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Llewellyn. Back in her life after all these years. Persistent as ever too. Only now he was persistent about her as opposed to the Ring Dings. She wondered why. Why his sudden interest in her? They’d been friends throughout ninth grade. Very good friends. The move to Queens had been quite the ordeal, and when she’d finally gotten up the courage to see him…well, his sisters got to her first. They made it clear that with her Bronx accent and less-than-sparkling manners, she would never fit in with him or his family. In the end, she’d be nothing but an embarrassment for him.
    Dez sighed and glanced at the television. Sirens from one of her favorite episode of Cops blared incessantly while a police dog took down a perp. The man kept moving, and the dog only bit down harder. If he stopped moving the dog would stop biting. Suddenly she knew how that perp felt. She kept moving and Mace kept biting down harder.
    Damn. She kept doing that. Thinking about Mace Llewellyn. Why couldn’t she get the man out of her mind?
    Because he reminded you what that hole between your legs is really for.
    She shook her head. She didn’t have time for this or for him. Being a cop was her priority. Always had been. Always would be. Just ask her ex. And she wasn’t about to go through those conversations again. So Mace would have to back the hell off.
    Yeah. Good luck with that.
    A big, wet tongue slathered across her ear, and she turned her head just enough to get another lick right across her face.
    “Yuck!” She pushed her dog’s giant paws off the couch, but for some reason that seemed to indicate he and his brother should join her on her large sectional. Suddenly she had a hundred-and-fifty-pound dog resting against her back, the other splayed across her lower legs.
    “You two comfortable?” They both answered with a snort. When she’d gotten home, she’d put the two through their paces while she wore the bite sleeve. She loved working her dogs. It made a day of being a New York cop easier for some unknown reason. Maybe because she had an outlet for her stress and two amazingly well-trained and very protective dogs to show for it.
    “So, what do you guys think? Mace Llewellyn—the man of my dreams? Or another schmuck looking for his chance at these beautifully painted toes?”
    Her dogs whined. They’d barely tolerated her ex. They definitely wouldn’t make room for some new guy Dez always sensed wasn’t exactly a dog person.
    “Don’t worry, guys. I remember the rules. Love me. Love my dogs.”
    Dez leaned back against her furry Rottweiler-sized pillow and watched some stupid perp run from a man wearing a uniform holding a gun and yelling “Freeze.” Then they’re shocked when they tazer their butts.
    Dez grabbed a bowl of chips. “Why do they always run?”
     
    Mace should have known better. Drinking Uncle Willy’s moonshine continued to be a bad idea. Especially when you were horny and desperately wondering whether the woman of your dreams moaned or growled during sex.
    “You’re thinking about her again, aren’t ya.”
    Smitty sat down on the floor next to Mace. Poor drunk bastard. Of all the things Smitty could do, holding his liquor had never been one of them.
    “I’m crazy about her.”
    “She’s got big tits. What were those anyway? Triple Ds?”
    “I’m sensing that knot on your forehead was not enough of a clue to keep your grubby dog paws off my woman.” And they were definitely triple Ds.
    “Don’t get me wrong. She wears those big tits well. But they’re big. Huge! ”
    Christ, drunk Smitty was annoying. Wolves simply couldn’t hold their liquor.
    Mace sighed. The evening started off nice enough. The two friends went to dinner. Discussed their new business plans. Flirted with the waitresses. Well, Smitty flirted. Mace watched and thought about Dez. Walked around Times Square. Started a fistfight. Ended a fistfight. Talked their way out of an arrest. Made their way down to Avenue A. Chatted with