Connor grasped her hand in his. She was surprised when she felt a tingle of electricity pass between them.

"It's my pleasure," he said.

Risa noticed he still had the slight dimple on his chin and those deep sapphire-blue eyes. She quickly withdrew her hand and looked out into the hallway.

"You're alone?" She had expected him to travel with a group of "yes"' men.

"Yep." He gave a slight nod.

Risa noticed his eyes stray down to her chest. She felt a burst of angry indignation until her gaze followed his and she realized he wasn't staring at her ample breasts but at the ketchup stain she had strategically placed on her shirt.

Bailey chose that moment to dart out from behind the desk. Risa felt a jolt of panic, but instead of growling at Connor, Bailey padded over, happily sniffing at his pants.

Risa had to work to keep her mouth from falling open when Connor bent down to gently pet the dog. She wasn't sure what surprised her more: the fact that Connor liked dogs or the fact that Bailey liked Connor.

Was she overreacting to this whole acquisition? Surely anyone who liked dogs would want to keep the pet-friendly perks in place. Maybe her worries about losing the company culture she had fostered were all for nothing.

"You allow pets in the office?" Connor looked up from petting Bailey, his forehead creased in a frown.

Any thoughts she had about how things might work out after all were crushed when she heard his disapproving tone. She straightened her back. "Yes, it's a benefit we feel helps to retain employees and keep them happy."

Connor raised one eyebrow and shook his head. Straightening back up, he brushed dog hair from his pants.

"Well, shall we get on with the tour?" he asked.

"Yes. I'll show you around the offices and the clinic today. Later this week I've scheduled some time with Dana in the lab so she can go over our product testing and production process."

Risa looked down at Bailey who was shifting her eyes from Risa to Connor. "Bailey, stay." She pointed to the desk, and the dog obediently trotted over, flopping down underneath it.

Connor stepped aside. Putting his arm out, he motioned for Risa to go through the door first.

She slid through the door into the hallway, taking care not to pass too close to Connor who looked amused at her obvious avoidance. She cleared the door then looked back over her shoulder at him.

"This way." She nodded her head toward the hallway. Connor fell in beside her.

Risa brought him down the various hallways, pointing out the different departments that made up Healthy-Pet and introducing him to some of the people who happened to be in their offices. The company was very small with only thirty-seven employees so the tour didn't take long.

"It seems pretty informal around here," Connor said.

Risa figured he was referring to the casual dress and flexible schedules. "Yes, we find people work better when they are comfortable." Another thing the big corporation will probably change.

She felt her stomach getting heavier as they got closer to their final destination: the clinic. The clinic was her pride and joy-her passion. It was also the biggest reason why she opposed the acquisition.

Risa stopped in front of the glass doors. "In here is the clinic."

She held the door open for Connor, and they both stepped into the small waiting room.

The room was sparsely furnished. Plastic chairs lined one wall. Shelves with Healthy-Pet products lined another. A U-shaped receptionist desk stood in the middle. A woman with a German shepherd mix sat quietly in one of the chairs.

"What exactly does the clinic do?" Connor asked.

"We provide low-cost pet services to the community: vaccinations, exams even operations and medications. Some of these people wouldn't be able to afford to care for their pets if it weren't for us." Risa felt a swell of pride as she thought about all the animals that had been given a second chance at life because of the clinic and her efforts.

Connor stroked his chin. "Is it profitable?"

Risa felt her stomach clench. She was afraid he was going to ask that. "Well, not directly. But our customers help spread brand loyalty and they do buy our pet foods and supplements." She indicated the shelves.

"But surely the cost of veterinary care, medicine, and operations must be a drain on the company financials."

Risa could almost see the wheels in Connor's brain turning, trying to calculate how much the clinic cost them with no thought to the good it did.

"Well, it's not that expensive, we do have people who volunteer their time and we get a discount on the supplies," she offered.

"I guess we'll let the accounting sheets tell us whether this is a drain on the company or not." The cold, calculating tone of Connor's voice turned Risa's heart to stone.

A drain on the company?

Risa felt her cheeks burn with anger. She'd be damned if she'd stand idly by and watch all her hard work be ruined by corporate greed from a company that only cared about the bottom line.

Connor glanced at his watch. "I have some personal matters to tend to this afternoon, but tomorrow I'd like to get my accounting expert in here to start looking at the financials. Let's say we meet around ten o'clock?"

Risa bit back the angry words she had been forming and nodded. Much better to play along.

"OK, then." Connor stuck out his hand. "It was nice to see you after all these years. My car is parked outside in the lot there so I'll just be on my way."

Risa quickly shook his hand and muttered a good-bye. She bit her bottom lip as she watched him retreat to the parking lot. It was clear that Connor Dunn was a strict numbers man and the only way to get him to disapprove of the acquisition was to prove to him the company was a bad risk financially. Her messy office and straggly appearance wasn't going to do the trick on its own.

The problem was that the company was actually doing quite well financially. Risa felt her heart pound in her chest as she realized what she was going to have to do in order to make the finances appear unattractive.

Luckily she had someone in accounting who owed her a big favor. She just hoped cashing in on that favor wouldn't backfire and expose the little secret they'd been keeping.

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Brownies, Bodies and Bad Guys.

Leighann Dobbs.

Something In Red.

Snow White and the Seven Rogues.

Chapter One.

Lexy sat at one of the cafe tables next to the picture window in her bakery, The Cup and Cake, admiring how the princess cut center stone of her engagement ring sparkled in the midmorning sunlight. She sighed with contentment, holding her hand up and turning the ring this way and that as she marveled at the rainbow of colors that emerged when it caught the light at different angles.

Her thoughts drifted to her fiance, Jack Perillo. Tall, hunky and handsome, her heart still skipped a beat when he walked in the room even though they'd been dating for over a year. Lexy had met Jack, a police detective in their small town, when she'd been accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend. She'd been proven innocent, of course, and she and Jack had been seeing each other ever since. And now they were getting married.

Movement on the other side of the street caught her attention, pulling her away from her thoughts. Her eyes widened in surprise-it was Jack! What was he doing here?

Lexy felt a zing in her stomach. Jack wasn't alone. Lexy's eyes narrowed as she craned her neck to get a better look. He was with a woman. A tall, leggy blonde who was clinging to him like tissue paper clings to panty hose.

Lexy stood up pressing closer to the window, her joy in the ring all but forgotten. Her heart constricted when she saw how the leggy blonde was pawing at Jack, giggling up into his face. Who the hell was she? They looked very familiar with each other. Clearly Jack knew her ... and it seemed he knew her well.

Jack and the blonde started to walk down the street, out of view. Lexy pushed herself away from the window, stumbling over a chair in her haste to get to the doorway. She spun around, righting the chair, then turned, sprinting toward the door.

She reached out for the handle, jerking back in surprise as the door came racing toward her, almost smacking her in the face.

Standing in the doorway was her grandmother, Mona Baker, or Nans as Lexy called her. But instead of her usual cheery appearance, Nans looked distraught. Lexy could see lines of anxiety creasing her face and her normally sparkly green eyes were dark with worry.

Lexy's stomach sank. "Nans, what's the matter?"

"Lexy, come quick," Nans said, putting her hand on Lexy's elbow and dragging her out the door. "Ruth's been arrested!"

"Arrested? For what?" Lexy asked, as Nans propelled her down the street toward her car.

"Nunzio Bartolli was found dead. They think Ruth might have something to do with it!"

Lexy wrinkled her brow. Ruth was one of Nans's best friends. They both lived at the retirement center in town and along with two of their other friends, Ida and Helen, they amused themselves by playing amateur detective solving various crimes and mysteries. The older women were full of spunk and could be a handful, but Lexy had a hard time believing any of them would be involved in a murder. They thrived on solving murders, not committing them.

"What? How would Ruth even know him?" Lexy opened the door to her VW beetle and slipped into the driver's seat as Nans buckled up in the passenger seat.

"Nunzio was a resident at the Brook Ridge Retirement Center."

Lexy raised her brows. "He was? I heard he had ties to organized crime."

"Well, I don't know about that. He seemed like a nice man." Nans shrugged, then waved her hand. "Now let's get a move on!"

Lexy pulled out into the street, glancing over at the area where she had seen Jack. She slowed down as she drove by, craning her neck to look down the side street where she thought they had gone, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Can you speed it up? Ruth needs us." Nans fidgeted in the passenger seat.

"Right. Sorry." Lexy felt a pang of guilt. Of course, helping Ruth was more important than finding out what Jack was up to. It was probably nothing but her overactive imagination anyway. Lexy decided to push the leggy blonde from her mind and focus on Ruth.

"So what happened?"

"I'm not really sure. Ida said the police knocked on Ruth's door early this morning and took her in," Nans said, then turned sharply in her seat. "We should call Jack and see if he can help her. Why didn't I think of that before?"

Lexy's stomach clenched at the sound of her fiance's name. She wasn't sure if she wanted to call Jack right now, especially with the image of him and the blonde fresh in her mind. Should she confront him or let it slide?

If it was innocent, which it probably was, she'd just make a fool out of herself by confronting him. It was probably a good idea to let some time pass before she talked to him. Lexy was afraid her impulsive nature might cause her to blurt something out she might regret later.

"Hopefully, he'll be at the station. I should call Cassie back at the bakery though, and tell her I've gone out for a while. She'll probably be wondering where I disappeared to." Lexy picked up her cell phone just as she pulled into the parking lot at the police station.

Nans jumped out of the car before she even had it in park. "I'll see you in there."

Lexy watched in amusement as the sprightly older woman sprinted into the station, her giant purse dangling from her arm. She felt sorry for any officer that might try to prevent her grandmother from seeing Ruth.

She made a quick call to Cassie, letting her know where she was and that she'd fill her in later. Then she made her way into the lobby behind Nans.

Nans was talking to Jack's partner, police detective John Darling, who nodded at Lexy as she joined them.

"Ruth isn't arrested!" Nans smiled at Lexy.

Lexy raised an eyebrow at John.

"We just had her in for questioning," John explained.

"Why?"

John rubbed his chin with his hand. "We found her fingerprints and some of her personal effects in Nunzio Bartolli's condo."

Nans gasped. "What? How would those get in there?"

John winked, pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning against. "You'll have to ask Ruth that."

Lexy stared after him as he walked over to the reception desk, his long curly hair hung in a ponytail down his back which swung to the side as he leaned his tall frame over the counter to look at something on the computer. "Actually, she's free to go now. I'll bring her out here if you guys want."

"Please do," Nans said, then turned to Lexy. "Isn't that wonderful? I was so worried."

Lexy nodded as she watched John disappear through the door that led to the offices inside the station. John and her assistant Cassie had been married this past spring and she'd gotten to know him fairly well. She wondered if she should ask him if he knew anything about the blonde she had seen Jack with but didn't want to seem like she was prying into Jack's business.

Lexy shook her head. She needed to stop thinking about the blonde. She trusted Jack. They were getting married, for crying out loud, and she didn't want to be one of those wives who kept her husband on a short leash. The best thing for her to do was to forget all about it.

The door opened and Ruth came out. Nans rushed over giving her a hug. Lexy felt her shoulders relax, relieved that Ruth wasn't in trouble.

"Oh, thanks for coming," Ruth said to Nans and Lexy.

"No problem," Lexy said. "Shall we go? I can drive you guys back to the retirement center, if you want."

"That would be wonderful," Nans said as the three of them made their way to the door. Lexy held it open for the two older women, then followed them out into the summer sunshine.

Ruth breathed in a deep breath of fresh air. "It's good to be outside. For a while there I was a little worried I might be spending my golden years in a cell."