He didn’t need to. Her hips telegraphed every beat.
Sydney’s office at the Saint Agnes Fresh Start shelter for women in lower D.C. was the size of a broom closet but that didn’t stop her from spinning and grinding to the song like a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. The girl had moves…moves no one at St. Agnes would ever see since she only danced in private.
A damn shame, if you asked him.
“St. Agnes, the saint of chastity.” Grey snorted and recalled his mother’s fascination with all the female saints. “The founder of Fresh Start must have had one serious dose of wishful thinking to name it after her.”
As Grey continued to watch, Sydney spun, wiggled and hopped around her desk, grabbing a drab army green stapler and using it as a microphone. She pirouetted a couple of times, coming to a breathless stop in front of the window. Her cheeks were flushed and a smile lifted the corners of her mouth as her chest heaved from the exercise.
Killer, that smile. Another thing no one inside or out of Fresh Start saw much.
Through the scope, Grey ignored the way Sydney’s cleavage yelled look at me over the top of her black tank. Instead, he zoomed in on her face, that smile. Smooth skin, a smattering of freckles, tendrils of hair teasing her neck where they’d escaped the ponytail.
So young.
Not so innocent.
She was twenty-five, but could have passed for eighteen. Young, pretty, smart…the all-American poster girl for the other women who populated the charity. Sydney sent the unspoken message that even if life screwed you over, you could still make something out of yourself.
Hell, different place, different sitch, he would’ve hit her up for a date. Two screw-ups taking on the world…or at least each other. Great for a short-term fling. Not so much for a real relationship.
And a real relationship was out of the question. At least for him. Women loved an FBI agent. What they didn’t love was a former agent who’d been fired for insubordination.
But if he did this off-the-books job for the Bureau, and did it right, he might just get his badge back. All he wanted—his entire future—rested on the shoulders of the woman in the Burris scope’s sight.
Romantic suspense books available by Adrienne Giordano
The Private Protectors series
Risking Trust
Man Law
A Just Deception
Relentless Pursuit
Opposing Forces
Negotiating Point (novella)
Justifiable Cause series
The Chase (novella)
Acknowledgments
To my dear friends, John, Mara and Josh Leach and Cindy and Kevin Palmer, thank you for allowing me to use your beloved (and hilarious) dogs as characters. Otis, Josie and Fannie made this book a joy to write.
A huge thank you to Dianna Love for her continuous generosity and support. You’re the best! Thank you also to my critique partners, Kelsey Browning, Theresa Stevens, Tracey Devlyn and L J Charles for your constant patience while doing revisions. Frankie and Lucie have finally made their debut and you were all a part of it. Thanks also to Amy Atwell for the early critiques and fantastic title suggestion. Milton Grasle, thank you once again for helping me brainstorm an action scene. Margie Lawson, your input on this story helped me get it ready for publication and I’m grateful for all you’ve taught me. Thank you also to Tricia Leigh Wood, Courtney Kaul, Heather Long, Nikki Duncan and Peg Colyar for all the laughs and great suggestions. Gina Bernal, thank you for always making the editing process a joy. To Judy Beatty, thank you for turning copy edits around so quickly!
I also owe a huge thanks to Kim Killion who somehow crawled inside my brain and gave me the exact cover I wanted.
Finally, to my husband and son for always making me laugh and giving me a daily reminder of what a wonderful gift love is. And, of course, I must thank Buddy the Wheaten “Terrorist” Terrier, who gives me unconditional love and a stream of great material to use in my stories.
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and mystery. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog and Lady Jane’s Salon-Naperville, a reading series dedicated to romantic fiction.
For more information on Adrienne’s books, please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com or download the Adrienne Giordano app. Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano. For information on Adrienne’s street team, Dangerous Darlings, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/dangerousdarlings.
Dog Collar Crime
Copyright © 2013 by Adrienne Giordano
ISBN: 978-0-9888939-2-4
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The reverse engineering, uploading, and/or distributing of this eBook via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Sneak Peek—Stealing Justice
Romantic suspense books by Adrienne Giordano
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
1 Dog Collar Crime Page 25
