Energized (32 page)

Relief at the thought evaporated.

Where there's a cub, there's a mama bear somewhere. Dev couldn't just lie there; he needed to protect his vital organs before the animal figured out he was still warm enough to chew on. He rolled onto his side and into a ball, protecting his head, face, arms, and torso.

The bear seemed to tighten its hold on him. Its breath coming hot and nose hair curling against Dev's ear.

He was going to be eaten by a bear in the middle of this damned street while everyone in Elkridge was out to lunch. Trying to curl more tightly, he elbowed the beast in a front leg. It yelped.

Wait. Bears don't yelp. Plus, it wasn't trying to bite him. No, it was pawing at his arms, not painfully.
Playfully?

A long, wet tongue slid across his hair, his ear, his
cheek.
And that growl he heard was followed by a deep
woof
. A dog, he was pinned by a dog. A great bear of a dog, but definitely the canine species as opposed to the Ursus americanus.

Dev slowly turned onto his back, then drew his arms away from his face only to throw them up again when a slobbery tongue swiped from one cheek across his nose to the other. “Ugh. Serious dog breath. You need a breath mint, Fido.”

Shifting onto his side, he attempted to scoot out from beneath the beast, but the dog took it as a game and began licking him in earnest down the neck of his suit. If he hadn't needed a shower before the dog knocked him down, between rolling on the cobblestone and the sloppy dog kisses, he certainly needed one now.

Hoping not to hurt the animal that was clearly looking for a playmate, Dev pushed at the beast's midsection in an effort to make a break for it. He'd barely touched the dog when someone yelled, “Stop it, you big bear! You'll hurt him.”

Okay, that wasn't the first time in his life he'd been called a bear. Still, the words stung his pride. The average person might consider him to be bearlike, due to his large size, but he wasn't an animal. He was a police detective. A cop. A friggin' hero.

Although, at the moment he was in the least heroic position. Ever.

“Hercules, stop before you hurt him. You bad puppy,” the voice said, closer now. “I'm really sorry about Hercules. Are you okay down there? Give me a minute. I've almost got his leash on him.”

Ah, Hercules was the
dog's
name. She was calling the dog a big bear.

The relief coursing through him at that knowledge was quickly overshadowed by a sickening realization. He knew that voice.

There was a distinctive clink of metal on metal and the dog was off him.

“I'm so sorry,” she said, then she laughed. The sound more exhalation of air than joy. “I'm really,
really
sorry. He doesn't normally do this. But I guess all creatures crave freedom, right? Are you . . . are you hurt?”

His gut shrank at her melodic voice. Now? She had to show up and see him covered in dog drool and muck, lying on the ground, pinned there by a playful bear-dog.

Maybe if I'm lucky, she won't recognize me beneath the slobber?

“Dev?” Her voice was closer now. He could feel her breath against his chin as she leaned down to look at him. “Is that you?”

“Uh . . . yeah.” Dev lay there for a moment. His arm still firmly over his eyes and his head throbbing. His luck was good for buckets of suck.

“Why, bless your heart. Devon Jones, it
is
you.” She sounded positively gleeful. “What are you doing down there?”

“Playing possum with Fido.” He tugged his arm away and blinked open his eyes. The starbursts were gone, but he'd have a nice knot on the back of his skull later. It was already coming up.

And there she was. Leaning over him, her hair a cloud of red curls around her face. Concern and confusion crowded into her sapphire-blue eyes. Her pink lips twitched. “Thank God, it was you Hercules tackled. How do you do it? You always manage to show up just when I need saving.”

If only that were
true.

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