Dare to Stay (Puppy Love Romances Book 3)

by Georgia Beers

  Sydney had known within the first five minutes that the interview with Maddie was going to be gold. They talked for over an hour, and then they’d gone into the backyard so Maddie could show her some of the tricks she’d taught Rex. By the time Jeff had begun packing up his equipment, they’d been there for nearly three hours and it was well into dinner time.

  “I’m sorry we stayed so long,” she said to Sherry, as she gathered the last of her things and she and Jeff stopped on the front steps.

  “Oh, please, don’t worry,” Sherry said, holding Sydney’s hand in both of hers. “This was really good for her.” She glanced at the stairs where Maddie and Rex had gone so Maddie could get started on her homework.

  “She’s an amazing kid.”

  “Thank you.” Sherry’s face glowed. “I think so, too. Listen, I wanted to say this, but not on camera because I worried it might sound made up or doctored, but…” She looked down at her white tennis shoes as if gathering the right words. “I owe Jessica Barstow so much. I found out later that she’d seen us on the security monitors when we first entered the shelter. She watched us looking at the dogs and she saw Maddie. She was on two crutches then, she hadn’t mastered walking with just one yet. Rex had been rescued from a dogfighting ring and when he was brought in, his leg was so mangled, they couldn’t save it. He’d been at the shelter for nearly six months, and she didn’t think he’d ever get adopted, but she told me that when she saw Maddie on the security monitors, she just had this strange feeling. She wasn’t even going to say anything if Rex didn’t seem interested. She said she would’ve just kept walking right by us. But…” Her voice trailed off and Sydney watched as Sherry’s eyes welled up. “He saw Maddie, and it was like he knew. He knew she needed him.” She sniffled quietly. “Jessica Barstow is an angel, as far as I’m concerned. A guardian angel sent from heaven. Do you know she still calls every month or two just to see how things are going?”

  Sydney smiled, picturing Jessica watching the security monitors, observing as Maddie hobbled her way in. “I’m not surprised,” she said to Sherry, and it was the truth.

  “That shelter is lucky to have her, that’s all I’m saying.”

  “Agreed.” Sydney held out her hand once more. “Well, it’s time for me to get out of your hair. Thank you so much for your time. And please thank Maddie again for me.”

  In the van, she and Jeff rode for a few moments in silence before he spoke up.

  “That was something, huh?”

  Sydney blew out a breath. “It really was. I think we should see if she’d be willing to be on the telethon live. She doesn’t even have to say anything, just make an appearance with Rex. It’s an amazing story.”

  “Do you believe in that stuff?”

  “In what stuff?”

  “In, like, things being meant to be?”

  She glanced at Jeff to see if he was being sarcastic, but his expression was serious. His dark eyes were slightly wider than usual, his thick eyebrows raised expectantly.

  “You know, it’s not really something I’ve ever given a lot of thought to. But after hearing that…” She nodded. “Makes you wonder.”

  “I’ve read that when a dog is in a shelter and you rescue it, it knows. That it’s grateful and more loyal than a non-shelter dog would be.”

  Sydney thought about Rufus, about how devoted to her he was for so many years. “I believe that’s true,” she said softly. “I really, really do.”

  The interior of the van got quiet again and stayed that way until it pulled into the half-empty parking lot of Channel Six. Sydney slid out the passenger side and shouldered her bag.

  “I won’t need the footage until tomorrow morning when I meet with editing,” she said to Jeff. “Okay?”

  “Not a problem.” He opened the side door of the van and began hauling out the stuff that needed to go inside the building.

  “Can I help?” she asked, knowing he’d say no, that most videographers didn’t want others touching their equipment.

  “Nah. But thanks.”

  “All right. Don’t forget, we’ve got to shoot the shelter tour tomorrow afternoon.” She pointed at him as she backed toward the doors.

  “I’ll be ready,” Jeff said with a smile. “I checked the forecast. Looks like we’ll have some sun. That’ll make the outside stuff look better.”

  “Definitely.” Sydney pushed open the doors. “Thanks for today, Jeff.”

  He gave her a little salute, and she decided she really liked him. She’d worked with videographers and camera operators she didn’t like. They could be condescending and smarmy, often saddling her with the stereotypically unflattering descriptions of on-air talent…snotty, hoity-toity, full of herself. But Jeff seemed real. Genuine. She liked that about him.

  Once inside, she realized it was after seven and she’d been at it for more than twelve hours. Her intention had been to sit at her desk in her small cubby and organize her thoughts about her interview with Maddie Dugan, but the second she sat down, she felt like she hit the wall. She could still arrange the way she wanted the interview edited, but doing so on her couch in her cozy clothes with a glass of red wine and a slice of pizza seemed way more appealing.

  An hour later, she was exactly there: in yoga pants and a worn Adidas T-shirt, bare feet, a glass of Cabernet on the end table next to Marge and Homer, her teeth sinking into that first delicious bite of pizza with cheese, mushrooms, and green peppers. She’d limit herself to this one slice for tonight, as she’d forgotten to tell them to forego the cheese—and seriously, what was pizza without mozzarella dripping from it? Her tablet lay on the coffee table, her questions to Maddie listed on the screen. Next to that was a notebook where she’d jotted observations as the interview had progressed. Sydney had a pretty clear vision of how she wanted things edited, so she wrote that information down, but she did so on autopilot, as her thoughts seemed to veer off in the direction of Jessica Barstow more often than Sydney seemed able to control.

  It should’ve been surprising to hear that the cool, collected, somewhat aloof Ms. Barstow had a heart of gold, but it wasn’t. Not to Sydney, and she had no idea why. Jessica didn’t exactly exude warm fuzzies around her.

  “I mean, she’s not openly rude,” Sydney said to Marge, who’d swum close to the glass of the tank and floated there looking at her. “She’s just…” Her voice trailed off as she took another bite of pizza and chewed, searching for the proper description but coming up empty. She shook her head, glanced back at the goldfish that was in the same spot as if waiting patiently for her to continue. “I don’t know. She’s a lot of things, I guess. She’s smart and driven. I’ve seen that already, a lot. She’s successful. She seems to care a lot about her staff and it’s obvious how much she loves the animals.” Another glance at the goldfish had it still staring at her. “I feel your judgment, Marge.” The fish didn’t move. Sydney sighed in defeat. “Okay, okay. Fine. She’s pretty. I think she’s really pretty. And sexy. Okay, fine. She’s hot. You happy now?” The fish took a beat, then turned fin and swam away. “Hard ass,” Sydney mumbled.

  A quick look at her calendar told her the telethon would air in less than two weeks, and there was still much to be done. Not a lot more she could do tonight, however. Instead, she organized her papers and notes, then hopped online to check her e-mail. She’d sent her reel to several stations and was hoping to hear something from one—or all—of them soon. Nothing today, but a station in Austin had just posted an opening and Sydney wasted no time sending her application, resume, and reel through cyberspace.

  Just as she hit Send, her phone buzzed, indicating a text. It was from Anna.

  Hey, sexy. Just thinking about you. You still up?

  Sydney sighed. This was about the fifteenth text since their coffee date. Sydney had been parsing out her responses so Anna wouldn’t get too used to hearing from her. The last two had gone unanswered, and Sydney felt guilty for not answering this one either, but Anna had offered up the perfect excuse: Syd
ney would say later that she’d already been asleep.

  She turned the phone off with a grimace as she stood up and then clicked off the living room light. Tomorrow would be a busy day. They were going to shoot the shelter tour. She’d see Anna then.

  She’d also see Jessica.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Jessica was nervous.

  Which was unlike her, and the unfamiliarity of it made her more nervous. She’d given this tour a hundred and fifty times, easily. More than that, actually. Many, many more. She’d been on camera more than a dozen. This was all old hat for her. No big deal. Piece of cake. She could practically do it in her sleep.

  But, she was still nervous, and she wasn’t sure why.

  When Regina buzzed her office to let her know Sydney and her crew had arrived, Jessica felt her heart rate kick up several more notches and her stomach did a rather unpleasant flip that had her stopping in her tracks in the middle of her office and sending a worried glance toward the bathroom.

  “God, get your shit together, Jessica,” she whispered into the empty room. She stood still for several moments, waited for the acid in her gut to settle, and then headed out toward the lobby, index cards containing a few notes clasped in her hand.

  Friday afternoons tended to be busy for the shelter. People took the day off and came by, classes had field trips here, individuals who’d been vacillating about whether or not to bring home a new pet usually decided to do so before the weekend, so they’d have time to adjust. Today was no exception; the lobby was buzzing. The yellow bus she’d seen parked outside had expelled its contents of elementary-aged children, who were talking animatedly next to the cat wall. The phones rang pretty regularly and four volunteers sat behind the front desk today. Jessica noticed Lisa exit the hallway from the other offices, wave to her as she crossed the lobby, then open the door to the dog wing, which sent the decibel levels through the roof with barking and howling for a good five seconds. Then the door closed, and the atmosphere returned to just “very loud.”

  Jessica’s eyes landed on Sydney and she had to consciously pull her gaze away after a beat. Because staring is rude. She wore navy blue slacks and a powder blue, short-sleeved, summer weight sweater that was beautiful in its simplicity. A simply patterned, lightweight scarf was draped casually around her neck, the ends dangling down just past her breasts. Her hair was sleekly shiny and gorgeous, dark waves falling around her shoulders as she conversed with Connor near the front desk. When Sydney turned and made eye contact with her, Jessica felt her breath hitch as she wondered if she’d ever not be pleasantly startled by those eyes.

  “Hey there,” Sydney said as her heels clicked across the floor and she met Jessica halfway. “You look great.”

  “You think?” Jessica looked down at her dark jeans and seafoam green camp shirt. “The color’s not too pale? Janet always told me not to wear white because it would reflect too much light and make the picture go all wonky.” At Sydney’s half-grin, she added, “Technical term. Wonky.”

  “I’ve heard it. But seriously, you look great. The color’s perfect, plus it looks terrific on you. Complements your skin tone and hair. Which, by the way, looks amazing like that.”

  Jessica reached up and touched her hair self-consciously. She’d pulled some of it back with a clip and left the rest down. “I thought my usual ponytail might be too casual.” She shrugged.

  “Well, I love the ponytail as well, but this looks really terrific.” Sydney reached out and fingered a lock of Jessica’s hair, much to her surprise, and held her gaze for a beat before they were interrupted by Anna, who zipped across the lobby like she was on Rollerblades.

  “Hi,” she said, much too cheerfully for it to have been genuine, Jessica thought. She reached out and gave Sydney’s upper arm a squeeze, her closeness forcing Jessica and Sydney to step apart from each other. Jessica clenched her jaw. “Ready to do the tour?” Anna’s smile was wide and her eyes were bright and she seemed slightly bouncy, like she’d had way too much caffeine today.

  “Almost,” Sydney said, subtly stepping away. “Let me check with Connor, see where we’re at.” She turned on what looked to be a rather expensive heel.

  “God, she looks good, doesn’t she?” Anna said quietly to Jessica, then gave her that shoulder bump Jessica was beginning to detest.

  “I guess. I hadn’t really noticed,” Jessica lied, feeling Anna’s gaze turn toward her more than saw it.

  “Seriously? Do you need glasses?”

  “How’s my hair?” Jessica asked, desperately needing to change the subject. “I don’t wear it like this very often.”

  That seemed to snag Anna’s attention, at least for the moment, as she furrowed her brow and studied Jessica’s head. Reaching out, she moved a strand here, a hunk there, then fluffed the ends. “There. Perfect. You look terrific.” She cocked her head. “Are you nervous? You seem a little…shaky.”

  Jessica held out her hand and they both took note of the slight tremor in her fingers. “Damn it.”

  “You’ve done this a million times.” Anna rubbed a hand up and down Jessica’s upper arm. “Relax. You’re gonna be great.” Somebody from behind the front desk called Anna, and she hurried away.

  Sydney approached then, almost as if she’d waited for Anna to leave, her eyes on Jessica. Jeff followed behind her with his camera and Sydney gestured to another man, this one short, round, and balding, with an infectious grin and kind brown eyes. “This is Ron, our audio guy. He’ll make sure you sound good.”

  He reached out to shake Jessica’s hand and held up a small mic as Jeff stepped a few feet away to fiddle with his camera.

  “Gotta put this on,” Ron said matter-of-factly, but Sydney stepped in.

  “I’ll do it,” she said and took the little black piece out of his hand before he could argue. He shrugged his indifference and went back to his equipment. Sydney held up the contraption, which consisted of a small microphone on a wire. The wire led to a small, rectangular box. “Okay, this will clip onto the back of your pants,” Sydney said, stepping behind her. Jessica could feel Sydney’s fingers sliding along the waistband of her pants, brushing her skin, tugging gently until the transmitter was in place.

  Then came more.

  She flinched slightly as Sydney’s fingers brushed the bare skin of her waist underneath her shirt. “This has to go under and up to clip in the front,” she said, very quietly and very close to Jessica’s ear. Jessica turned to meet her gaze. A beat went by. Two beats. Sydney’s voice was a near-whisper as she asked, “You want to do it, or should I?”

  Jessica swallowed hard, could barely form words, but needed no time to think about her answer. “You,” she said softly. “Please.”

  With a nearly imperceptible nod, Sydney turned her gaze to the task. She slipped the hand holding the tiny mic directly up under Jessica’s shirt, the backs of her fingers sliding along Jessica’s bare stomach. She moved to stand in front of Jessica, blocking anybody else’s view as she used her other hand to dip down the front of the shirt, her fingertips inadvertently brushing against Jessica’s nipple as she grabbed the mic from one hand with the other. Jessica’s flesh hardened immediately and she hoped Sydney didn’t notice. Then she hoped she did.

  The moment was over instantly. The mic was clipped to the placket of her shirt, tucked in subtly so it could be seen, but barely.

  “There.” Sydney smoothed her hand over the spot, stood still for a moment before meeting Jessica’s eyes finally. Hers were dark and heavy with…Jessica tried not to think it, but the word screamed into her head and wouldn’t leave. Arousal. “You’re perfect.” Their eyes stayed locked for one more loaded moment before Sydney turned and walked toward another woman on her crew.

  Jessica pushed out a breath, felt her own blood rushing in her ears, knew her nipple was still erect and waiting for more contact. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard as too many thoughts blew through her head, too many for her to focus on. All she could do was breathe.
That was hard enough right now because she had never been so turned on in her life.

  When she opened her eyes again, Sydney was on her way back, the other woman in tow. She introduced Bridget, a twenty-something makeup artist with several tattoos on her arms, jet-black hair cut in a ragged bob, and huge blue eyes. “Bridget will make sure you’re not too shiny or washed out on camera.”

  Bridget stepped in and gathered up all of Jessica’s attention, which was a good thing. She patted a sponge along Jessica’s forehead, cheeks, chin, and neck. Then she swiped a coat of something on her lips. Jessica hoped it wasn’t too bright. She wasn’t a fan of bright lipstick. Her face must have conveyed her thoughts because Bridget smiled and said, “It’s just a little gloss. Trust me, you don’t need much of my help.” She winked.

  Jessica smiled at her and felt the blush rise in her cheeks.

  “Okay,” Sydney said as Ron came forward again, this time wearing headphones, and fiddled with her mic. “Here’s what I’m thinking. We start here in the main lobby and you talk about the shelter itself, how it came to be, how you got here. Jeff will be on you some of the time and he might pan around a bit, so don’t worry if you see the camera moving off of you. I’ll ask questions to lead you if I think you’re getting stuck or veering off topic, but we’ll edit me out mostly. With me so far?” She caught Jessica’s gaze with her own and Jessica felt her heart rate kick up a notch. Those damn eyes.