Dog Tags: A romance anthology featuring military and canine heroes

by Kate Kinsley

  He shifted into reverse and backed into his driveway.

  Milian, his dark Labrador mix and K-9 partner, barked at the new neighbors that moved in across the street. He’d seen the truck pull up the other day right before he’d left for his last assignment. And he’d seen the new tenant.

  Which he wished he hadn’t because he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.

  “Shit,” Max mumbled as he stared at a front yard full of puppies. Six of them to be exact along with their very attractive long-haired German shepherd mother. On second glance, she couldn’t be that litter’s mother, but she was still a very attractive dog. “I didn’t know she had animals.”

  Milian tilted his head and made a noise.

  “You’re not going over there, so stop looking at me like that.”

  Milian put his snout on the dashboard, letting out a big puff of air, steaming up the glass.

  “Maybe they will be out on our morning run, but you better behave yourself around them, young man.” Not that it mattered, his dog had been neutered a long time ago, but Milian had a way with the ladies. He was a chick magnet both in his own species and with humans.

  The latter, Max could do without.

  He’d learned his lesson and one divorce was enough for him.

  Milian yelped and pressed his paws on the door. His tail thumped on the center console.

  “Nope. We’re not going to say hello to the new neighbors. I’m not a friendly guy and you know it. Don’t you remember the last woman I got involved with? Do you want a repeat of that?”

  Milan growled as if he understood.

  Just as Max prepared to make a beeline for the front door, his neighbor and co-worker, Ashley, appeared. “Oh boy, are you in trouble.” She pointed across the street.

  “Milian is a highly trained professional. He’ll be able to resist all the adorableness.”

  “I’m not talking about the puppies. I’m talking about the hot chick with the tan legs that go on forever.”

  Max growled. “Stop trying to fix me up. I’m not interested.”

  “Oh, yes, you are. And maybe you can find someone that will last longer than a couple of weeks.”

  “You’re one to talk,” Max said. “Now if you’ll excuse me. You have a jog to finish, and I’ve got shit to do, and tell your dad I’ll be up this weekend to fix the deck.”

  “Thanks,” Ashley said. “See you later.”

  “Now it’s dinnertime.” Max hooked the leash onto Milian’s collar, something he wouldn’t normally do, but even the best trained dogs could be distracted by cuteness.

  Milian whined and whined, but he followed Max into the three-bedroom house that used to be rented by Dylan Sarich’s father-in-law, a fellow Aegis Network employee. Dylan had worked for Delta Force, and he had a brother who’d been in the Marines and two other brothers who’d been in the Army. They were good people and Max enjoyed their company.

  While at work.

  But after?

  Oy. They had like a ton of little kids and while Max didn’t begrudge any of his buddies a family, he’d given up on that pipe dream the day he’d come home from a grueling mission to find his wife humping the UPS delivery man.

  What really sucked about that was he’d resigned from the Navy for his wife and it still wasn’t good enough. She hated his choice of careers.

  Or maybe she just hated him.

  He snagged Milian’s dog food and filled his bowl before snatching a beer from the fridge. He stared out across the street as a woman with long dark hair pulled up in a ponytail bent over and lifted one of the puppies from the pen to show a young girl and her parents.

  At least Max knew the little ones would be gone soon. Hopefully his new neighbor wasn’t a breeder. But it didn’t matter if she was because he wasn’t even going to meet her. Nope. Wouldn’t even go over and say hello. Not even interested in holding the adorable little creatures before they were sold off or given to the…shit. The little girl and her parents placed the puppy in a crate in their car before waving and driving off.

  Shit. He loved puppies and Asher and Griggs, the co-founders of the Aegis Network had given him the green light for more K-9 units and he had the man power, he just needed the dogs.

  Going over there was strictly business.

  Or at least that’s what he was telling himself.

  “Looks like you win, Milian. Finish your food. We’ll go say hello to the animals. But just the animals. I’m not interested in meeting the lady with the legs that go on forever.” No. He was just going to talk to her about possibly getting one of the dogs for the Aegis Network. Or maybe two.

  And he’d want male dogs because women, regardless of species, were nothing but trouble. All they did was give you a headache and take your money and try to take your dog.

  Milian sat at his feet, staring up at him with a tilted head as if he understood every word Max said.

  Max scratched Milian’s ears while he pulled out his phone to text his bosses. Might as well make this all professional like.

  To cover his bases.

  “One down and five to go.” Chanel Dixon plopped herself down on her cheap lawn chair with a glass of wine and took a large gulp. She should have said no when these little bundles of joy showed up at her old office up in Jacksonville, but how could she do that and look at herself in the mirror?

  She was a veterinarian for fuck’s sake. Her job was to care for animals. She couldn’t just leave these poor little souls in hopes someone else would do the right thing. But moving them, even a few hours down the road, to a neighborhood where she knew absolutely no one, and her practice hadn’t even gotten off the ground, might be one of the dumbest things she’d ever done. Between having to unpack and get her office set up, she really didn’t have time to deal with unloading dogs.

  Sasha jumped to attention.

  “Sit,” Chanel commanded as she tugged on her dog’s leash. “Relax.” She glanced up and her heart smacked the back of her throat.

  A man wearing a pair of stonewashed jeans that fit him like a glove and a black T-shirt tucked neatly into his slacks strolled across the street holding on to one very handsome black lab mix who appeared insanely well-behaved since he didn’t leave his owner’s side, even when he got close to the puppies, though he did whine a bit.

  “Welcome to the neighborhood,” the man said. “I live across the street. I saw your moving truck the other day. Looks like you’ve pretty much got yourself all settled in.”

  “My stuff is inside. However, I wouldn’t say I’m unpacked.” Chanel stood, tugging at Sasha’s leash. However, her sweet, but ill-behaved oversized baby couldn’t sit still. No. The damn one-hundred-pound dog had to jump. Then run in a little circle, tangling Chanel’s legs in the rope meant to keep Sasha from acting like a menace to society. “Sasha, sit,” Chanel said with her stern voice, but all that did was make Sasha even more excited.

  And it riled up the puppies. So much so that the one with the white paws jumped the doggie gate.

  “Now look what you’ve gone and done.” Chanel went to set her drink on the table by her chair just as Sasha tugged harder at the leash and twisted Chanel’s ankle, pulling her to the side. Her arms flapped in the air, sending her drink in the stranger’s face. “Shit,” she mumbled, tumbling back into the small pen. The puppies yelped and jumped and nearly licked her to death.

  She fell flat on her back and stared at the sky. “I guess that’s one way to offer you a drink. Is it any good?”

  The man wiped his face and smiled. “I wouldn’t know a good wine if it was tossed in my face.”

  “A man with a sense of humor,” she said with a long breath. “Can I interest you in another dog?”

  He laughed. “Actually, I’m hoping my boss might be up for taking a couple off your hands.”

  “Your boss?” She managed to get to a sitting position. The puppies still climbed all over her, but at least Sasha had calmed down a bit and was currently circling the new neighbor’s
dog, who sat next to his owner, not moving a muscle.

  Show-off.

  The man stretched out his hand and as if she were as light as a feather, pulled her to her feet. “I’m Max. I work for a company that does a lot of work both for the government and for the private sector.” He patted his dog’s head. “We do a lot of highly specialized operations, and I run the K-9 unit. Actually, I am the unit, but we’re looking to expand and that means training new dogs, and my boss is interested in possibly taking two of your puppies.”

  She glanced around. “Does your boss live around here too? Because I just put these babies out with a sign down the street about fifteen minutes ago. I haven’t even had the chance to put them up on the internet.”

  “No. But I’m the one in charge of building the unit. I literally just hired two men who’ve trained service dogs before. Now I just need the dogs.”

  “So, military or police type training?”

  “Yes. That level,” he said. “I’m an ex-Navy SEAL. And Milian here is too. We’ve been working together for about ten years.”

  She covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. “Really? Max and Milian as in Maximilian?”

  “Exactly,” he said with a bright smile. “It suits us.”

  His dog yelped but didn’t budge even though all the puppies were going wild trying to climb over the barricade and her dog, Sasha, was sniffing around Milian.

  “You do all the training? Where?”

  “I’ve set up both an indoor and outdoor field facility where Milian and I keep up with exercises, and I would make sure the environment was safe and secure. What are you asking for these adorable little creatures and are they purebred or mixes? Not that it matters. Honestly, I’d prefer a mix. Milian here is actually a shepherd—”

  “Doberman and I suspect a little black Lab as well.”

  “That’s what I was told, but we can’t be sure. I found him in an undisclosed area when I was still on active duty. Our government let me train him, and he’s saved my life half a dozen times.”

  “Well, these little fellas are rescues, and I’m giving them away, along with providing all the medical services they will need like vaccines, spaying or neutering, that kind of thing for the first few months. And they are mixes. Not exactly sure, but my best guess is lab and shepherd.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come to be taking care of them if you didn’t breed them?”

  “I’m a veterinarian, and they showed up on my doorstep right before I moved. I couldn’t just leave them, now could I?”

  “No. I guess you couldn’t.” Max leaned over the pen and petted a couple of the puppies. Could you set aside two males for me? If my boss approves, I’ll be picking them up tomorrow.”

  “I can do that for you,” she said.

  “I didn’t get your name,” he said.

  “It’s Chanel.”

  “As in perfume, purses, clothing, designer company?” he asked.

  “Well, that’s one way of looking at it, but that’s not actually where my name comes from, to be honest. It’s my mother’s maiden name. It’s French.” Way too much information, Chanel. He didn’t need all the detail. He didn’t ask and just because he was standing there, looking at her, it didn’t mean he was interested and even if he was, she wasn’t.

  Her divorce had left her more than disillusioned when it came to love.

  It didn’t matter that he was not only sexy and a dog lover, he was a man and ex-military.

  He was everything she didn’t want.

  And more.

  “It’s pretty,” he said. “I should be going before we reach mayhem with the animals. Milian is more than well-behaved, but he can only be expected to be so good when he’s not on duty.”

  “And I’m shocked my beasts aren’t going apeshit,” she said. “Just let me know as soon as you can. I need to have these puppies off-loaded by next week when I open the clinic.”

  “I’ll know by tomorrow,” Max said. “If you need anything, let me know. You can tell I’m home because my Jeep will be under the carport.”

  “You might regret offering that.”

  He laughed. “Have a nice night.” He licked his finger. “And next time, I’ll take a beer.”

  Chapter Two

  Crash!

  Thud!

  Bang!

  “Are you kidding me?” Max jumped to his feet. “No. Milian. Come.” But for the third time in ten days, his well-trained dog didn’t listen. Nope. Milian took off around the corner, skidding to a stop and doing the happy dance with Sasha. “How the hell did you get… You broke my fence, you sneaky beast you.”

  “Sasha!”

  “Back here.” Max pulled open his gate that barely hung together on its hinges thanks to the massive dog.

  “She chewed right through the leash. My invisible fence guy doesn’t come until next week. I’m so sorry.”

  Max picked up a stick and tossed it across his side yard. He had one of the best lots on the street, but only because it was technically two, and when Max bought the place a few months ago, he always thought he’d knock the place down and build a big house and sell it for a profit.

  That was until he lived here for a week and fell in love with the little town. If he did anything now, it would be to just remodel and maybe expand on what he already had.

  Milian snagged the stick this time, but Sasha wasn’t going to give up without a playful fight.

  “I will pay to have that fixed.” Chanel wiggled the door. “Sasha acts like she’s a male dog and yours is the one in heat.”

  “Milian isn’t behaving well either.” In all the years Max had been working with Milian and other K-9s, he’d only seen one other dog go off the deep end, and that had been Alley.

  First, who named their dog Alley?

  But second, that girl just fell head over heels for Banister, and they became like stupid teenagers whenever they were within sniffing distance. They were worse than humans falling in love for the first time.

  “He’s a much better dog than mine. But I didn’t get her until she was a year old. Poor girl had been found tied up, starving, and beaten. Believe it or not, she used to be afraid of her own shadow.”

  “That’s a terrible story, but not much different than Milian’s. I found him in a minefield. Actually, he found me. Saved my damn life. We think he’d already had some training, by the enemy, but whoever owned him had been abusing the hell out of him, and it took a lot of love to get him to completely trust me.” He latched the fence before it fell off its hinges. “Can I get you a drink? I’ve got beer, soda, water, tea, but no wine.”

  “Beer sounds great. If you don’t mind.”

  “As long as you don’t spill this one on me, then I don’t mind at all.” He jogged into his back porch where he kept a small beverage cooler and snagged a couple of cold ones and paused to mentally give himself a good lecture, reminding himself he was on sabbatical from talking with women.

  He wasn’t even supposed to be really looking.

  He stepped outside and handed her an open longneck. He should have put it in a glass, but maybe she’d see what a rude asshole he was, just like his ex-wife had told the world, and Chanel would quietly excuse herself and stop sending her dog over.

  Because that’s what she had to be doing.

  And he was falling for it.

  “How are the puppies? I haven’t heard from your buddies, so I assume they are doing well enough, though I do have an appointment for them on the books next week. I hope you don’t plan on missing it.”

  “Oh. They will be there as part of the agreement. I told you we’d keep all the vet stuff with you. It’s only fair.” He bent over and took the stick that Milian dropped at his feet. “Sit. Stay.” He held up his hand. “You too, Sasha.” He knelt by the excited dog and looped his finger in her collar. “Sit. Sit.”

  She wiggled her butt before doing as he commanded.

  “Now. You’re going to stay.”

  “No.
She’s not. When it comes to fetch, she knows only two speeds. Run. And run faster.”

  “For a vet, you’re not very patient.” He tapped Milian’s nose with the piece of wood and repeated the motion to Sasha. “Stay.” He made eye contact before hurling the stick across the yard.

  Milian whined.

  Sasha jumped to her feet.

  “No. Stay,” Max commanded again.

  Sasha barked.

  “Good girl. Now go fetch.” He smacked her little butt.

  “She was going to run in about two seconds anyway.” Chanel pressed her beer to her lips and let the bubbly liquid flow into her mouth.

  It took every ounce of energy Max had not to rip his gaze away from the beautiful lady standing in his backyard wearing a pair of loose-fitting jean shorts that barely covered her rounded ass and a white button-down shirt, untucked, that showed off a bit too much cleavage. Her long hair curled down around her shoulders, and the sun bounced off the highlights, making it shine.

  “She’ll learn if you keep at it with her.”

  “It’s funny. I was always a cat person. I’ve got three of them. And then this little beast came into my life and I just couldn’t give her away. First and probably last dog I’ll own.”

  “How does she get along with the cats?” Why the fuck was he making small talk? Let her take her damn dog home and be done with it.

  “She loves the cats, but let’s just say all the kittens find Sasha to be a little bit on the annoying side. It can be a hostile environment and Sasha is too stupid to even know.”

  “Maybe that’s why she comes over here.” Max laughed. “Or maybe she’s in love.” He shook his head, watching the two dogs plop themselves down on the grass in front of the lounge chairs and lay their heads on one another as if they were old lovers. “You’re a bad influence on Milian, you know that?” He wagged his finger.

  “Hey. Maybe it’s your dog that—oh, who am I kidding.” She made herself comfortable. “You’re going to have to give me some pointers because I’m going to go broke fixing your fence, and I can’t keep chasing her over here.”