inside of her cheek. The last time this dog misbehaved, he’d tried to make excuses. “Protective? Sammy doesn’t need protection. I’m her mother .”
    Keeping a hold on the dog’s collar, he straightened. “I’m as baffled as you are.”
    “You’re also trying to justify the dog’s behavior. It’s like excusing a lion for eating its trainer because the poor thing was having a bad hair day.”
    “You’re not blameless, you know. It was your kid wholet the dog in here. And Goliath isn’t a man-eater. Your daughter’s still in once piece. Not a mark on her.”
    His observation sizzled in the air between them like a high-voltage wire.
    “Will you at least hear me out?” he asked.
    “I’m listening,” she managed to say with frigid calmness.
    “There’s something weird going on in this dog’s head.”
    She nearly laughed. Only it was too awful to be funny. “Perhaps you should take him to a dog psychiatrist. I’m not up on my canine psychoanalysis.”
    He narrowed one eye. That was it, just the narrowing of one eye. But it was all that was necessary. Six feet plus of furious male wasn’t high on Meredith’s list, either.
    “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. It’s just—” She pried her fingers loose from the chenille to wave her hand. “This is my house. And I wake up to find your dog in my daughter’s bed. And then he nearly attacks me? It’s a bit difficult to be blasé.”
    “I’m not asking that. Listening and trying to be rational would be nice, though.”
    Meredith curled her toe over the rough edge of linoleum. Unclenching her teeth, she said, “Rational?”
    He pinched the bridge of his nose, then rubbed his hand over his face. “Okay, my turn. That was uncalled for.” His firm mouth quirked at one corner. “Can we start all over? I won’t take shots if you won’t.”
    Meredith thought that sounded fair, which was, in and of itself, unprecedented in her dealings with men. “I’m willing. I don’t want this to be an adversarial situation.”
    “That makes two of us. This is no ordinary dog. He’s a decorated hero. Police departments around the country pay a thousand bucks for one of his pups without batting an eye. That’s the kind of record he’s got. And now he could wind up dead over a stupid misunderstanding. Trust me, I’m as worried as you are.”
    “Dead?” she echoed.
    “What the hell else do you think will happen if you filea complaint? He was a canine deputy, extensively trained. Dogs like that are dangerous if they turn mean.”
    “My point, exactly,” she said drily.
    He heaved a sigh. “This dog would never hurt a kid.”
    “I realize you believe that, but—”
    “I know that. I can’t count the times Goliath has gone on a domestic violence call with me, only to take off like a shot when we entered the house. I’d find him later, standing guard over the kids. In those situations, he always acted crazy, just like he did the other night. Sometimes he wouldn’t even let me get close—not until I called him off. He loves children, and when he acts this way, it’s because he believes something or someone is going to hurt them.”
    Meredith could only stand there, staring at him.
    “Look,” he said, raking a hand through his hair. “The dog’s acting crazy. I admit it. I’m only asking you to take a step back and help me figure out why. This is the second time he’s