LITMIR.BIZ

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was infused with a kind of energy she’d never experienced. Not a frenzied kind of energy, but a powerful, steady flow of warmth, vitality and a thrilling sense of well-being.

      She sat up in bed.

      And balance.

      That was it. Balance. Ever since the kidnapping and the journey of self-discovery that followed, she had moved forward, eager to embrace life. And while she knew in her heart she was moving toward her goals, she had never felt steady, balanced. But the instant she looked up and saw Del, that feeling disappeared. She hadn’t realized it until this very moment, but for the first time in years she felt as if she was standing on bedrock. Call it Kismet, Fate, serendipity or whatever, but all her instincts told her Del Rickman’s return wasn’t a coincidence. Not for her, at least. They had a connection. He had altered the course of her life all those years ago, and his influence had been almost as strong as her parents’. Not that she thought of him as a parental figure. Certainly not after meeting him face to face again. She hadn’t exaggerated one bit when she’d told her folks he was the most interesting man she’d met in ages. As far as she was concerned, Del Rickman was a man in a town full of boys.

      And she was definitely attracted to him.

      She couldn’t honestly say the attraction wasn’t all tangled up with hero worship. After all, she’d thought of him as a hero all these years. But this didn’t feel like hero worship. It felt like real male-female attraction—the kind that made your heart beat faster. And it was totally unexpected.

      It wasn’t as if she’d been impatiently waiting for one man to come along and sweep her off her feet. Far from it. She’d started dating like most normal teenagers and gone through the crushes and going-steady phases. She’d had a year-long relationship her last year of high school and a semi-serious one her second year of college. But neither relationship had made her think of marriage and a lifelong commitment, particularly since so much of her time and energy had been devoted to her studies. In the last few months she’d chosen to limit her social life to going out with groups of friends because it was simply more fun than going on dates. She’d never doubted that one day she would find a terrific guy and fall in love, but she’d never gone looking for him, either.

      And then Del had walked through the clinic door. There had been a moment, before he knew who she was, when she sensed that his interest in her was most definitely not platonic. For a few seconds he’d looked at her the way a man looked at a woman he wanted to kiss. A woman he wanted to touch and take to bed.

      Not that Allison was looking for sex, or not looking for that matter. She wasn’t a prude or a virgin, but she was selective. Until today the temptation for a sexual relationship had been weak at best, but that could change. She was hardly planning to seduce Del, although, she mused, the thought did have an undeniable appeal. What she did plan to do was just be herself, a confident, intelligent woman open to life’s possibilities, and get to know him a whole lot better.

      CHAPTER THREE

      DEL TOSSED AND TURNED inside the sleeping bag, his mind a jumble of memories.

      Men in place. Sniper set and ready. Wait for my signal.

      Careful. Careful.

      Go!

      No! No, he moved! Oh, God, no…no…

      A banging sound brought Del out of his nightmare with a jolt, followed closely by…barking?

      “What the—” Awake now, he realized someone was knocking on his door and his canine houseguest was barking not two feet away. “Oh, yeah.” He rubbed his eyes. “Okay, enough, boy. I mean, girl. Take it easy. I’m up.” The dog quieted, but paced between the sleeping bag and the door. Del grabbed his jeans, stepped into them and staggered over to see who was outside. “Who the hell could it be this time of morning?” he mumbled. The dog beat him there and gave two sharp barks.

      “Who is it?” Del snapped.

      “Allison. I come bearing hot coffee, fresh cinnamon rolls, and a Greenie.”

      Shoeless, bare-chested and sleepy-eyed, he yanked open the door. “Allison.” He was wide awake now. “I, uh…wasn’t expecting, uh…” Unconsciously, he put a hand to his chest and only then realized he was half dressed. “Oh, uh, excuse—” Before he could finish the dog tried to jump up and greet Allison but couldn’t quite accomplish the feat because of her wound.

      “Hey, sweetie.” Juggling the large shopping bag she held, Allison bent down to the dog, scratching her behind one ear. “I’ve got a treat for you, too.” She looked up at Del. “I’m sorry, I had no idea you would still be asleep at this hour. Normally, I would have called, but you don’t have a phone.”

      “Yeah. I, uh, should have given you my cell phone number last night. What time is it, anyway?” He was so flustered by her appearance that for a moment he forgot they were standing in an open doorway with a nippy breeze whipping through.

      “Nine o’clock.”

      “I’m sorry. C’mon in, please, and excuse my manners.” As nonchalantly as he could, Del hurriedly pulled on a T-shirt, then yanked on socks. “Here,” he reached for the bag. “Let me take that and your coat, or maybe you want to keep it on?”

      “No, the room feels fine.” She handed him the bag and then removed her coat. “How’s our patient today?” she asked, turning her attention to the dog.

      “Fine. Guess Dr. Mike was right. A bare floor was a step up for her.”

      “You didn’t mind at all, did you, baby?” The dog responded by licking Allison’s hand, and she laughed.

      Del put the paper bag down on the only piece of furniture in the room, an empty apple crate standing on end to serve as a table. “What’s this?”

      “Hot coffee, Lynn’s homemade cinnamon buns, a fresh bandage for our friend here, and a Greenie.”

      “A what?”

      She dipped into the bag and pulled out an odd-shaped, very green dog bone. “A Greenie. It’s a dental aid. No preservatives and environmentally safe. It’ll help keep her teeth clean and make her breath smell better.” Green or not, the dog recognized a treat when she saw it. Sitting on her haunches, she lifted one paw.

      “You give it to her,” Allison suggested.

      “Why me?”

      “Your house, your dog.”

      “Allison, I thought you understood that I can’t—”

      “Seriously, until I can find her a good home, you’re the Alpha dog. The treat needs to come from you.”

      “What?”

      “Dogs are pack animals. They feel much more secure when they’re in the presence of a leader, the Alpha dog, usually a male. It’s simple. Feeling secure means better behavior, better behavior means good socialization, which makes the animal more accepting of humans. So you, my friend, have been elected the top dog.” She handed him the bone, then winked. “But don’t let it go to your head. This principle only applies to dogs. Go on,” she urged.

      Del glanced down at the dog, still sitting, waiting patiently, and offered her the bone. She took it gently, but didn’t move.

      “She’s waiting for you to tell her it’s okay,” Allison instructed.

      Del had seen guard dogs and police dogs trained to wait for commands, but he didn’t expect it from a stray. “Okay, girl, it’s yours.” He pointed toward the far side of the fireplace and the dog immediately carried the bone there and was soon lost in the pleasure of her treat.

      “Good girl,” Allison said. “She’s smart, and I suspect well trained.”

      “Just because she waited for permission to eat the bone?”

      “That and the fact that she responded to your hand signal.”

      “But

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