Harlequin Intrigue, Box Set 2 of 2 by Julie Miller Page A

wanted to, but I’m not sure Tyler would understand having to take him to a shelter instead of taking him home.”
    â€œIt looks like I’ll be fostering Mr. Pup for a while. Until the Humane Society can find out if there’s an owner or put him up for adoption. Maybe Tyler can come visit him.”
    Katie shook her head, whipping the ponytail back and forth. “Don’t tell him that. He’d be at your house every day after school.”
    â€œYou know I don’t mind having Tyler around.”
    â€œI know. But... Mr. Pup? Tyler calls him Padre.”
    Trent nodded. The name fit. “Like a priest’s collar. That’s what I’ll call him, then. Now, about last night...” He could do the sharp right turns, too. But her frustrated huff warned him he’d have to coax the answers out of her, just like he’d coaxed Padre into trusting him. “You have to give me something, Katie. You know I won’t quit.”
    â€œI know.” Her blue eyes tilted up to meet his briefly. Her gaze quickly dropped to the middle button of his shirt, where she plucked away what was most likely a couple of dog hairs. The nerves beneath his skin jumped as her fingers danced against his chest. But he couldn’t allow himself to respond to the unintended caress. This was distraction. Nervous energy. Something on her mind that kept her from focusing. There was definitely something bothering Team Rinaldi this morning. “I have to get ready for the meeting.”
    â€œEvery morning, you’ve been bragging about Tyler and the play you guys are doing. This morning, all you’re doing is apologizing and fussing around like it’s your first day on the job.” Outweighing her by a good hundred pounds wasn’t the only reason he wasn’t budging. He covered her hand with his, stilling her fidgeting fingers. “Talk to me. Use words that make sense.”
    â€œCalling you was an impulse,” she conceded. “Once I got my act together, I realized I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
    Nope. He still wasn’t budging.
    Trent felt the whisper of her surrendering sigh against his hand. “They didn’t need me backstage last night, so I was doing some work on my laptop out in the theater auditorium. I found a connection between an old double missing-person case and some new stuff we’re working on. I got caught up following the trail through the reports and I lost track of the time.”
    This was remorse talking, maybe even a little fear, he thought, as she slowly tilted her gaze to his again. “I couldn’t find Tyler when I was done. I mean, eventually I did. He was by himself in the parking lot, waiting for me. Everyone else had left and he was locked out of the building. And then I thought I heard... I swear someone was...”
    â€œSomeone was what?” He gently combed his fingers through her scattered bangs, smoothing them back into place.
    â€œI thought someone was watching me. The lights went out, so it was pretty dark, and while I was looking for Tyler in the dressing rooms, some guy pushed me down and ran outside.”
    Trent’s fingers stilled. His grip on her hand against his chest tightened. “A man attacked you? Are you hurt?”
    She brought her other hand up to pat his, urging him to calm the blood boiling in his veins. “This is why I don’t tell you things. It wasn’t an attack. The dark always freaks me out a little bit, and my imagination made things seem worse than they were. Once I found Tyler with Padre, everything was fine.”
    â€œYou don’t know what that guy was after.”
    â€œHe wasn’t after me. Maybe I interrupted a break-in. Or some homeless guy snuck in to get out of the cold and he got scared by the blackout, too. He just wanted me out of his way so he could escape. Doug Price is going to give me grief tonight for not picking up the mess I left in the dressing