Page 1 of Armed ’N’ Ready

Chapter One

“No!” Andi cried. Too late.

Stray shook, sending suds flying. A fluffy white dollop of doggie shampoo hit her smack in the middle of her forehead. Uttering an exasperated sigh, she swiped it away. “If you don’t stop doing that, we’ll be here all day.”

Dark brown, soulful eyes stared up at her from a soggy face. Andi narrowed her eyes. “Don’t think I don’t see right through your tactics, young lady.” She pointed an admonishing finger. “You know I can’t stay mad at you, and you’re using that against m—”

A muffled thump came from somewhere in the house. She straightened and twisted her neck to look through the glass shower door into the master bedroom. Condensation blocked her view, so she cracked open the door, being careful not to let Stray escape. She held her breath, listening, but the only sounds were from the shower spray and Stray’s occasional disgruntled snort.

She gave a shake of her head. I’m imagining things.

After closing the door, she leaned over and squeezed another bead of shampoo across the dog’s spine. “Now, where were we?”

A shadow fell across the shower stall. Stray stiffened and growled.

Movement caught her eye, and she looked up just as the shower door flew open and whacked against the wall.

For less than a second, she froze. Then, she screamed.

She stumbled backward, flinging out her arms for balance. The bottle of dog shampoo fell from her hand, and her feet nearly skidded out from under her. Somehow, she remained upright and braced her back and palms against the cool tile wall. Beside her, Stray began barking at the top of her lungs.

Oh my God oh my God oh my God. This was like something out of a bad high school movie. A giant black dog with the biggest, longest teeth she’d ever seen, and a huge, hulking man were in her bathroom. And—holy shit—he’s pointing a gun at me.

Her heart hammered so hard against her rib cage, she could actually hear it above the pounding spray and the ferocious barking from the dogs. She sucked in quick breaths.

The hulk said something to his dog. In German? It stopped barking but still looked like it wanted to eat her alive. Stray didn’t understand German and kept barking and snarling.

The black shepherd’s lips curled back, giving her another look at those frighteningly sharp incisors. The man spoke, but with all the noise she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Her mind was too busy spinning with the implications of what was happening.

I’m trapped. He’s going to rape me. Then kill me. Stray, too.

Do something, idiot. Don’t go down without a fight.

She grabbed the bar of soap on the shower shelf.

“Pol—”

She hurled the soap at him. A large hand snapped it from midair and flung it behind him, where it made a thunk as it hit the wall.

Andi grabbed a bottle of shampoo and raised her arm to throw that at him, too.

“Police, dammit,” he shouted in an incredibly smooth, sinfully rich baritone. “Don’t even think of throwing that shampoo at me.”

“What?” She widened her eyes, sucking in deeper breaths while her heart beat madly. For the first time, she took in his clothes. His uniform. Blue with triangular patches on his chest and shoulders. Massachusetts State Police.

Piercing, deep-set, gunmetal gray eyes stared coldly at her from a face so hard it had to have been chiseled from rock. Her gaze traveled the length of him from head to toe, noting he was tall and with shoulders so wide they completely filled the shower door opening. Only then did she notice that, somewhere in the middle of all this, he’d put away his gun, the butt of which now stuck out of the holster on his belt.

The giant black German shepherd glowered up at her with glowing, satanic eyes, still looking as if it wanted to tear every square inch of flesh from her bones.

“What are you doing here?” she breathed between gasps, crouching to wrap her arms around Stray’s neck and chest. The last thing she wanted was a dog fight in her shower, one Stray would undoubtedly lose. “How did you get in? You have no right to be here.”

“Serving a search warrant, through the front door, and yes, I do have a right to be here.”

“Sarge, you okay?” another male voice said.

With his gaze locked on hers, he extended his arm, holding out his hand, palm facing whoever was about to enter the bathroom. “Stop.”

She caught brief glimpses of two other officers just outside the bathroom door, although she was somewhat protected from their view by the mist-covered shower glass and the hulking body standing directly in front of her. The house has to be crawling with cops.