In Shelter Cove by Barbara Freethy Read Free Book Online

male swearing—all coming from next door.
    “Damn,” she muttered as the barks and swearing grew louder.
    She ran alongside her house and found a gate that led into the neighbor’s property. There a tiny white puff of fur ran around her feet, chased by her puppy and a very pissed-off man, who was also wrestling with an irate, spitting cat.
    “Digger, puppy!” she yelled, but he was too busy chasing the other dog to pay attention to her. Then the small furball squeezed under the bottom of the deck, in a space so small that her puppy could do little but bark furiously at his escaped prey.
    The man let out another curse as the cat sprang from his arms. He put a hand to his cheek, and as he stepped into the light, she saw a long red scratch on a face that was very familiar.
    Her heart jumped into her throat. “No way!”
    Jason looked as shocked as she felt.
    “You can’t possibly live here,” she said. “I was told this house belongs to an elderly lady.”
    “It does. Shirley Pease. She had a stroke a few months ago and went into a care facility. Her daughter, Patty, is living here now.”
    “You don’t look like her daughter.” Her gaze slid down his body. His jeans were slung low on his hips, and his button-down shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of a broad, muscular chest. His bare feet and tousled hair made him look as if he’d just rolled out of bed. She swallowed hard at the thought, a wave of heat running through her. She’d forgotten how sexy he was. Forgotten how his gazehad always made a little tingle run down her spine. But Jason was the cop who’d ruined her husband’s life, and she could never forget that.
    “I’m house-sitting for Patty, my father’s girlfriend,” Jason said. “You need to get your damn dog under control. He’s digging a hole under the deck.”
    Jason was right. Dirt was flying through the air with her puppy’s exuberant efforts to get under the deck. She grabbed the dog, thankful he was still small enough to hang on to.
    Jason got down on his knees and peered under the deck. “Come on, Princess,” he called. “It’s safe to come out now.”
    “Princess?” she echoed.
    Jason flung her a scowl. “She’s not my dog. I didn’t name her.”
    “She seems to like you,” Brianna said as the tiny princess threw herself into Jason’s waiting arms, whimpering with relief. “Unlike the cat. That’s a nasty scratch she gave you.”
    “She lured me in, rolled over on her back like she wanted me to pet her, then took a swipe at me,” he said with disgust. “Do you see her anywhere?”
    Brianna scanned the yard. “No, It looks like she took off.”
    “Great. First night, and I’ve already lost one of them.”
    “How long are you going to be house-sitting?” She couldn’t handle the idea of Jason being right next door; it was way too close.
    “A few days, maybe a week.” His gaze dropped tothe puppy in her arms. “He looks like Buster, Derek’s old dog.”
    “I’m sure that was the intention. The Kanes got him for Lucas at Derek’s request. I’d better get back. Lucas is asleep in the house.”
    “Hang on.” He opened the door to the house and thrust Princess inside. “I’ll go with you. The cat might be in your yard.”
    Brianna walked down the path between their houses, keeping an eye out for the cat, but a large shadow by the front windows of her house gave her pause. She stopped so abruptly Jason bumped into her.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    She took another step forward, knocking into the trash can, and the shadow moved through the trees. “I think someone is in my yard,” she said in shock.
    “Stay here.” Jason moved past her quietly, quickly.
    She hesitated for a moment, but the idea of Lucas being alone in the house propelled her forward. Jason met her on the lawn. “I don’t see anyone. It was probably just the wind moving the trees.”
    She cast a quick look around. Maybe he was right. There were tall trees on both