Fiancee for Hire by Tawna Fenske Page A

owner whispered. “That’s why we called her.”
    Mac nodded, not sure if he was more surprised to hear her referred to as Dr. Landers, or to see his sweet, docile bride up to her elbows in blood and intestines, looking calm and competent and in command.
    Why the hell is this sexy?
    Mac turned back to Anna. “Is there a reason she’s uh—wearing a wedding gown?”
    “We couldn’t get it off. The zipper got caught, and Kelli loved the dress too much to let us cut her out of it. Now we just have to hope she doesn’t get blood on it.”
    “Got it,” Kelli said, pulling a foul-looking mass from the dog’s belly and depositing it in a silver bowl. “Let’s push three hundred milligrams of cefazolin, please. Can someone hand me some three-ott PDS suture?”
    “Jesus,” Mac growled.
    “She’s good,” Anna said. “You’ve seen her work before?”
    He hesitated, not sure what the right answer should be for a supposed fiancé. Given the awestruck look he knew was plastered to his face, the truth seemed the best way to go.
    “Never,” he said. “Not like this.”
    “Did you know she’s published three different cases in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association ?”
    “Yes,” Mac said. He’d read that information in her file, of course. “But I had no idea what it meant.”
    “Well now you know,” Anna said, beaming proudly as she tucked a chunk of purple-streaked hair behind her ear.
    “Now I know,” Mac said and wondered if they were still talking about veterinary surgery.
    “There,” Kelli said, stepping back slightly. “We’ve got the incision in the intestine closed. Let’s check for leakage and give it a little lavage before we close the body wall.” She turned to the dog’s owners and smiled. “You got lucky this time. Might want to be a little more careful with these in the future.”
    She reached into the silver bowl and unraveled a pair of red, lacy panties, dangling them from one finger. Then she picked up some sort of oblong silver object, smooth and rounded on the ends. She flicked a button and the object began buzzing in her hand.
    “Oh,” Mac said, realization dawning as Kelli flicked off the bullet-shaped vibrator.
    She grinned and gave him a wink. “Gotta love the power of Duracell.”
    Mac looked at the panties, wondering if they’d started out crotchless or if the dog rendered them that way. He turned to the dog’s owners to offer some words of encouragement and saw the woman glaring daggers at the man.
    “I have never owned either of those things in my entire life,” she snapped.
    Mac winced and looked back at Kelli. She met his eye, her expression perfectly composed and professional.
    “Well,” she said. “I take it you won’t be needing these back?”
    …
    An hour later, Kelli found herself sitting shotgun in Mac’s black car with her wedding gown piled around her.
    “Definitely not the first time I’ve pulled panties out of a dog’s GI tract,” Kelli said, stretching her legs out. “But that’s the first time they’ve become evidence in a divorce case.”
    “You were amazing in there.”
    “Thanks,” Kelli said, beaming. She noticed a hint of surprise in his voice, and wasn’t sure what to make of it. She looked down at her dress and fluffed the satin. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
    “Very. Isn’t it bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her gown before the wedding?”
    “Since there won’t be a wedding, I think we’re safe.”
    He didn’t say anything right away, and Kelli fiddled uncomfortably with a seed pearl. “Don’t worry about me wearing it to Zapata’s house tomorrow. Anna’s sending someone to the house to get it off me shortly.”
    “I wasn’t worried.” He glanced at her, his expression unreadable behind the dark glasses. “You were really good in there. Impressive.”
    “Thanks. I’ve been doing this awhile.” She sighed and stretched her neck, which was full of kinks from a morning spent hunched