Cassidy Tate and not noticed.
“You and your partner own the architectural firm at the end of Dragon.”
Her quick confirmation surprised him. “We do.”
Her smile broadened, a slight hint of mischief evident. “I have two female partners in my business. It hasn’t escaped our landlady’s notice that some single male and female shop owners are only separated by a few blocks.”
“So that’s why my partner, Max, came back complaining after the last community leaders meeting.”
“My partner Violet came back hot to trot about the same thing.”
Tucker glanced up at the wide windows. “Let’s hope this wasn’t quite what your landlady had in mind to get us introduced to each other.”
Cassidy gestured toward the door, her smile fading as she neared the destruction once more. “I suspect it wasn’t.”
“Come on, then. Where’s your alarm keypad? Or will you need to get across that mess to disarm it?”
“Oh, no.”
If possible, her pale, ethereal features turned whiter as her eyes widened until they threatened to fill up most of her face. “We never got a call. Whoever did this disarmed the system.”
* * *
Cassidy swallowed past the renewed lump of panic that tightened her throat. The initial shock of seeing the showroom floor had faded and all that remained was a sick ball of lead that seemed to grow by the second in the pit of her stomach. She raced toward the small keypad inside the door and saw the bright green lights indicating it was disarmed.
“How?”
Had she forgotten to turn on the alarm last night before leaving? She’d been the last to head home; Violet had been out on a date and Lilah on a delivery in a northern suburb. A tight weight settled on her chest and she struggled to calm and regulate her breathing.
The destruction was even worse than she’d originally thought, yet another swift reminder that whoever had been here had meant business. Several delicate chairs, designed for those waiting to fuss over a bride-to-be, were scattered on their sides, and a wall rack of gowns lay on the floor. Since she’d done a few chin-ups on that bar to confirm it was solidly attached to the wall, it must have been pulled down with considerable force.
Her gaze caught on a large pool of shattered glass—the remains of a small crystal bowl she used to keep pins in for alterations—and that small act of destruction penetrated her panic. With one hand on Tucker’s arm, she reached past him to grab Bailey’s collar. “He’s going to get something in his paws. Stay here and I’ll get something to gate him up.”
Tucker’s easygoing, friendly manner from the street had vanished the moment they walked through the door. “You stay here and tell me what to look for.”
Her hand tingled where she touched his arm, and she snatched it away as if singed, using the momentum to point toward the far end of the showroom. “I’ve got a baby gate in the back storeroom, just inside the door. We use it every so often for guests.”
“Be right back.”
She watched him move, the tight outline of his butt evident just beneath the hem of his gray T-shirt. A large outline of a dragon filled the material over his back, and she watched, fascinated, as it rippled with his movement. The words Dragon Designs spanned the width of his shoulders.
This was the last moment she should be noticing her rangy neighbor with the broad shoulders, but that subtle spark of interest went a long way toward making her feel a bit more settled.
More normal.
It was normal to feel a subtle flutter of attraction for an attractive man. It was not normal to walk into one’s store and find it burgled and destroyed.
Bailey—momentarily forgotten next to her—nudged her knee as he sat down.
Dropping to a crouch, she pulled him close, her hand still wrapped in his collar while she stroked his short, brindled fur with her free hand. “You’re a sweet boy.”
His tongue lolled once more as his solemn brown eyes roamed over her face.
A protector.
The word flitted through her mind, swift and immediate, and she somehow knew Bailey had a lot in common with his owner.
“He likes you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” She glanced up to see Tucker heading her way with the baby gate. “I’ve got a small dressing area over here, and we can put him in one of the rooms.”
“First time you’ve had a dog in your dressing room, I’d wager.”
“Only if you don’t count the handbag dogs several society matrons have carried in here. Oh, or the cheating fiancé I caught in there with a bridesmaid a few months back.”
Tucker’s eyes widened as he leaned over and took Bailey’s collar in hand. “Seriously?”
“There’s something amorous about the smell of tulle, I’m told.”
Confusion stamped itself in the depths of his brown eyes, and she put him out of his misery. “Sorry. Bad wedding joke. But you would be surprised what I’ve caught people doing in here.”
“In a dress shop?”
“Yep. Something about the thought of happy ever after seems to bring out the strangest reactions in people. Sex. Fights. Makeup sex. My partner Lilah has had it worse, I think. She caught a couple in her kitchen having sex with a vat of icing.”
Tucker fastened the baby gate to the fitting-room door and patted a whining Bailey on the head. “Sounds like a break-in is the least of your problems.”
The reminder of what had happened hit her with swift fists, and Cassidy let her gaze roam around the room. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“I’m sorry. Really sorry. That was insensitive. Come on, let’s take a look. The damage in the back doesn’t look nearly so bad and I did a quick look around when I got the gate. No one’s here.”
She let out her first easy breath and followed him toward the back of the store.
“You mentioned your partners but I don’t see their stuff.”
Cassidy kicked a seed pearl with the toe of her shoe, the small bead tinkling as it lightly skimmed the floor. “Violet uses an office in the back next to my studio, and Lilah’s store is technically next door, even though it’s the same building. We keep her kitchen officially separate.”
“Health codes?”
“Yep.”
“Or should I say, health codes so long as no one’s having sex in there.”
“Pretty much.”
He halted in front of a large rack of wedding dresses.
