Everything else ceased to exist. Every muscle tensed and his eyes were riveted on the poor, unsuspecting creature. Anticipating he would run after it, Maggie stopped and braced herself, but once Tanner made up his mind and took off, she wasn’t strong enough to stop him. She’d wrapped the leash around her wrist to be able to hold on tighter, but that only made it harder to let go when she realized she couldn’t hold him back.
When all was said and done, she was face down, spread-eagle on the pavement, hands and knees seeping blood. The slit in her skirt had torn another two inches and was now halfway up her thigh. The little pugs licked her face, while Boxer sat, staring intently, wondering if she would get up. Tanner had scared off the squirrel and come back of his own volition. At least she wouldn’t have to chase him down. Thank God for small miracles. As she struggled to her feet, pulling her skirt down, she looked up in time to see Tanner squatting to do his business,again! Right in front of two ofNew York City’s finest. And by finest, she meant, dang—those were two good-looking men. Had they seen her fall? She hoped not, but there was no way to be sure.
CHAPTER FIVE
Mitch and Adam rounded the corner and stopped abruptly. They hadn’t been speaking, which was just as well since what they witnessed left them speechless. Before them, laid out on the pavement, was what appeared to be a well-dressed dog walker. Long, shiny, brown hair covered her face, but the view farther south was almost entirelyuncovered. She was face down, which gave them a privileged view of a tight, round ass and a couple of tanned, toned legs still in a pair of black, sky-high, hooker heels. Hot! They watched, fascinated, as she struggled to get up. Adam finally snapped out of his stupor enough to lamely assist her. He reached down and picked up the big dog’s leash. The other three weren’t going anywhere.
“This your dog?” Mitch said, breaking the awkward silence.
She had finally righted herself, gathered the other dogs, and was slowly making her way over to them, limping slightly. “Yes, officers. I’m so sorry, I—”
“Do you know it’s illegal not to have your dog on a leash?”
“Well, I…yes, of course, I know that. Obviously, he’s on a leash, he just got away from me.”
“And I’m sure you have a way to pickthatup?” He glanced down at Maggie’s empty hands, then tilted his head toward the pile of waste Tanner had left in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Again, Tanner?” she muttered. She explained that the pet shop was only a few doors down and claimed she could be there and back in a jiffy. Mitch pulled out his ticket book and grabbed a pen from his breast pocket.
Adam intervened. “Hey, why don’t you run and get whatever you need to take care of that. We’ll wait here and make sure no one steps in it.”
The fancy dog walker snatched up all four leashes and hobbled off toward the shop as fast as her four-inch heels would allow. As Mitch watched her walk away, he noticed her ass looked just as great vertically as it did horizontally. After a few seconds of admiring the view, he turned back to Adam.
“What the hell, dude? I was going to write her up.” He scowled.
“Yes, I can see that. Don’t you think you’re overreacting? The dog just got away from her, and she’s coming right back to pick up the crap.”
“Don’t care. Perhaps you let dogs run around and shit wherever they want in Boston, but here, in civilized New York City, we frown on that kind of thing.”
“What’s the matter with you? She’s cute. You should try flirting, or smiling, or just anything other than being a dick,” Adam said.
“Being a dick works for me, and I like clean sidewalks.”
“Oh, brother. Look, here she comes. Put your pen away and quit being an asshole.”
Mitch knew he should do exactly that but didn’t want the new guy thinking he could boss him around. Instead, he doubled down. As soon as she returned, he began asking for her information. “Name?”
“Margaret.” She stared incredulously at him.
“Fullname?” he glared back with equal determination.
“Margaret. Tucker.”
Getting the rest of her information was like pulling teeth. Date of birth, address, phone number. She stared in disbelief as he filled it all in.
“Seriously? You’re seriously going to write me up for this?”
“Yeah, dude. Seriously?” Adam piled on.
It was too late to change his mind now. He ripped off the Notice of Infraction and handed it to her. “Get this shit off my sidewalk.” He turned and started walking away.
“Oh, yes, sir. Right away, sir.” Her reply dripped with sarcasm—sassy little thing.
As he walked away, he heard Adam apologizing. “Sorry, Margaret. Officer MacDonald’s having a bad day. If you mark the box to contest the infraction and send it to the court, I’m sure the judge will throw it out. Good luck with those big dogs.”
***
Maggie watched as the two men walked away. Not a bad view, she decided. Too bad the younger one had such a chip on his shoulder. She glanced at the bottom of the ticket.Officer MacDonald.Jimmy’s old partner’s name was MacDonald. Everything she’d heard about Mitch MacDonald was great, though, so this must be some other guy. There were thousands of NYC police officers, probably several dozen named MacDonald. She definitely wouldn’t forget this guy.
