Sweet Reward Read Online Free PDF Page B

a dog and a cat. He didn’t remember sneezing around them. But since that relationship, like so many others, had lasted only a few weeks, his exposure to her pets had been minimal.
    And as much as he’d longed for one as a kid, having a pet had been impossible. Foster homes and orphanages didn’t exactly provide for those kinds of comforts.
    “Come on in and have a seat. Won’t take me but a few minutes to whip up something.”
    Still feeling off-kilter, Jared found himself sitting on the sofa, along with two of Mia’s dogs: a small white longhaired creature and a small brown scruffy-looking one with only one eye. Something touched his leg, and he looked down to see a large tiger-striped cat about to wind itself around him.
    “That’s Tiger-Lily. Don’t worry, her bark is worse than her bite.”
    Before he could think of anything appropriate to say, she winked at him and disappeared from the room.
    Mia hurriedly put the meal together, figuring she had only a small amount of time before the bemused expression on Jared’s face turned back into a dark thundercloud. She knew she had thrown him for a loop. Didn’t take a mind reader to see he wasn’t used to the whole domestic scene. Besides, she was acquainted with more than her share of grim-faced, testosterone-driven men. Not only didshe work with some of the toughest men in the business, she knew many LCR operatives. And before he’d married Samara, Noah McCall had worn an almost identical dark expression.
    She turned on the broiler and then pulled the marinated pork chops from the fridge, along with extra marinade and the veggies she’d cut up before leaving for work this morning. She prepared the chops quickly and placed them under the broiler. Having guests for dinner was a weekly event for Mia. A couple of extra chops was no big deal.
    Before putting on the veggies, she pulled out a specially designed kitchen drawer. The instant she did, five four-legged creatures came skidding into the kitchen; Tiger-Lily walked sedately in behind them. The sound of the drawer opening was their cue that their dinner was on the way.
    With the efficiency she was known for, she prepared five bowls of dog food and one small bowl of cat food. Then, juggling them in her hands with the happy yelps of hungry animals following her, she placed the bowls on the floor of their room and closed the door. She smiled at the quietness, which wouldn’t last long.
    Back in the kitchen, Mia checked the chops and quickly stir-fried the veggies with the marinade. Just as her fur friends indicated by a unanimous yelp that they were finished, the meal was done.
    She opened the door to let the now-satisfied creatures out, then opened the back door to their playground—a fully fenced-in backyard. Mia laughed softly as they practically ran over one another in their eagerness to get outside. As usual, Tiger-Lily retreated to her soft pillow on the window seat and curled up for her post-dinner nap. Everyone would be occupied for some time, giving Mia and Jared a chance to have a quiet meal and talk.
    The sudden thought that it was way
too
quiet made her wonder. Had he left without telling her? Mia went to the living room and stopped abruptly at the entrance. Jared was still here but was no longer on the sofa. He was carefully inspecting the photographs on the wall. Each one told a story.
    While he learned about her, she took the time to study him. Granted, he was gorgeous. His thick black hair, cut to just below his ears, should have looked shaggy, but somehow it made him seem less austere, almost approachable. Well, until a person got a glance at the granite-hard expression on his classically handsome face. She’d seen friendlier-looking statues. And he was large: not just tall, though she figured him to be well over six feet, but muscular—or, as her sister, Nadia, would describe him, ripped. He looked like a man who would be seriously committed to and unflinching about whatever he set his mind to.