“How would you feel if another man took Sarah out on a date?” Grady questioned sedately.
“I’d kill the bastard. She’s mine,” Dante growled. “Who is he?”
Grady grinned. “It was a hypothetical question. I haven’t seen her date anyone since she got to Amesport. And I just got my answer.”
Dante’s body had gone rigid and the little dog on his lap looked up at him in alarm, as though sensing he was pissed off. The tension in his body drained away, but he glared at Grady. “That wasn’t amusing.”
“I thought it was hilarious,” Jared drawled.
“You would,” Dante snarled at Jared.
“So what is Joe doing about catching Sarah’s attacker?” Grady asked, changing the subject.
“He’s done everything he can do,” Dante explained. “Nobody has sighted him.” Dante had made damn sure that the police were doing everything they could, but they couldn’t produce a suspect who was hiding out. “We just have to wait. I don’t think for a minute that he’s left the area. He’s biding his time, waiting for an opportunity.”
“Eventually, you may have to give him one or you’ll never catch him,” Jared said thoughtfully.
“No,” Dante said emphatically. “I’m not putting Sarah out there as bait.” He couldn’t stand the thought of her being in harm’s way. Joe had suggested the same thing, but Dante couldn’t stomach it.
“Is that what we need to do? I’ll do it.” Sarah’s voice was close. “I’d rather take the risk than live afraid forever.”
Dante’s head jerked to the right to look at her standing at the bottom of the stairs. “Not happening,” he insisted as his eyes devoured her. He gaped as he took in the minuscule dress she was wearing. It was a nautical blue-and-white-striped dress with a halter top and was fitted to her body like a glove. Her long, slender legs were revealed to her upper thighs. “New dress?” he croaked, his eyes narrowing as he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. In that dress, the halter bodice made it impossible for Sarah to wear one.
“Yes.” She smiled at him, turning in a circle so he could see the dress. “I love it. It’s so comfortable.”
Holy shit! “Where is the back of it?” Dante’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he noticed the dress was nearly backless, and it showed a large expanse of her creamy skin because it was cut clear down to the small of her back.
“It’s a summer dress. Emily said she really couldn’t notice my shoulder scars. Are they showing?” she asked nervously.
“No.” It wasn’t her scars he was worried about; it was exposing that slender, shapely body for every other man to ogle.
“Isn’t it cute?” Emily exclaimed as she and Randi came down the stairs and stood next to Sarah.
Dante broke out in a sweat and his cock came to immediate attention as Sarah slowly walked into the room. God, she was beautiful. He was hard-pressed not to grab the blanket from the back of the couch and cover her up, but the last thing he wanted to do was squelch her newfound confidence with uncovering her scars.
“Are all of the clothes like this?” Dante looked at Emily desperately as he spoke.
Emily smiled brightly. “A lot of them. The styles this year look fantastic on her. She’s so tall and elegant.”
“Oh, fuck, I’m screwed,” Dante blurted out, his voice pained.
He heard the sound of Grady’s laughter as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch with a tortured groan.
CHAPTER 11
“Honey, Beatrice and I are both feeling so much better. I guess we didn’t have food poisoning after all.” Elsie Renfrew looked Sarah right in the eyes and lied to her.
Sarah looked at the two gray-haired women sitting in her exam room and bit her lip to keep from laughing. Beatrice and Elsie had made an emergency appointment, the so-called emergency obviously being that their curiosity was killing them.
She’d realized it was a sham almost from the moment the two of them had come into her exam room together with guilty expressions. Both of them looked rosy from the afternoon heat, but neither one of them looked the least bit under the weather.
“No more stomach pains?” Sarah asked calmly.
The two ladies shook their gray heads at the same time.
“No more nausea?”
They kept shaking their heads as they shot beaming smiles at Sarah.
Sarah closed their patient charts and put them on the cupboard. “Okay, ladies . . . what are your questions? You two are horrible charlatans. I was worried when I heard that both of you were sick.” She gave them what she hoped was an admonishing look, but it was difficult when they were smiling up at her so innocently. Sarah knew better, but it was hard to lecture two elderly women.