I'll Be Seeing You. Beverly Bird

that…that thing, ready to shoot somebody.”

      He looked at her sharply. “What job tonight?”

      Kate bit her tongue. It wasn’t time for that particular battle.

      “Hello?” came a female voice through the door. “Katie, are you in there?”

      Relief flooded Kate. It was Shawna, her old roommate.

      She swept past him, and Raphael put an arm out to stop her. She ducked under it neatly, or maybe he just hadn’t acted quickly enough. He felt a little off balance.

      He frowned after her as she rushed to the door. At the sound of the voice from outside, her features went soft with happiness. Her mouth seemed fuller when she smiled. That single dimple came back, winking at him. Raphael realized with a jolt that when she was relaxed, she wasn’t just pretty. She was knee-buckling appealing. He noticed that her turtleneck clung to small but uplifted breasts and her braided belt nipped a waist that his hands could probably span. She’d done something to her hair while he was in the shower, taming it off her forehead with a headband. Near-black curls fell to her shoulders.

      He stared at it, wondering if he might like it better wild.

      Then she threw the door wide and his heart caromed into his throat. He’d been standing there like a fool, staring at her, feeling as though he was seeing her for the first time. He wasn’t ready for whatever might happen in the instant the caller had access to her apartment. But it was only a woman.

      With a dog.

      Kate made one of her strangling sounds.

      “Good morning,” Shawna said brightly, stepping inside. “Look who I found barking downstairs in the lobby! Isn’t this wild? Belle came home. She’s back!” Then her gaze fell on Raphael, and her eyes widened. “Who are you?”

      “Uh…Rafe Monteil. PPD.”

      The woman, a beauty with thick blond hair and warm brown eyes, shifted the dog to her left arm so she could hold her right hand out to him. “I’m Shawnalee Marsden.” Raphael shook the woman’s hand, careful not to get too close to the animal. It growled a little and showed its teeth.

      “It’s that dog,” Kate said faintly.

      “What dog?” Then Raphael understood. “The one from last night?”

      Shawna looked at Kate. “You knew Belle was back and you didn’t tell me?”

      Kate didn’t answer. She felt faint. Belle? Then Shawna thrust her face up close to hers.

      “Do you have makeup on?” Shawna demanded.

      “I—”

      “You do. You never wear makeup to work.”

      Kate flicked a gaze at Raphael and considered dying on the spot. Whatever had possessed her to put on lipstick and blush while he was in the shower? She wasn’t trying to entice him, though that was how Shawna made it sound. But she wasn’t without her share of vanity. She’d just wanted to be…presentable.