Page 57 of Family Jewels

“We’ve been trying, Rose, and now we have a credible reason to widen our search. But if Radcliffe Dyer contacts you, you need to encourage him to cooperate so we can find the real perpetrator.” He paused. “You know, even if we don’t arrest him for murder, we can arrest him for animal cruelty.”

“I think he got the ever-loving crap scared out of him last night. I doubt he’ll be kicking another dog for a long while.” Then, before he could ask questions, I continued, “I hope you find therealmurderer.”

“Let me know if you think of anything else.”

“Okay.” I looked up and saw Dr. Romano standing in the open doorway with Muffy in his arms. The distressed look in his eyes told me he’d overheard part of our conversation. “I have to go.” I hung up and dropped my phone into my purse.

“Murderer?”

I lifted my shoulders in a lazy shrug, then stood. “Just talking about a TV show. How’s Muffy?”

He gave me a look that suggested he didn’t believe me but thankfully didn’t ask more questions. “Just as I suspected, no broken bones. There’s quite a bit of swelling, which fits with deep tissue damage. I’ll send you home with a non-steroid anti-inflammatory, and you’ll need to keep her in a crate for a few days to force her to let it rest. I suspect her romp last night after she was injured made matters worse. Do you have a crate?”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “No. I’ve never needed one before.”

“I have one you can borrow.”

“I’m sure I can get one.”

He gave me that big grin again, the one that made his eyes twinkle. “It will give me an opportunity to see you again.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that—or even how I wanted to answer. Obviously I sucked at this whole flirting thing.

“Do you have someone to watch Muffy?” he asked as he handed her to me.

I stared at him in confusion. “I usually bring Muffy to the office with me.”

“What about tonight? Can Neely Kate watch her?”

“Yeah, but I don’t have plans for tonight.”

He shifted his weight. “I know this is unprofessional, and I’m sorry if it’s awkward—I’ll understand if you turn me down—but I can’t seem to help myself.” He grimaced, then plunged on. “Would you go out to dinner with me tonight? I’m about to go on call for five days, which means we’d have to wait until next week otherwise, and I find myself uncharacteristically impatient.”

“Dinner?”

He grinned. “Some people call it supper.”

“I . . . uh . . .”

“I can pick you up at your office,” he said. “You’re already beautiful, so there’s no need for you to go home and get ready.”

I blushed again. I was about to turn him down, but then I remembered my humiliation with James. Maybe James’ rejection was a good thing. He and I would be a disaster, but it was the catalyst I needed to entertain the idea of being with someone else. Someone more dateable. “Uh . . . sure. Okay.”

His mouth gaped. “Really?”

“You expected me to say no?”

“Honestly, I expected it to take a few more tries.”

I laughed. “I can take back my yes.”

A grin spread across his face. “No, I’m good. Does six work? I heard your office is open until six.”

The fact that he knew when my office closed was a little disconcerting, but for all I knew, he was interested in having some landscaping done. “Okay. Six.”

My stomach dropped to the floor with nerves. I was going on a date. I felt more nervous than excited. Was that normal? “Do you need directions to my office?”

“Nope. I know where it is.”