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Then, froh-pitched bark And then another, which seemed to say, "Hurry up, lady I have to pee!"

Ah, hell In for a penny…Grace opened the front door and peered inside

The living roo as the outside of the house Wide-open spaces, done in dark masculine wood and neutral colors The furniture was oversized and sparse on the beautiful, scarred hardwood floors An entire wall of s faced the late summer sky and Pacific Ocean

As Grace stepped inside, the barking increased in volu She followed the sounds to a huge, state-of-the-art kitchen that made her wish she kne to cook beyond the basics of soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches Just past the kitchen was a laundry rooate

On the other side of the gate was a baby pig

A baby pig that barked

Okay, not a pig at all, but one of those dogs whose faces looked smashed in The tiny body was ed-out eyes and a tongue that lolled out the side of its mouth It looked like an ani for her, trying to impress and charm its way out of lockup

"Hi," she said to him Her? Hard to tell since its parts were so low as to scrape the ground along with its belly

The thing snorted and huffed in joyous deliriu up and down like a Mexican jelly bean

"Oh, there’s no need for all that," Grace said, and opened the gate

Mistake nu/alien streaked past her with astounding speed and proht

"Hey," she called "Slon"

But it didn’t, and , those stuht as ittheory Also, the sex lily bits

It--he--ran circles around the couch, barking withhoas that she had ht to ask the na outside to walk"

The puppy dashed past her like lightning

Daed direction and followed hiinary threat around the gorgeous dark wood kitchen table that indeed had tenty-dollar bills lying on the s to see why the job paid so much

She retraced her steps to the laundry roo on the doorknob above the gate Perfect The collar was a hed out loud, then searched for Tank Turned out, Tank had worn off the excess energy and was up against the front door, panting

"Good boy," Grace cooed, and caood boy"

He smiled at her

Aw See? she told herself Co to be a piece of cake She was stillthis job when right there on the foyer floor, Tank squatted, hunched, and--

"No!" she cried "Oh no, not inside!" She fu mid-poo He ran a few feet away froain He was quicker this ti there, mouth open in shock and horror as little Tank took a dainty step away fros on the wood like a h, trotted right out the front door like royalty

Grace staggered after hi from the unholy smell "Tank! Tank, wait!"

Tank didn’t wait Apparently feeling ten pounds lighter, he raced across the front yard and the street He hit the beach, his little legs puazelle as he practically flew across the sand, heading straight for the water

"Oh, God," she cried "No, Tank, no!"

But Tank dived into the first wave and vanished

Grace dropped the purse off her shoulder and let it fall to the sand "Tank!"

She dashed closer to the water A wave hit her at hip level, knocking her back a step as she frantically searched for a bobbing head

Nothing The little guy had coht before her eyes

The next wave hit her at chest height Again she staggered back, gasping at the shock of the water as she searched frantically for a little black head

Wave nuht over the top of her She ca, shook her head to clear it, then dived beneath the surface, desperate to find the puppy

Nothing

Finally, she was forced to crawl out of the water and admit defeat She pulled her phone from her purse and swore because it’d turned itself off Probably because she kept dropping it

Or tossing it to the rocky beach to look for drowning puppies

She powered the phone on, gnawed on her lower lip, then called the man who’d trusted her to "be on ti, throat tight, she waited until he picked up

"Dr Scott," came the low, deep male voice

Dr Scott Dr Scott?

"Hello?" he said "Anyone there?"

Oh, God This was bad Very bad Because she knew him

Well, okay, not really She’d seen hiood friends with Mallory’s and Amy’s boyfriends Dr Joshua Scott was thirty-four--which she knew because Mallory had given him thirty-four chocolate cupcakes on his birthday last uy, built for football more than the ER, but he’d chosen the latter Even in his wrinkled scrubs after a long day at work, his dark hair tousled and his darker eyes lined with exhaustion, he was drop-dead sexy The few tiazes had locked, the air had snapped, crackled, and popped with a tension she hadn’t felt with a

And she’d just killed his puppy

"U walker" She choked down a horrified sob and forced herself to continue, to give hiht have just lost your puppy"

There was a single beat of stunned silence