Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021

her gently. “They’re friends.”
Bridget glanced up at her, as if seeking reassurance.
Which Carly gave her. “It’s all right. Come on, let’s go over here and go potty.” She led the dog over to the back corner of her yard, near the shed where Bridget had been living before. Once Bridget had taken care of business, Carly walked her back over to the others.
“Hey, girl, remember me?” Micha crouched down, holding out his hand. To Carly’s surprise, Bridget sniffed him and immediately wagged her tail.
“Look at that, she knows me!” Clearly delighted, Micha grinned up at Carly.
“Smart dog,” Charlie the detective said. At the sound of his voice, Bridget froze. She looked from him to the FBI agent, then to Micha and Carly.
“Too many new people,” Micha commented. Moving slowly, he got to his feet and backed away from the clearly terrified dog.
“She’s shaking.” Carly’s heart broke. “Bridget, it’s okay. I’m right here.”
Despite the reassuring tone and words, Bridget wasn’t having it. She pressed her too-thin body against Carly’s leg as if she wished she could disappear behind it.
“Ms. Colton?” Brad Howard asked. “We’re about to get out of your hair for now. We’d like to ask you to leave this camera in place and try to pretend like you don’t know it exists. I’m going to ask for one of our best IT specialists and see if he can trace it. But it’s got to be transmitting for him to do that. Will that be all right with you?”
“How long will it have to be there?” Eyeing the tiny camera, she shuddered at the thought of someone watching her while she went about her everyday life.
“I’m thinking a day or two,” the FBI agent responded. “Maybe three at the most. It all depends on how long it takes to get the video feed tracked.”
Slowly, Carly nodded, all the while absently stroking her new dog’s head.
The two men thanked her and let themselves out of her backyard. Once they were gone, Bridget relaxed.
“That was weird,” Carly told Micha. “I’d hoped they would just take the video camera with them.”
“What the FBI agent said makes sense. It’s got to be transmitting to be tracked. If they’d pulled it, whoever is monitoring the thing would have just shut it down. That’s why it’s important that you pretend it’s not there.”
She grimaced. “Easier said than done, but I’ll try.”
With the other men gone, Bridget had finally gotten brave enough to venture a few feet away from Carly so she could sniff the grass. Once the dog had finished, she tugged on the leash as if letting Carly know she was ready to go inside.
Carly glanced at Micha, standing several feet away with his hands in his pockets. “Would you like to come in?” she invited. “I really don’t want to be alone with that camera just yet. It’s going to take me a little bit to get used to the idea.”
“I’d love to,” he replied, the warmth of his smile going straight to her core. She had to take a deep breath to gather her suddenly scattered thoughts.
Letting them in the back door, Carly did her best not to glance in the direction of the camera. This proved more difficult than she’d imagined. She bent over, released Bridget from the leash and busied herself pouring dog kibble in a bowl.
“Are you hungry, girl?” she asked, setting the bowl on the floor. Bridget immediately began chowing down.
Carly smiled, though she still felt unsettled. As if he sensed this, Micha came up behind her and gently pulled her into his arms from behind. Mouth against her ear, he nuzzled her neck. “If they’re watching right now, I want them to understand that you’re mine,” he murmured.
She should have protested that statement. She wasn’t his, not any longer, but her brain appeared to have short-circuited. Instead of moving away, she allowed herself to go limp in his arms and relax into his embrace.
Bridget briefly glanced up at them but continued eating.
Carly turned. He kissed her then. A slow, leisurely exploration of his lips on hers, his tongue inside her. Despite her every resolve to the contrary, she kissed him back, a slow burn unfurling through her cells and making her knees go weak.
Just when she thought she’d collapse in a puddle of desire on the floor, he broke away, kissing first the tip of her nose before moving on to her shoulders and neck.
“I need your help with something,” he asked, still nibbling on her ears, which sent little shivers of lightning through her. At that very moment, she doubted she could deny him anything, so she nodded. He traced the hollow of her throat with his lips, making her again weak with longing. She knew she could move away, tell him to stop, but she didn’t want to. No one had ever been able to make her feel the things Micha did, not before him or after him, and she’d missed this.
“What?” she finally asked, breathless.
“After I turn in the rental car, I’ll need a ride to the dealership so I can buy something of my own. After that, I want to look for a place to live. Living in a motel is getting old and expensive.”
Somehow, he managed to make even that sound sexy. “Mmm-hmm.”
“And I need your expertise,” he continued. “You know the area. Will you go with me?”
“I will.” Taking a half step back, she finally managed to put some air between the two of them so she could think. “Are you looking to rent or buy?”
“Rent,” he replied, the heat in his gaze almost as intoxicating as his kisses had been. “I’d like to find something low maintenance, like maybe a condo or a town house.”
“I have a Realtor friend I can check with,” she managed, taking another step back when all she really wanted to do was lose herself in his arms.
Bridget, apparently having had enough of being ignored, chose that moment to give a single, loud bark. Eyeing Carly mournfully,