Free Foster Siblings 3: Brokedown Hearts by Cameron Dane

inside a battle ensued. Jonah and his temperament had pissed Ben off, but at the same time, Ben had withheld crucial information about his interaction with David last night. He’d never done that with a client before.
    Fuck . Ben did an about-face and took a step back toward the restaurant door. Maybe I should go back inside, tell him everything, and recommend another investigator to take over the job.
    Ben reached for the handle, but before he could wrap his fingers around the metal, his hand fell dead to his side. What if he made a suggestion for a new hire, but Jonah was so pissed off at him for not completing the job that he found someone else, and that someone wasn’t as gentle with David as the man so clearly needed? If some asshole investigator harassed or attacked David out of some perverse sense of duty, Ben would never forgive himself. To Ben’s trained eye, David was working overtime to keep his nose clean and stay as invisible as possible. He didn’t want trouble. Ben didn’t have to have a database of criminal behavior logged in his brain to see that. But if some overzealous low-rent PI wanted to prove to Jonah how big his balls were, then David could get hurt.
    Or maybe you just want to keep hanging around town because you’re horny and you want to fuck him.
    With an internal growl, Ben told the insistent voice of reality in his head to shut the hell up. For once, he didn’t want it to be right.
    * * * *
    In David’s motel room after work, Erin told him, wearing a grin, “Well, your little guy is a little girl.” After giving the kitten one more look over, she gently set the animal on the bed. “From what I can tell, she seems to be healthy.”
    David scooped up the tiny bundle and cradled her on her back in the palm of his hand. Examining her again, he muttered, “Shoot, I thought I was getting better at identifying gender in the kittens.”
    As Erin slung her bag onto her shoulder, she chuckled. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve been working with animals for all of two weeks. I don’t expect you to be an expert already. And if this little sweetheart is even five weeks old yet”—she gave the animal a scratch on the belly—“I’d be stunned. It can be hard to tell the sex of a kitten when they’re so young.”
    Erin walked to the door, and David followed, tucking the kitten into the crook of his arm.
    Erin cracked the door, just about to swing it open, when David bit his lip and then blurted, “Listen, do you think I can squeeze this kitten in for a checkup when the vet is at the shelter tomorrow?” God, he almost wished the floor would open up and swallow him rather than have to ask for a favor, particularly from his boss of two weeks, but the purring ball of fur in his arm pushed him to finish. “Dr. Hazel doesn’t have to give me the discount rate she gives you. I’d pay her full price. I just want to be able to get the kitten in to see someone as fast as possible.”
    “Of course you can bring her to see the doc. And keep the carrier for as long as you need it.” Erin had sent David home with a soft-sided travel case full of supplies for the kitten. “And of course you’ll get the discount. Or rather, I will get the discount.” David parted his lips to protest, but Erin lifted a finger and shut him down. “If you’re fostering the little gal until a spot opens for her at the shelter, then the least I can do is take care of her bills.”
    “You don’t have to do that,” David protested. “Really, it’s too much.”
    With one shake of her head, Erin grabbed the door again. “I have to run, so we’ll fight about it later.” She swung open the door but pulled back instantly, looking up, up, up. “Oh, hi.” She grinned and studied Ben, where he stood poised to knock on the other side of the threshold.
    David’s heart started hammering, and his mouth went dry. He came back.
    After giving Ben the once-over, Erin declared, “You’re rather tall, aren’t