A little pink tongue poked out of the mass of gray fur and licked Rebekah’s fingers. “That’s a good boy. Now, these nice people just want to check you out and make sure you don’t have any ouchies. Then when you feel better, I’ll have another treat for you.”
“Ouchies?” Grant asked when Rebekah finally backed away from the now-peaceful dog and let the vet go to work.
“Sorry. It’s something my parents used to say when I was little. With all the stress, I guess it slipped out.”
“Is that why you stayed inside when they were trying to get the dog out of your car?” Wanting to check her heart rate, he used his thumb to trace the pulse point on her wrist. “Was it too much stress?”
“No, I was hiding because I didn’t want him to see me and think I was the one who trapped him.”
“So you were leaving me out there to be the bad guy and take the fall?”
“As if anyone could ever think that Grant Whitaker is the bad guy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, but then Davis appeared in the doorway holding an extra chair.
“Since both of you don’t seem to want to go anywhere, you can just sit over here where you’ll be out of the way.” Davis was great with animals but had never seemed especially fond of humans.
“Is April Oliver around?” Dr. Lauren asked, referring to the professional groomer who often volunteered at the shelter. “The hair around his ears is so matted, I can’t even lift them. We might need her to groom him before I can get in there and really examine him.”
“I have a feeling this might take a while,” Grant told Rebekah. “Are you hungry?”
“I don’t think I should leave. When I was talking to him a few minutes ago, it seemed like he knew my voice and it helped relax him.”
Or it could be the sedation doing the relaxing, but Grant admired her for wanting to stay by the dog’s side. She might not be excited about her pregnancy but judging by the concern etched all over her face for some stray animal, she was going to make one hell of a mother.
* * *
“Despite being on the thin side, he’s relatively healthy,” Dr. Lauren told Rebekah over an hour later. “Poor guy was probably in a ton of pain, though, with all that matted hair pulling on his skin and the flea bites underneath. The hair inside his ears was so bad, it had grown into these waxy dreadlock things that were harder to remove than a cork out of a champagne bottle. There’s an infection in both canals, but I was able to flush them out and we’ll get him started on some antibiotics.”
“He already looks like a completely different animal,” Rebekah said, stroking her hand against the soft gray fur that had been shaved down to half an inch of fuzz. April had been able to carefully bathe him earlier and he smelled like a whole new dog, as well.
“Be cautious, though. When he wakes up, he might be just as grouchy as he was before we sedated him.”
Grant had gone to get sandwiches for them and Rebekah had only been able to get down a few bites. She’d been on the edge of her seat the whole time the groomer and then the vet had been working on the dog.
“We got a hit on his microchip.” Birdie waved a piece of paper in the air as she came into the exam room with Doc J behind her. “Two-and-a-half-year-old schnauzer and terrier mix named Angus. He belonged to Rupert MacKenzie, who used to live at 436 Second Avenue. But Rupert went into a skilled nursing facility after he had a stroke over a year ago. He passed away after a few months with no known relatives and the house is now tied up in probate.”
“That explains why the little guy was hiding under the porch over there,” Grant said, his large, tan hand following Rebekah’s as he petted the still-sleeping animal. “You were looking for your owner, huh, Angus MacKenzie? Wow, that’s a proud Scottish name if I ever heard one.”
“He’s probably got some Scottie in him,” Doc J added, as he looked over his daughter’s patient. The man was supposed to be retired, but he sure stopped by an awful lot to check on things. “They can be pretty independent and stubborn, so that’s why he was so determined to stay close to home.”
The dog let out a big breath and his eyelids fluttered open. His gray bangs had been cut back, allowing him to see better. Although now they stood up straight, as though his brow was lifted in a permanent state of annoyance. Rebekah felt the vibration in his chest as he started to growl. “You’re okay. Take it easy. As soon as Dr. Lauren says it’s okay, I’ll get you something to eat.”
His freshly trimmed ears lifted in surprise and his little nub of a tail began to wag in earnest. An encouraging smile spread across Rebekah’s face. “Do you recognize the sound of my voice, Angus?”
The dog’s tail wagged even more and he sniffed Rebekah’s hand before licking it. “He’s probably just excited to hear anyone’s voice at this point,” Dr. Lauren said as she put the oxygen mask away. “As bad as his ears were, he probably couldn’t hear a lot for the past few months. It certainly explains why he was so afraid of everyone and kept running off.”
That might be true, but despite all the people in the room, Angus’s round black eyes were focused on Rebekah. Sure, she’d been having in-depth conversations with the animal for over a week now, as though he was her personal therapist. However, there was something else pulling at Rebekah’s heart as she slowly stroked the area between his ears and down his neck. Some unexplainable connection that drew her to this dog.
“I’m going to try and take the lead off,” Dr. Lauren advised them. “April found this green plaid collar that looks pretty fitting for our little chieftain here.”
Rebekah took a step back to give the vet room to work, but Angus made a whining sound.
“He seems to prefer you,” Grant told her. “Maybe you should put the collar on.”
Dr. Lauren passed her the collar and Rebekah slowly put it around Angus’s neck. The last thing she wanted to do was startle the poor guy and get him agitated again. As soon as the plastic clasp clicked into place, the dog rose onto his four legs and used his nose to nuzzle into her hands.
“Look at that tail.” Grant gave her a smile of encouragement before chuckling. “It’s wagging so hard, his whole rear end is shaking along with it.”
“So how long do we need to keep him under observation?” Birdie asked the younger vet. “We’re pretty full right now and I’d really hate to put him in one of our temporary kennels after all the earlier trauma he endured this morning. They might remind him of a cage and stress him out again.”
“I’d keep an eye on him for another hour or so, but he should be good to go if you can line up a foster home tonight.”
“Do you hear that, Angus?” Rebekah murmured as the dog cuddled against her, burrowing himself into her arms until she was practically carrying him like a baby. “You get to go to a foster home tonight where someone will love on you and take care of you and feed you yummy treats...”
Her voice trailed off as she realized that every eye in the room was on her.
“What?” Rebekah narrowed her eyes at Grant, because his knowing grin was the most unsettling.
“I’m pretty sure that the only home Angus is going to be happy with is yours.”
“But I don’t foster dogs. Or any pets.” Rebekah could see that her protests were falling on deaf ears. Which reminded her that while the little gray bundle of fur had recently been partially deaf, he could probably hear her now as she was telling everyone that she didn’t want him. “It’s just that my place isn’t really set up for a pet. I don’t even have a food dish or any supplies.”
“Honey, we’re an animal shelter.” Birdie shook her head. “We have everything you could possibly need. I’ll even let you pick out some new stuff from the gift shop out front.”
Angus’s soul-searching black eyes didn’t so much as blink as he stared at her adoringly.
“That’s it, Angus.” Grant scratched the dog’s low
er back and Rebekah could’ve sworn she felt the thing purr along with the man’s playful tone. “Keep giving her that sad puppy-dog look and guilt her into taking you home with her.”
But Angus didn’t need any coaching. He was already as good as Grant when it came to wearing down her sense of logic.
Rebekah’s heart hammered. This was all happening way too fast. She needed to think of a way to get out of it. “What if that sad look is really just the aftereffects of the sedation? What if I get him home and he gets all worked up again?”
“That’s a good point.” Grant kept his eyes on her when he told the others in the room, “We really wouldn’t want to put Rebekah in a situation that could risk the...could risk her health.”
She lowered her lids at him in warning, but he only lifted his brows and shrugged at her in response. If she hadn’t been so busy trying to silently communicate with him, she might’ve seen his aunt studying their interaction.
That’s why Rebekah choked back a gasp when Birdie suggested, “Why don’t you take Grant with you and Angus back to your place? That way, if the dog seems like he’s going to turn on you, you won’t be on your own.”
Damn it. Rebekah was supposed to be getting herself out of this foster-dog commitment, not digging herself in deeper. Now she was supposed to be taking both the dog and Grant to her house?
“But what do I do with him tomorrow?” she countered. “I work all day and wouldn’t really be able to watch him.”
“I was actually going to talk to you about your schedule.” Her boss shifted forward and Rebekah saw something in the older woman’s eyes. “Bunny was supposed to go to the bird sanctuary with Grant today, but then you guys got busy with Angus here. Since she’s busy tomorrow, I’m going to need you to go with Grant to the bird place. You can take Angus here with you and see how he does with cars rides and leashes. If that goes well, maybe take him to a park to socialize him with other people and animals. We need to know if he’ll need some training classes with Mollie before we can officially adopt him out.”
She opened her mouth to attempt one last stand. But Birdie and Doc J were already walking away. Besides, at this point, any further arguments would clearly only result in Rebekah landing herself in an even deeper hole she would not be able to dig her way out of.
“Fine,” she mumbled, then patted the dog’s chest. “But you two had better not get me into any trouble.”
Angus made a contented sigh and Grant was looking anywhere but at Rebekah. Although she couldn’t help but note his lips were twitching at the corners.
Chapter Nine
“Sorry for throwing off your plans with your aunt today,” Rebekah said to Grant as he drove her and Angus to her townhome. She’d left her car back at the shelter so she could hold Angus in case he needed to be soothed during the ride. “I didn’t intend for you to miss out on your trip to the Outer Banks with Bunny.”
Now that the chaos of the afternoon had receded, he could sense her slipping back into her perfectly composed self. Or, at least, she was making a brave effort. But Grant could still feel the imprint of her fingers from where she’d clung to his hand while the animal was being examined.
“I figured you and Angus needed me more.” Grant smiled across the center console, reaching to pet the dog who was currently balanced on Rebekah’s lap and had his snout halfway out the window. “Isn’t that right, big guy?”
Angus turned his face toward Grant, giving him a cautious appraisal before looking back out the window. He sure was a cute little thing now that he’d been cleaned up.
“To be honest, this kind of works out better anyway,” he offered.
“How so?” Rebekah changed her grip on the plaid leash that matched the dog’s collar, probably because she was worried the pup was going to make another break for it through the open window.
Grant held back a chuckle. As much as she’d argued against fostering the abandoned animal, everyone in that room could see the connection between her and the dog. It was going to be interesting to watch how she and Angus interacted once he got them back to her place.
“Now we have even more reason to spend time together and get people thinking that things are serious between us.” He felt the corners of his mouth lift in a smug grin.
“Serious between us? I thought we were just pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend, remember? Why do you always have to take things to the next level?”
“Always?” he repeated, his bold wink hidden behind the dark lens of his sunglasses. If Rebekah was arguing with him, it meant she was back to feeling like herself. Since his current goal was keeping her as stress-free as possible, he’d gladly engage in a spirited debate to distract her from worrying about her new foster dog. “What else do I take to the next level?”
Her curls were blowing around in the wind from the open window and she groaned as she tried to use her free hand to hold them back. “How about that party pavilion, for starters?”
“So I took a few liberties with the name. But you have to admit that it has a nice ring to it.”
“The problem is that we’re running an animal shelter, Grant. Not an events venue.”
“But it’s an animal shelter that’s barely making ends meet. I would think that with your business background, you’d see my aunts desperately need to be bringing in more revenue.”
“They wouldn’t need to bring in more revenue if...” Rebekah’s words trailed off.
“If what?”
She sighed. “It’s no secret that there’s an investigation right now into what happened to their investment money.”
Sure, he was hoping that the attorney investigating the matter would get to the bottom of the matter, but he was also hoping that Uncle Gator would be cleared of any wrongdoing in the process.
“Have you been updated on that investigation lately?” she asked.
“No, because I don’t want to deal with theories or what-ifs. I want hard, concrete proof of whoever could possibly be behind their current money mismanagement.”
Rebekah lifted a finger. “Nope. Not current mismanagement. As their office director, who is solely responsible for the budget, I can assure you that that all their financial issues happened well before I was ever hired. So you can quit giving me the side-eye.”
“What side-eye?” He lifted his sunglasses to the top of his head and squinted in her direction.
“The one you’re giving me right now.” She reached up to the rearview mirror and lowered it to reflect his suspicious expression. “You’ve been looking at me like that for the past year, as though you think I’m hiding something.”
“I don’t necessarily think you’re hiding something. I just have a feeling that there’s another side to you. One that I’ve only gotten glimpses of so far. Plus, I’m trying to stay focused and resist the urge to stare at your long, pretty legs.”
He could hear her intake of breath and tried not to laugh as she attempted to tug the hem of her dress down past her knees. Too bad she couldn’t move it past Angus’s squirmy hind end.
“Why do you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Get all embarrassed whenever I pay you a compliment.”
“I’m not embarrassed.” Rebekah defended herself even as she shifted in her seat and seemed fixated on the billboard advertising the new Kingdom Creek development. The same billboard she probably passed every single day on her way home from work. “It’s just weird, that’s all.”
“Me being attracted to you is weird?” He had to say it out loud to make sure he understood her.
“No, you being attracted to your aunts’ employee is weird.”
“It has nothing to do with you working for my family. Even if you were the employee of an entire herd of feral Uni-rexes trying to take over the planet, I’d still be attracted to you.”
Rebekah pointed at the road
ahead. “Go right at the next light.”
“I know it’s been a couple of months, but I remember how to get to your townhouse.” He saw her cheeks suck in as she inhaled and it stirred his blood. He added, “In fact, I remember a lot of things about that night.”
Angus again yipped in excitement and she covered the dog’s floppy ears. “Don’t talk about...you know...in front of the dog.”
“I doubt he can understand what we’re saying.” Grant nodded at the animal who was currently using his open mouth and tongue to try and catch the air rushing by the open window.
Rebekah frowned. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’m pretty sure he knows exactly what’s being said.”
“Well, then, he’s going to find out sooner or later that his new mommy is going to be a mommy to some humans pretty soon.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call me that.”
Grant cocked his head at her while they waited at the stop sign in front of her complex. “You don’t want our kids to call you mommy?”
“No, I don’t want the d-o-g to start thinking of me that way.” She’d lowered her voice to spell the word. “This is only a temporary fostering situation.”
Ten minutes later, after Angus had left his mark on every shrub and patch of grass along the walk from the parking lot to her unit, the so-called d-o-g was curled up in the center of her white leather sofa as though it was his throne. Grant chuckled as he filled up the new water dish. “Looks like our Scottish warrior has laid claim to the castle and has no intention of this being a temporary situation.”
“But I don’t really want the responsibility of a pet,” Rebekah whispered as she filled the equally new ceramic bone-shaped storage canister with dog treats. “Especially right now with everything else going on.”
“Sometimes we don’t get to pick our pets.” Grant shrugged. “Sometimes our pets pick us.”
“Do you have any pets back home?” Rebekah leaned against the kitchen counter across from him. It was one of those questions that would’ve come up already if they’d gone on any proper dates. Or had been in an actual relationship and not just pretending.
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