She dredged up a credible smirk. "I guess if you had the name of the abuser, you'd go charging off in search of vengeance?"

For several seconds, Lucius just stared at her. Then he rubbed his face. "Yeah, something like that. And stop hara.s.sing me, d.a.m.n it. It's been a h.e.l.luva day." He waved a hand. "Or night. Whatever."

"Yelling and punching walls won't help to rea.s.sure him."

"Actually," Marci said, "he's more fascinated with Lucius's reaction than anything. But he also thinks you're both nuts, that's for sure."

Lucius looked down at the dog. The dog stared back, his face arrested in antic.i.p.ation. Bethany could almost swear the creature smiled. His long, skinny tail began thumping hard.

"He likes you," Marci told Lucius.

"Is that right?" Lucius crossed his arms over his chest. "Is that why he soiled ever inch of my floors?"

"Part excitement at the prospect of having a home, and part fear at being put back out. Plus he hadn't eaten in a while. His system is fragile." Chiding, she added, "You shouldn't have fed him so much."

"He was hungry, d.a.m.n it."

"I understand." Marci shared a look with Bethany, one that said, Isn't he wonderful?

Lucius saw that look, and for some reason, took exception to it. Furious again, he strode past them into his kitchen, rattled some drawers, returned with a hammer and screwdriver, and went to work on the closet door in the entryway.

Marci hugged the long-limbed dog closer. "There, you see? You're safe, baby. I promise."

"He's not a baby," Lucius said. "I named him Hero."

"Really?" Bethany walked over to lean on the wall and watch while Lucius used the hammer and screwdriver to tap the hinges apart. "How come?"

"He saved a woman today." Showing off those impressive biceps, he worked the door loose, hefted it onto a shoulder, and carried it over behind the couch, where he stowed it away out of sight.

Bethany followed him. "How's that?"

"He gave us the opportunity we needed." Lucius eyed the dog, who eyed him back with keen expectation. "'Course, then he proceeded to destroy my apartment. I've already cleaned no less than seven messes. Everything he eats comes right back out."

Bethany wrinkled her nose. "Lovely description. Thanks for sharing."

Marci said, "He couldn't help it."

Lucius sighed. "Yeah, I know." He crouched down in front of the dog and rubbed an ear. "All's forgiven, big guy."

The dog's tail started thumping again.

Charmed, Bethany said, "You should take him to a vet right away."

Lucius stretched back to his feet and turned to stand in front of her. He gave her all his attention, putting her temperature on the rise and making her toes curl. "Got one you recommend?"

Those words, accompanied by that look, didn't mesh. Bethany stared up into intense, glittering green eyes. Gorgeous, strong, heroic-and kind to animals.

He couldn't be real.

What he said finally registered. She cleared her throat. "So you plan to keep him?"

"Yep." He stared at her mouth.

Lucius could be tragic to her emotions at the best of times, and this was not the best of times. "I thought you had a no-pet policy for this place?"

Without seeming to move, he eased closer until the heat of him hugged around her. "I have a no-roommate policy, too, but you're here." And he added: "Again."

So she visited her sister often. They were close. Twins, for crying out loud. And this time, she wasn't just here for the fun of it.

But what did he care, anyway? Just because she sort of gave him a hard time whenever she came around didn't mean he should kick her out. Antagonizing him was her way of protecting her heart. Even if she didn't l.u.s.t after him, she'd still refuse to gush like the rest of the ladies in the building.

Chin raised, expression haughty, Bethany informed him, "I'm a sister, not a roommate. It's an entirely different thing."

"If we're getting specific, you're a pain in the a.s.s." His grin went crooked, removing any insult, and he reached out to pinch her elevated chin. "But I suppose, since you're Marci's twin, I'll try to tolerate you." He dropped his hand and walked off, whistling, to tackle another door.

Two.

With that parting remark, Lucius made his escape, putting much-needed distance between him and Bethany.

When he'd first bought the apartment building of six units, he hadn't figured on renting exclusively to women. Yet that's what he'd done. He'd surrounded himself with ladies.

Was he nuts? A m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t? Or too d.a.m.n partial to those of the feminine variety? Probably the latter. He did love women, all ages, all professions, all sizes and personalities.

Fellow cops ribbed him endlessly over his circ.u.mstances. They nicknamed him Sultan, which he supposed was better than Luscious. If they knew about the twins, he'd never hear the end of it, because they weren't just twins. They were really hot twins-and one of them currently wore only panties and a T-shirt.

But oddly enough, it was the other twin who had him twitchy in the pants.

The one with the smart mouth and quick wit.

The one with the att.i.tude.

And those big blue eyes...Of course, they both had pretty blue eyes. And silky, baby-fine brown hair. Lean bodies with understated curves. Soft, full mouths...

On Marci, he appreciated the beauty, just as he liked the scenery in the park. Nothing more.

On Bethany, the combination made him wild with l.u.s.t.

Lucius held his breath. If he didn't, he breathed her, and he couldn't deal with that on top of no sleep and a traumatized, newly adopted dog. Bethany smelled warm, and spicy, and she left his insides churning.

She also made it clear that she didn't want to get too cozy with him, and just as he loved women, he respected their decisions. Even when it pained him to do so.

Bringing the dog home had been a spur-of-the-moment decision prodded by some inner Good Samaritan heretofore unrecognized. Now, dead on his feet from exhaustion and, thanks to his eccentric neighbor's sister, tweaked by horniness, he...still didn't regret the decision.

One look at the dog and he knew he couldn't have done anything else. Hero deserved a cushy life. He deserved regular meals and pats of affection and security. No way could Lucius have left him behind, or dropped him at a shelter.

However, he could ignore Bethany. And he would. Somehow.

She only showed up about once a month. She'd stay a few days, and then take off again. Surely he could last that long.

But...this was August. And a school secretary probably didn't work during the summer. So how long would she be around this time? Long enough to make him completely insane?

He'd just gotten another closet door off the hinges when he sensed her presence. In his bedroom. Real close.

He stiffened-in more ways than one.

Without looking at her, Lucius asked, "What do you want, Bethany?" And he thought, say me, me, me. Tell me you want me, tell me- "I was thinking..."

"Yeah? About me?" He lowered the door and shoved it under his bed, then moved to stand right in front of her, as near as he dared without getting smacked. "I figured as much."

"No-"

"Don't fight it, Bethany." He tried to look serious, but the expression on her face made him want to laugh. She riled so easily. "It'll only make it harder on you." And harder on him, too.

"You are so-"

"What?" He made his tone intimate, provocative. "Tell me."

But she got distracted with a T-shirt he'd left wadded up on the mattress. As if he had cooties, she lifted it with her fingertips, raising it so she could read the front. "I only look sweet and innocent." She rolled her eyes. "Gawd, your shirts are so lame."

"It's true." Wishing he could drop on the bed the same way she just dropped that shirt, Lucius ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "On the inside, I'm all bad boy."

"Tell me something I don't know."

Dead serious, he said, "You're every bit as hot as your sister. Probably more so."

She froze.

"Given what you said earlier, I thought maybe you were unaware-"

"Be quiet!"

He grinned. Would it be as easy to get her going in bed?

Marci poked her head into the bedroom. She looked from one to the other, but settled on addressing Lucius. "I'm running back to my place to get showered and dressed."

"Okay." He made a concerted effort to keep his gaze on Marci's face and off her bare legs-legs he knew looked identical to Bethany's.

"Then I'll take Hero to the vet for you. I'm wide awake now, and you look exhausted."

"I'm fine," he lied. SWAT guys did not go around whining about exhaustion. They sucked it up and toughed it out.

"He's p.o.o.ped," Bethany said. "Look at the circles under his eyes."

He did not have circles. How dumb. "That's irritation, not weariness, smart-a.s.s."

"Ha!"

"Is that your answer to everything? I thought school secretaries were more articulate."

Marci crossed her arms, which plumped up her b.r.e.a.s.t.s-not that he noticed. "I'm a.s.suming that if Hero rescued a lady, you were in a high-risk situation?"

Lucius rolled one shoulder. "You could say that. But thanks to the dog, no one got hurt. He proved enough of a distraction that we saved a woman from having her throat sliced open."

Bethany gasped, reminding Lucius that b.l.o.o.d.y, brutal murders weren't everyday conversations in her world. After being a cop for fifteen years, ten of those years on the tactical unit, he'd grown accustomed to nerve-wracking experiences. The twins hadn't.

"She was kidnapped?"

"Not exactly. See, her son held her captive in her own home."

The women wore similar aghast expressions, putting Lucius at a loss for words. The dog came to his rescue by slinking in at that precise moment.

Again, Lucius crouched down. "Hey, boy. You feeling better now?"

Hero crept forward and b.u.t.ted his head into Lucius's side. Lucius stroked him, carefully because while the dog looked strong enough, he hadn't been treated well and Lucius didn't want to startle or alarm him. He'd rather take a beating himself than make Hero feel threatened.

Hero wallowed in the petting for about thirty seconds before leveling a cautious stare at the wide-open closet. He gave it a wide berth on his path toward...Lucius's bed.

Swallowing a groan, Lucius said softly, "No, he's not," with a touch of desperation. "He's not."

Marci said, "Shhh...He's finding his place."

"But please, not in my bed." Lucius pushed wearily to his feet. He needed sleep himself, d.a.m.n it.

Both ladies frowned at him, making him feel like an a.s.s. But he hadn't had a chance to bathe Hero yet and he sure as h.e.l.l didn't want to sleep with fleas.

With one agile leap, the dog landed in the middle of the mattress.

Lucius didn't say a single word, and still, worry etched heavy wrinkles on the dog's black face. He peered at Lucius, waiting, and Lucius caved. "Good dog."

Relieved, Hero circled, dropped, and groaned out a long sigh of bone-melting pleasure.

Lucius's heart turned over. "Well, h.e.l.l. I guess I can change the bedding after you leave with him."

Marci patted his arm. "You are such a good man, Sergeant Ryder."

Grinning, Lucius turned to her, and got the close-up view of her in that long T-shirt. Her eyes were shining, her mouth smiling, and she looked dead-on Bethany.

At least, he thought so until he actually looked at Bethany and caught her sour, pinched appearance of disapproval.

Just to push Bethany, he put his arm over Marci's shoulders. "You really won't mind taking him to the vet's for me? I want him checked out, any shots he needs, maybe a flea dip-"