Irresistible Force (A K-9 Rescue Novel)(11)

Eric swung around, his eyes widening. James let him look. "So  …  what? You're the new boyfriend?"

Bogart stood up, his ears flicking forward in response to the man's aggressive tone toward his handler.

Eric looked down and his expression changed. "So that's where the dog came from." He looked back at Shay. "You cheating slut."

Bogart bared his teeth in answer.

Shay lifted her chin against the insult. "You should leave, Eric. Now."

Eric's gaze flicked between man and dog. "Okay. Right. I'm done."

James didn't plan to block Eric with his shoulder as he passed, but  somehow the man was thrown off balance, stumbled into the sofa, and  fell.

Unsmiling, James held out a helping hand. "Sorry about that."

For a split second the heat of testosterone-fueled challenge shimmered  between them. Then Eric's gaze shifted to where James was holding the  harness of an angry barking dog.

Ignoring James's offer of a hand, he quickly righted himself, and lurched through the front door, slamming it behind him.

The second the door closed the remaining pair turned and spoke at the same time.

"Are you okay?"

"How did you know about last night?"





CHAPTER SEVEN

"Go ahead."

Shay rubbed her palms up and down her denim-clad thighs. "No, you."

James smiled, slipping out of police mode. "Ladies first."

"Wait a sec." Shay crossed over to lock her door.

As James pulled Bogart's favorite ball from his pocket and tossed it as a  reward for a good job, he noticed that she had three locks where most  people could have been satisfied with one. The first was oxidized with  age. The other two were shiny and new.                       
       
           



       

When she turned back to him, it seemed she had reconsidered her first  question because she substituted another. "Why did you do that?"

"What?"

She folded her arms and stared.

Busted. "I saw what he was doing to you, Shay. You should have let me  arrest him. Since you wouldn't, I sent him that message in a way he'll  remember."

Her chin shot up. He didn't need words to translate that into I can take  care of myself. Trouble was, it was obvious that she had been doing a  lousy job. Not that that was his business, but-whoa. Wait. Not. His.  Business. Even so  …

"Want to tell me why you won't press charges?"

She looked away. "I have my reasons."

"Whatever they are, they aren't going to keep him from putting his hands on you, again, like when I walked in."

Shay reached down to Bogart, who had come up to her, and scratched him  behind one ear. "News alert, Officer Cannon. I'm not your concern."

"Come on, Shay." He said her name softly, as if he had used it before, and it sounded wonderfully comfortable in his mouth.

Shay straightened up, feeling a little shaky from running on adrenaline. "Are you asking as a police officer or a friend?"

James felt himself shifting onto uncertain ground. "Whichever you need."

Shay searched his face for a moment. What she needed was someone to  believe her. But she couldn't explain why without explaining the very  things she wanted most to keep hidden. So even the compassion in his  expression couldn't help her.

Shay snatched her gaze away, searching for her security blanket of  hostility. "Why did you come back, anyway? Looking for a little pat on  the back to make you feel like a hero?"

Annoyance jerked at James's patience. He'd swung by on a hunch. Yet  after his graceless entry into her life, what had he expected, a parade?

"Fine. My bad. I thought maybe since we share a fondness for Bogart that  we might become  …  friends." James made a business of putting his pad  away. "So, who is that asshole?"

Shay almost smiled at his description. "He's my ex. Boyfriend."

"Your decision?"

She nodded. "I broke it off a month ago, but he hasn't taken the hint. I think now he will."

"Don't count on it."

Shay pushed a hand up under her bangs, using her fingers as a comb. "Is  that why you let Eric believe you had more than a professional interest  in me?"

She caught that, did she?

"It'll make him think twice before he tries to force his way in on you again. The least I could do."

"Or you just pissed him off in a way that will make him an even bigger threat when you're not around."

Reminded of Eric's violent actions, Shay moved her hand to the back of  her head, probing the place where it had connected with the wall.  "Ouch."

James frowned. "Are you hurt? Here. Let me look at that."

"No, it's okay."

But James didn't pause. He spun her around lightly and then his fingers  were in her hair, parting it carefully at the crown. He wanted to  lecture her on the dangers of violent men but he sensed that right now  the last thing she needed was to be pressured by a man. He felt her  flinch as he revealed a red bruised area. "You've got a knot developing  back here. You should be looked at."

Shay slipped free of his touch and danced away from him, as if being close to him could breach her defenses. "No. I'm fine."

"Are you nauseated?" He held up two fingers. "What do you see?"

"V for victory. Okay?"

"Has he gotten rough with you in the past?"

Shay stared at him, not knowing what to say. No one had ever taken an  interest in her claims before. Then she realized that no one had ever  seen Eric in action before.

She licked her suddenly too-dry lips before she found her voice. "Once." She looked away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough. But you should think about pressing charges. It's not too  late. I can go after him. You call the sheriff while I track him down.  I'll bring him in and you have him arrested for assault. I'm your  witness."

"No." She didn't even give his suggestion a moment's consideration. "Eric's gone. That's what I wanted."

James waited a beat, weighing how hard to push her. He decided he needed  to ease up before she shut him down completely. Maybe another approach  would work. "Coates doesn't seem the sort to take directions well. What  would have happened if I hadn't walked in?"                       
       
           



       

Shay jerked her gaze up to meet the full impact of his blue eyes. What  she felt emanating from them was a genuine interest and something  surprisingly like warmth. Then his question boomeranged back through her  thoughts. What would I have done?

The sudden sick look in her expression twisted James's gut. She was  trying to tough it out but clearly she had known she was all but  defenseless against that bastard.

He took a step toward her, keeping his voice soft. "A guy who likes to  manhandle women is likely to circle back as soon as he thinks he safely  can. That might be a day, or a week. You should at least get a  restraining order against Coates so you will have serious backup if you  need it."

"Is that your professional or personal opinion? Because what I really  didn't need was for Eric to think I left him for a hunky new boyfriend."

She turned, picked up the soggy packet of oysters she'd dropped on the table, and headed toward the kitchen.

James stared after her. Jeez! Where had he gone wrong? He'd meant to reassure her. Now she was pissed.

When she disappeared through the doorway, he glanced around to call  Bogart to heel, but his partner was already at his side, staring up at  him as if he were about to hatch.

Bogart looked back over his shoulder toward the kitchen and then again  at James, his brows twitching up and down, signaling confusion.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I need to fix it."

Reluctantly, he headed after her.

* * *

Shay didn't release her breath until she was all the way into the  kitchen. She'd been unforgivably rude to the man who'd saved her and was  now just trying to help. What was her problem?

Oh hell. She knew what was wrong.

Struggling to regain control over her stressed-out emotions, she emptied  the container of iced oysters into the sink. She was so grateful that  James had appeared when he did that she was tying knots inside herself  just to keep from showing it.

Because her emotional reaction had ranged far beyond simple relief.

It had been nothing short of thrilling to see his tall silhouette  filling her doorway. Even unshaven and still dressed in wrinkled camo,  James had the look of capable protector written all over him. Her very  own Avenger.

Get a grip, Shay.

She couldn't afford to think that way, for even a second, about Officer  Cannon. He wasn't hers. Nor was Prince  …  Bogart. Just because they had  unexpectedly appeared as the tag-team rescuers she had been praying for  didn't mean she should let her emotions run wild. In a few minutes,  she'd be all alone again.