Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)(73)

As if making a good impression on his friends wasn’t enough to worry about, she wished she hadn’t let Cody talk her into wearing jeans. Wouldn’t a blouse paired with a skirt or slacks be more appropriate for a dinner party at a rich man’s house? She hoped Cody was right when he swore everyone would dress casual. She’d decided on a pair of black skinny jeans with a deep green turtleneck sweater, and black, flat-heeled boots. She’d left her hair down at Cody’s request, and her only jewelry was large hoop earrings.

At least he’d been impressed, if his wolf whistle when he’d come to her door to collect her was any indication. Did it matter what anyone else thought? He looked pretty darn hot himself wearing a pair of blue jeans that hugged his hips and a black turtleneck sweater.

“Did you find anything unusual this morning when you went through the files?”

Jerked away from her thoughts on how sexy her boyfriend looked—had they reached boyfriend-girlfriend status?—she glanced at Cody. Unable to help herself, she reached over and ran her palm over his stubble, her stomach fluttering when he leaned his face into her hand. “I love that day-old beard look on you. Makes you appear dangerous.”

He smiled, showing his sexy dimple. “But never to you, darlin’.”

No, he never would be to her. They’d made love last night, dozed off, made love again, slept some, and made love again. He’d stayed in her bed, waking up next to her this morning. But she’d had to beg him to not move to the couch, and she knew he hadn’t allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep. Her hope was that when he stayed over, she could eventually prove to him that even if he had a nightmare, he would never hurt her, even subconsciously.

“To answer your question, no, nothing struck me. I went through all the files from the first day I opened the clinic. Yes, I’ve had pets that I couldn’t save for one reason or another, but I just can’t see any of those owners gunning for me.”

“Damn, I was hoping we’d get some kind of lead. There was nothing unusual at all?”

She shrugged. “There was one thing, but the owner doesn’t fit the profile we got.” He raised a brow, and she laughed. “You do that so well.”

“What’s that?”

“That brow-raising thing men do.”

“Ah, that. We’re born with the talent.” He took her hand and put it on his thigh. “So what’s the unusual thing?”

“We accidently sent the wrong dog to be cremated.” Both of Cody’s brows rose, making her giggle. He grinned and waggled them. As each day passed that she spent with him, he seemed to grow happier, lighter in heart. She liked to think she had something to do with that.

“I felt so awful about it. It was Brooke’s first day, and we had two dogs die, one from old age, and the other from liver cancer. I had to euthanize both. The owner of the dog that was old wanted him cremated. The other owner wanted to take his dog home to bury him. He also accused me of not doing enough to cure the animal. Anyway, Brooke got the dogs mixed up. The man who wanted to take his dog home was furious about the mistake.”

“Let me guess. You took the blame, didn’t tell him it was Brooke who screwed up?”

“Of course. I wasn’t going to throw her to the wolves. It was an honest mistake, and believe me, she learned from it.”

“Was he married, the man who was mad?”

“I have no idea. He never had a woman with him, and we only get contact information from the owners. All our records are about the animals. I did check, but he didn’t list anyone else as a contact.”

“I agree he doesn’t fit the profile, but tomorrow, let’s go to the clinic and get the phone number. Call it, see who answers.”

She should have thought of doing that today. “We don’t have to. I can access the clinic files from my home computer. The profile could also be wrong, couldn’t it?”

“There’s always that possibility, but Kincaid said the profiler had never been wrong, that he knew of.”

“I just want to find Pelli. It’s killing me wondering if he’s okay.” She blinked against the burning in her eyes. She wanted her baby.

He covered her hand where it rested on his leg with his. “I know, and we’ll find him.”

And he sounded so sure that she believed him. Otherwise she’d fall apart. He turned onto a long cobblestone driveway where other cars were already parked along the sides, and her mouth fell open at seeing the huge two-story house.

“Wow,” she muttered.

“Yeah, kind of amazing, isn’t it? I’ve only been here once, but I can tell you that you ain’t seen nothing yet.”