by Melody Anne
“Quit calling me sugar,” she said, trying to clear her head.
“But you are so damn sweet,” he told her. There was the cockiness she’d been looking for.
That was so much easier to face than the kind, gentle person he turned into sometimes. The jokester, alpha macho man she could resist—mostly; the gentle giant she wanted to fall against.
No. She refused to rely on anyone.
“You ready to go?”
“I told you, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Look, I’ll back off on the fund-raiser for the day. I want to take you somewhere special to me. Only if you agree afterward will we talk about the project.”
She tried to find a flaw with his reasoning but couldn’t. She sort of wanted to go out with him. Why else would she have gotten up and dressed, taking extra care with her hair and makeup?
He saw her hesitation and pounced.
“Lins, I don’t take no for an answer. Just give me a chance, and you’ll see I’m a great guy.”
There was the gentle giant again. Still, she hesitated. He sighed as he gave her a look.
“Okay, sug, I’m not looking for a marriage. There are reasons for that, but it’s the last thing I want. However, I can’t keep thoughts of you away, and I want to see where this is going,” he admitted.
“I don’t even know who I am right now, so I don’t want some fairy-tale ending, either,” she whispered.
“Then let’s just be friends, and I’ll give you a great day.”
He was so smooth, and he was telling her upfront that this wouldn’t last. That’s what she wanted, she assured herself. She hadn’t decided to go with him, yet she found herself nodding her head. What the heck? That hadn’t been what she’d intended to do.
“You need to tie your hair up and put on some tennis shoes,” he said with a wicked smile that had her worried all over again. The gentle giant was gone again.
“Fine. If I agree to this . . . outing, will you leave me alone?”
“Nope. I didn’t say I would back off, I just said I’d give you a break,” he said.
“What if I can’t stand being around you?” she challenged.
He leaned forward, his body heat scorching her. Her breathing shortened and she had to fight not to reach around and tug him closer.
“Sugar, we both know that’s not the case. We’re going to be lucky if we both don’t spontaneously combust while spending time together. But don’t worry, I won’t take you until you’re ready . . . and begging me to.”
Gulping, Lindsey stood there without moving a muscle. She had the strong urge to pull him the last inch needed for his body to brush against hers. Dang it! Why him?
When Stormy touched her she flinched. And Lindsey skirted Cooper like he was a demon trying to suck out her soul. So why was it that, of all people, Maverick was the one she didn’t fear? It wasn’t as if they had an actual connection. So why, in her darkest hour, did it seem he was the only person she could stand to be so close to?
“It’s chemistry and trust,” he whispered as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against her cheek.
“What is?” she gasped as her stomach trembled.
“What you’re feeling.”
Could the man also read minds? Did she have to veil her thoughts? She squinted at him as he pulled back.
“Your brown eyes are like an open book, sugar. I can read the conflict in them, the confusion. I can see you don’t understand what draws you to me. I’m just a very likeable guy,” he told her.
The shining smile he gave her stabilized the turbulence she was feeling.
“You are so full of yourself, Mav.”
“That I am, sug. That I am,” he said, but blessedly he moved backward. “Finish getting ready. We’re going to be late.”
Pulling herself away from the couch, Lindsey decided it would be easier not to fight the man. Hopefully the outing would be such a disaster he’d give up on this mission of his and let her go.
Why that thought brought instant sadness to her, she would never know. But somehow she found herself going to the closet and grabbing a light jacket and changing into tennis shoes.
Let the adventure begin.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Though her nerves were stretched a little bit thin, at least the panic was at bay as Lindsey climbed into Maverick’s large Ford F350. It was a good thing he had running boards on the dang truck, otherwise she would have had to take a running jump—and still most likely would have come up short.
“I don’t think your truck is quite big enough,” she commented when he was sitting in the driver’s seat.
“I like big things,” he told her with a wink.
“Are you making up for something?” she muttered.
Instead of scowling at her as she’d expected, his eyes twinkled as he hit her with that killer smile before turning the key and having the engine roar to life.
“Sugar, you have a firsthand account that there’s nothing small about me. Just in case you’ve forgotten, all you gotta do is ask to have another peek,” he said as he threw the truck into drive and began pulling down Cooper’s long driveway.
Much to her irritation, Lindsey’s cheeks flamed as she folded her arms and wisely decided to stare ahead of her. She hadn’t bothered asking where they were going. She knew she was at the mercy of Maverick.
There was a real sort of freedom in letting go, in letting the man take over for a few minutes, or more likely a few hours. For some reason she knew he wasn’t going to lead her into danger. He wasn’t even going to lead her into something she couldn’t handle.
When they pulled up to a large building and stopped, Lindsey was confused. She looked around but couldn’t exactly figure out what they were doing. Where was he bringing her?
She was . . . disappointed. She really shouldn’t have had any expectations about the day, and she didn’t—not really. She hadn’t allowed herself to even think about it. But she hadn’t expected him to bring her to the city.
“Ready?”
Lindsey hadn’t even seen Mav get out of the truck, but there he was with an eager smile holding open her door.
“For what?” she asked as she allowed him to assist her out of the monstrous truck.
“For our first official date,” he said as he closed the door and took her hand.
She tried tugging away from him, but it was useless. She gave up.
“This isn’t a date,” she informed him. “It’s an outing.”
If she could possibly sound any more proper she didn’t know how. Mav wasn’t bothered by her coldness though. He just threw back his head and chuckled before tugging her along.
Lindsey was even more confused when they came up to a building with a large sign on it saying “Animania.” It had different animal paws adorning its windows. Mav walked up to the door with her trailing behind.
“Do we have a pit stop?” she asked as he pulled her into the large lobby filled with people, furniture, animal toys, and laughter.
“Nope,” he said, excitement practically beaming off him.
Before she could say anything, a perky, petite blonde came rushing forward and threw her arms around Mav before standing back.
“You’re late. I think Benji is about to gnaw his way out of the cage,” she said before turning her full attention to Lindsey. “You must be Lindsey, it’s great to meet you. Mav said he was bringing you in today. I’m Cindy. Your companion is going to be Princess.”
“My companion?” Lindsey asked.
“Yep. Princess has been sad this week so she will really love a little extra-special attention,” Cindy said as she began moving toward a door.
Apparently they were following the girl, because Mav tugged on Lindsey’s hand and they went through the door and down a hall, then out another door that led them to a breezeway.
“What is this place?” Lindsey asked as they kept moving. It was huge.
“This is Animania, the best animal shelter in all of Washin
gton. Mav here is the founder, and he comes in at least once a week if not more when time allows.”
“You own this place?” Lindsey didn’t know why she was so surprised. He seemed to be a sucker for lost causes.
“No. It’s a nonprofit. I just started it,” he said as he looked away, seeming uncomfortable.
“I . . . uh . . . wow,” she whispered, a little too awed by him at the moment to form words.
“It’s not a big deal, sug. I love animals and too many people don’t. So if they have to be boarded up, I figured they deserved a nice vacation home,” he said, getting his groove back as he winked.
“What are we doing here?” she asked. She’d long since stopped trying to pull her hand away.
“We’re taking a couple of the dogs out on a walk to the park. We have lots of volunteers who walk the dogs, but the more hands the better.”
They entered another large area where a huge field was fenced and several animals were running around. There were also clean, roomy areas where several animals were resting.
In the middle of the structure, they came up to a cage where two dogs were eagerly gazing out. One had his tail wagging a mile a minute, and the other was peeking up before looking back down again, its tail twitching a little bit as Mav bent down and spoke.
“Hey Benji, it looks like you have a new pretty companion,” Mav said in a silly voice.
Benji looked to be a cross between a poodle and a lab and maybe even a boxer. Lindsey didn’t know much about animals, but he wasn’t the prettiest animal she’d ever seen. He appeared to be about forty pounds, ten pounds of which had to be fur. Princess was smaller, probably only about fifteen pounds, and looked like maybe a cross between a Chihuahua and a beagle. She was cute with her silver fur and shy eyes. Could dogs have shy eyes?
Lindsey found herself sitting down on the floor as the door to the enclosure was opened. Suddenly her throat was tight as Princess slowly moved toward her, frightened. Lindsey instantly wanted to protect this puppy.
She hadn’t ever been much of an animal lover. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them, just that she was slightly afraid of dogs—especially big dogs. But Princess seemed so vulnerable that she wasn’t at all afraid of the little girl.
“Hi, Princess. Want to walk with me today?” She didn’t even think twice about speaking so seriously to a dog.
The little girl’s ears perked up, and though she moved tentatively, she came up to Lindsey and sniffed her hand. When Lindsey moved her fingers, Princess took a step back and flinched, and tears immediately popped into Lindsey’s eyes. Someone had hurt Princess. It was more than obvious, and everything inside her ached to protect this puppy from ever being abused again.
Lindsey understood the puppy’s fear because of what she herself had gone through, but she didn’t want to focus on that. She just wanted to take care of this hurt animal in front of her.
“What happened to her?” she asked in a choked voice as she continued holding out her hand. Princess walked back up, taking her time. This time Lins didn’t move her fingers but stayed still.
“She was rescued from a breeding camp where they’d kept her in a tiny cage producing puppies. Obviously, she wasn’t shown a lot of affection, and one of the people in the house, who is currently in jail, liked to kick the dogs for fun.” The barely contained rage in Mav’s voice was mirrored in the horror that Lindsey felt at such monstrous behavior.
“How could someone hurt her? She’s so small, so afraid,” Lins said with a choked voice.
“Because there are monsters out there who get off on inflicting pain on people and animals.”
As he said this, he gave her a look of understanding. Had he brought her here knowing she would make comparisons with her own abused soul? She had a feeling he had. But she wasn’t upset with him. She was actually starting to understand that there was a lot more depth to Maverick than he wanted the world to know about.
“Thanks for bringing me here, Mav,” she said as Princess climbed into her lap.
Slowly Lindsey began petting her. The dog was shaking, but she wasn’t pulling away. Lins wanted to pull her tight to her chest and reassure her that everything would be okay now, but she knew better than anyone that it wasn’t always okay.
“Thanks for coming with me,” he said as he reached over and chucked her chin, then stood up. “Ready to take these guys on a walk.”
“It looks like they have a giant playground here,” she pointed out. They’d passed a huge grassy field coming into this part of the shelter.
“Yes, but they like getting out of here too. It’s good for them to experience lots of new smells. I chose this location to build because a couple blocks down the road is a great animal park, and they get to meet new friends.”
He helped her stand, though Lindsey didn’t want to let go of Princess, who looked up at her with those shy eyes once she was on her feet.
The aide snapped the leash in place and handed it to Lindsey, then said good-bye and trotted off as a coworker called her to come and help.
Benji was raring to go, so they began the journey out the back of the shelter. Though Princess wasn’t in a huge hurry, she was staying pretty close to Lindsey’s feet as they began making their way through the streets.
“He’s pretty full of energy, isn’t he?” she said with a laugh as Benji tugged on his leash when a cat ran in front of him across the sidewalk. He barked a few times before he lost interest.
“Yeah, he’s been with us a few months. I’m pretty attached to him,” Mav told her.
“Have you thought about adopting him?”
“Every single day. But I’m gone a lot, and sort of live out of a bag. It wouldn’t be fair to him, or any animal. I’ve been thinking more and more about changing my life. If he’s still with us . . .” He trailed off.
“Changing your life how?”
“I’m just gone far too much to have an animal I’m responsible for. It might be time to change things.” He didn’t elaborate.
They reached the park. There was a fenced section where smaller animals were playing without leashes on. There were even a few play structures that the dogs were climbing. It was the funniest thing Lins had ever seen.
“Is this all for the animals?” she asked as they walked inside, Mav latching the gate behind them. He led her to a bench and then undid Benji, who raced off to play with the other dogs.
“Yep. It’s all for them,” he told her.
She undid Princess’s leash, but the dog just looked up at Lindsey with those beautiful, sad eyes. So instead of making her run off, Lindsey picked her up and cradled her in her lap while she leaned back and talked to Mav.
“She’s not getting exercise sitting in your lap,” he said with a laugh.
He moved slowly as he brought up his hand and let Princess sniff it before he scratched her behind her ears.
“She needs snuggle time more than running,” Lins told him, feeling over-protective of the animal she most likely would never see again. That thought sent a pang of sadness through her.
“She still needs a home,” Mav said.
The instant desire to take her was overwhelming. But before Lins could even entertain that idea, she tamped it back down.
“I can’t take her. I don’t even have my own place right now.”
“Coop and Stormy wouldn’t care at all if you had Princess living there with you,” he told her. “And I know for a fact that neither of them are in a hurry for you to leave,” Mav said.
Princess was obviously getting comfortable because she fell asleep in Lindsey’s lap, practically purring as she relaxed.
“I can’t hide there forever,” she said with a sigh.
Instantly, Lindsey wanted to kick herself. She hadn’t wanted to admit that hiding was exactly what she was doing, especially not to Maverick, who seemed to be far too intuitive as it was.
“You won’t feel like hiding at all by the time you realize how great life can be,” he told her. “That is, ho
w great it is to have such an amazing friend like me,” he added with a wink.
She was grateful he didn’t harp on her admission that she was hiding. She much preferred that he joke with her. She would rather deal with his slightly obnoxious flirting than talk about real feelings and emotions.
“Now, come on. Let’s throw some balls.” She gave him an odd look and he laughed. “Not my balls, sugar. I’m sort of attached to those.”
Lindsey hated the instant blush suffusing her cheeks, but when he took her elbow, she gently set Princess on the ground and then let him pull her along. She was thrilled when Princess trotted after them.
Mav called Benji over and then pulled out a couple of small tennis balls from his pocket. They went to the side and threw them. Benji was great at chasing them down and bringing them back for another throw. Princess looked at her like she was crazy when she told her to go get one.
Lindsey laughed and sat down on the ground. Mav handed her a small rope and she brushed it on the ground in front of Princess. After a little while, the dog let out a quiet little growl and then attacked the rope. But even her bites were gentle as she tugged on it, making Lindsey laugh.
They stayed a couple of hours and still, when Mav told her it was time to go back, Lindsey wanted to refuse. She wasn’t ready to let Princess go yet, especially since she was starting to look a little less sad.
When they walked into the shelter, this time with Lindsey carrying Princess since she was worn out from all their playing, Lindsey wanted to just turn around and run out the front door with the puppy safely in her arms. But it was selfish of her to keep the dog. She wasn’t prepared enough to do so.
Still, as they walked out, the little dog’s sad eyes trailing after them, Lindsey couldn’t help the tears that popped into her own eyes.
“She’s yours if you want her,” Mav said as he stopped with her leaning against the truck.
“I . . . I can’t,” she said, feeling like crying her eyes out. He didn’t push her any further, just helped her inside the truck.
They drove for several moments without either of them speaking.
“Thank you for the day, Mav. It was a lot . . . better than I expected,” she told him.