Authors: Maralee Lowder
Right!
There’s only the story
, he reminded himself.
Forget the girl.
You’ve never let a woman come between you and a story before, and you’re not about to now.
Not
even a drop dead gorge
ous young witch like Cassie Adams, damn it!
Squaring his shoulders as if he were preparing for battle, he found it only marginally more difficult than usual to
slip into his comfortable, well-
worn reporter persona as he turned towards the shop’s entrance.
“Hi!
How are you?” a raucous voice greeted Mac as he entered the shop.
Mac glanced around but saw no one.
“Hi!
How are you?” a large green macaw repeated its greeting.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Mac replied.
“Can I help you?” the bird asked.
“No
,
thanks, I’m just looking.”
Mac grinned sheepishly, realizing he had actually been having a conversation with a bird.
“You can look all you like,” a woman’s voice came from behind a bunch of cages.
“Looking’s free.”
When she stood up
,
Mac recognized her as one of the two women who had left the police station before Cassie.
Her expression was guarded but not hostile, giving him hope that she didn’t recognize him from that chaotic scene.
Good, one point in his favor, he sighed with relief.
Maybe his face wasn’t all that memorable after all.
He was saved from having to respond further as the door was opened behind him by
a customer, triggering another ‘conversation’
with the cocky bird.
Clearly the parrot had picked up the phrases from the many times he had heard the store owners greet their customers.
“Smart bird you have there,” he commented as the newly arrived customer drifted to the back of the store where huge
aquariums held a colorful assortment of tropical fish.
“I bet you’re asking a mint for him.”
“Sure would.
That is, if he were for sale.
But he’s not.
Old General there, he’s family.
Why, selling him would be like selling my own kid.”
The conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a very wet English bulldog puppy
who
came slipping and sliding down the aisle from the back of the shop.
Hot on his heels, terry cloth towel in hand,
came
Cassie Adams.
“Grab him, Shelly!
Oh, darn!” she cried as she lunged for the pup, missing him by a hairsbreadth.
“Here, let me,” Mac offered as he made a lunge for the pup.
His large hands surrounded the dog’s middle, but because it was still slippery with shampoo, he was unable to hold onto it.
Cursing under his breath, Mac joined in the chase as the puppy dashed about the small shop.
Finally, cornered at the front door, the pup let Mac trap him long enough for Cassie to wrap him in the towel.
Mac was sure from the dog’s expressive face that he was laughing at all of them as he squirmed in Cassie’s firm grasp.
“Thanks for the help,” she said, chuckling at the squirming bundle of energy in her arms.
“My pleasure,” Mac replied in a soft, restrained voice.
Something in its intimate tone brought her eyes up to his.
She started to say something but the words were forgotten as she found herself gazing hypnotically into his narrowed eyes.
“You?
” the word was spoken on a soft breath.
“Cassie?”
Shelly’s worried voice broke through the silence, which had suddenly become electrified.
“Uh-huh,” she answered, her eyes never leaving Mac’s.
“Is this man bothering you?”
“What?
Oh, no, I don’t think so.” A
questioning expression filled her eyes.
She wanted to ask
him who he was, why he was here, b
ut somehow she knew. And the funny thing was, even though he might think he could answer those questions, she was fairly certain he didn’t have a clue.
Her special gift told her that this man was meant to play a very important role in her life, one that he was totally unaware of.
What that role was to be she wasn’t certain
of
herself, but she knew instinctively
that neither of their lives would ever be the same from this moment on.
“Hey, mister, if you’re one of those vultures that call themselves reporters you can jus
t take your tail on out of here.
” Shelly’s voice had taken on a sharp edge.
“See?” she turned to
Cassie,
“I told you it was a mistake to open the shop today.
We should never have given any of those blood suckers a chance to get to us like this.”
“It’s all right, Shelly,” Cassie reassured her friend.
“This man would never hurt me.”
She knew in her heart that he could never do her harm, bu
t what of the rest of the coven,
w
ere they safe with him as well?
“Right.
That is, I just came in to check out your dogs.
Been thinking about buying one.”
Why couldn’t he drag his eyes from hers?
And why did it feel as if all the air had been siphoned from his lungs?
“You came to the right place
,
then,” her soft voice floated on the air like feathers.
“Yes,” he answered, suddenly filled with an emotion very much akin to awe.
He felt as if she were looking into his very soul and, wonder of all wonders, she didn’t recoil from what she saw there.
“What breed were you interested in?”
The corners of her lips curled slightly upward, as if she knew that he had no more intention of buying a dog than of buying the moon.
Glints of amusement sparkled in her mesmerizing eyes.
She knows who I am
, he realized with absolute certainty.
Why doesn’t she say something?
He fully expected her to toss him out of the shop.
But what the hell, he might as well play the game with her for as long as he could.
“You know, I haven’t been able to make up my mind.
Perhaps you can help me decide.”
He felt lost in those entrancing eyes.
It was as if she had cast a spell over him.
He realized he’d do just about anything to keep the conversation going so he’d not have to break contact with them.
“Uh, yes, help you decide,” the words came out breathy.
What was it about this man that made it so difficult to breath
e
when he looked at her that way?
The intensity of his gaze was nearly overwhelming.
She knew instinctively that this man had the power to destroy her.
If she had even a speck of sense she would tell him to get the hell out of her shop and never come back.
But rather than sending him away she found herself dreading the moment he would leave.
The puppy in her arms began a vigorous struggle to be free, forcing Cassie’s attention away from the tall stranger.
“I, uh, I need to finish drying this little guy before I can help you.
Maybe Shelly could
...?”
“I’ll wait.
No, I’ll help,” he responded as she turned towards the back of the store.
He had absolutely no intention of being foisted off on Shelly.
As he followed Cassie to the back room, he realized that from the moment the gorgeous little witch had entered the room he had completely forgotten why he had come to Port
Bellmont
.
“If you’re serious about helping, you could hold this little guy while I get out the blow drier.”
She held out the squirming, towel-wrapped puppy after she had rinsed off the shampoo.
Mac took the pup from her
hands,
barely aware of the wet bundle in his arms, so intrigued was he with the girl.
It wasn’t until he felt the stream of warm air flowing over him and the dog that he snapped back to reality.
“You’re kidding me!
You actually blow dry your dogs?
How do you get them to stand still for it?”
“Watch,” she ordered as she directed the flow of warm air over the puppy’s body.
Mac tore his eyes away from Cassie to stare incredulously at the puppy that now lay quietly in his arms.
Tongue lolling to one side, he’d closed his eyes nearly shut as he luxuriated in the soft warmth.
“You can put him down on the table now,” she instructed as she continued directing the drier at the pup.
“He won’t try to go anywhere as long as I keep this dryer running.”
“Well, I’ve never seen anything like that before.
Is he always like this?”
Cassie smiled down at the funny looking puppy. “He just knows what feels good, that’s all.
I think he’s a pretty smart little fellow.”
Something alien twisted inside Mac’s chest when he saw the gentle, loving expression she directed at the dog.
But he rejected the thought that he would be only too happy to have her look at him with even a fraction of the caring she had for the puppy.
He’d been on his own for so long that he failed to recognize his own need for human companionship.
All he knew was that he’d be only too happy to stay here with this woman for as long as he was able.
He reali
zed with a start that the word ‘forever’
had even entered his mind.
“How about him?” he blurted out in an attempt to chase such dangerous thoughts from his mind.
“Any reason why I couldn’t buy this little guy?”
“Why
, no,
no reason at all.” H
er beautiful face glowed with delight at the idea.
“In fact, I think you two would make a perfect match.”
And she realized what she said was true.
This happy, loving animal was just what the man with the sad eyes needed.
“You really think so?”
“I’m absolutely certain.”
This was probably the craziest thing he had ever done.
He didn’t know anything about dogs.
He’d never owned a dog in his entire life.
What was he going to do with the animal, anyway?
All these thoughts flew through his mind as he stood at the counter paying for the dog along with the array of equipment and food his new pet required.
Why worry?
the
sensible side of his brain countered.
It wasn’t as if he intended on keeping the mutt.
He’d only bought it as a means of getting closer to Cassie, right?
As soon as this assignment was over, he’d get rid of it.
Oh, he’d make sure it had a good home.
It wasn’t as if he was going to drop it off at the pound ... exactly.
It was, well, who could expect him to tie himself down to a dog?
The very thought was ludicrous.
“Have you thought of a name yet?”
“I beg your pardon?”
He
hadn’t realized how deeply he h
ad been contemplating his new acquisition until he realized that Cassie was waiting for an answer to a question he hadn’t known she’d asked.
“The puppy - have you thought of a name for him?”
Mac looked down at the animal
who
was now tethered to the end of a brown leather leash.
Circling th
e pup’s neck was a thick, metal-
studded collar.
Dancing brown eyes looked out of one of the ugliest faces Mac had ever seen.
The dog’s coat was a brown brindle and he had a white lopsided star on the middle of his forehead.
His squat, stubby little body quivered with excitement at this new adventure.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll call him
Sarge
.
He has a striking resemblance to a drill sergeant I had when I was in the Marines.”
Cassie’s heart did a funny little twist when he gave her that lopsided grin.
Somehow she knew that he rarely smiled.
How sad.
“I, uh, I don’t suppose you give lessons on these things?” he asked, the smile still in place.
“Give lessons
...?”
“Yeah, you know, to teach me how to take care of him, when to feed him, when to walk him.
I guess what I need is something like an owner’s manual.”
“You’ve never had a dog before, have you?”
Sudden understanding hit Cassie.
It struck her as odd that the notion had taken this long to come to her.
From the first moment she had seen this man she had felt a strong psychic connection.
She was surprised she had missed this very important fact about him.