Page 22 of Nora
“We’ll be in touch,” she said. Again, he nodded, then lifted the tape for her. After slipping underneath, she hurried to her car. She’d be late for the afternoon session, but only by a few minutes. Hopefully, Lucian wouldn’t notice. But she wasn’t counting on it.
CHAPTERTEN
Lucian watchedNora hurry up the path. Her gaze flickered to his but didn’t linger. Where had she been? Wherever it was, it had taken her the entire lunch hour. And then some. To be fair, she was less than ten minutes late and they’d only started the session a few minutes ago, but still…
“I’d never fuck around with Lena’s health, but I wouldn’t mind an excuse to spend some time with the good doctor,” Jonah said. Lucian didn’t turn his head in the man’s direction. He didn’t need to see him to know who Jonah was talking about. Or who he was talking to.
“We’ll invite her out tonight. Jean said she might be interested in joining us,” Jurgen answered.
“Shall we place bets on whether either of us has a chance?”
Jurgen chuckled, but Lucian cut off the conversation before he had a chance to answer. “Jonah, you and Lena go with Ingrid. Jurgen, you’re with James,” he ordered. Both men might be man-whores, but they were dedicated handlers, and they each snapped out a nod and jogged off.
Ingrid gave him a look from her position across the field. He raised a hand—part acknowledging he’d changed the plan without consulting her and part thanking her for going with it. After a beat, she nodded and returned her attention to the group.
“Craig, Anne, and Willa, you’re with me,” he said. “Craig, you and Miles are up first.”
Craig stepped forward and reached into a box filled with clothing. Pulling out a child-sized T-shirt, he held it out for Miles to scent. Search-and-rescue wasn’t Miles’s vocation, but basic scenting skills were required for all the dogs. Miles sniffed the shirt, then started spinning. Not the most auspicious response. But as soon as Craig corrected him, Miles obediently sat.
When the K9 remained seated, his attention on his handler, Craig gave him the signal to go. To Lucian’s surprise, the dog bolted in the right direction. Not that he was surprised Miles had caught the scent, but not once had Miles put his nose to the ground. It was as if he were air scenting, rather than the more common ground scenting. Something he most definitely hadn’t trained for.
Mistaking his dog’s behavior, Craig barked out a cutting rebuke. Miles froze, then looked back. He eyed his handler, then glanced toward the woods. A sound, half whimper, half bark, came out. Craig snarled out a command for Miles to return. Miles looked to the woods again, then started walking back, his tail low. Lucian watched as Craig approached his dog, leash in hand. Once Miles was close enough, Craig slipped the lead on and gave a corrective jerk of the chain.
And that was the extent Lucian was going to let Craig get it wrong.
“Craig,” Lucian growled. The handler looked up as he returned to the group.
“I don’t know what his issue is,” Craig said.
“I do. Give me your dog,” Lucian ordered, holding his hand out.
To his credit, Craig hesitated. It wasn’t in the nature of a handler to hand his or her dog over. But in this Lucian wasn’t going to compromise.
“I can train him,” Craig said.
“Not if you don’t know him. Give me your dog,” Lucian ordered, taking a step forward. After a beat, Craig handed the leash over. “You need to take a break. Go back to the residence hall. I’ll keep Miles.”
“I don’t need a fucking break, Salvitto. I need to train my dog.”
“Craig?”
Both Lucian and Craig looked over to find Nora standing on the edge of the training grounds.
“Not a good time, Nora,” Lucian called.
Not surprisingly, she ignored him and walked toward them a few feet. “Craig, I have a question for you about Miles’s paperwork. Can you join me while Lucian has him?”
She was up to something, though what it was, Lucian didn’t know. Between this and her tardiness at the beginning of the session, they were going to have a little chat later.
“Nora.” His voice came out a warning. When Craig shot him a look telling him to back off Nora, Lucian found he kind of liked the guy. If he could get his head out of his ass about his dog.
“Coming,” Craig said. “It appears I need a break.” The smile he flashed at both Nora and Lucian was as close to predatory as a man’s smile could be.
Nora’s gaze flickered to Lucian at the provocation. He didn’t react. But it took a lot for him not to. He felt Nora’s eyes on him with every step Craig took toward her. With deliberate effort, Lucian turned away.
Forcing thoughts of Nora from his mind, he reached down and sank his fingers into Miles’s thick fur. Then giving him a good rub, Lucian told the shepherd what a good boy he was.
* * *
