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He would notice every small thing about his dog and surroundings, yet nothing about the women vying for a glance his way. Historically, her gaydar had always been pretty on point, but she was getting no vibes from him which made the man all the more intriguing.
Why wasn’t he interested in any of these women?
She stole a glance at his ring finger — empty. So he wasn’t married. He could still have a girlfriend or fiancee at home though. Possibly even a wife. Not wearing a ring wasn’t a surefire sign of anything, especially in his line of work where any personal information could be used against him.
Edward, the manager of PAWS was sitting at his desk on a call when the two of them came into the room. In his sixties, he carried more pounds than his small frame warranted due to a fondness for his wife’s pies, and his gray hair was thinning on top, but he had the energy of someone half his age. He smiled and waved, pointing them both to a chair as he finished his call.
Lexi went to a water cooler and filled two paper cups, one which she handed to Kane, the other she poured into a steel bowl that sat on the floor.
“Here Bud, in case you’re thirsty.”
Bud’s giant pink tongue lapped up the water even though Kane was pretty sure his dog was fine. It was almost a rule of thumb that if you offered a dog a drink in a new bowl or location, they had to try it out, just for fun.
Edward hung up the phone, turned to face them.
“So who do we have here today?” His question was directed solely at Bud, who he was leaning forward in his chair to fuss. “Look at that coat and those bright eyes. You are a gorgeous thing aren’t you?”
“Now you’ve done it,” Kane replied. “He was already big-headed but now we’ll never fit him in the car again.”
Lexi found herself momentarily taken about by his instant friendliness to Edward. Where was this coming from?
Edward laughed. “Was he one of ours?”
“No. But he was a rescue.” Kane answered.
Edward’s smile grew bigger, if that were possible. He was a kind soul, full of love and goodness despite the worst of humanity he’d been privy to. He was the perfect person to run this place, and it had flourished under his care for the last twenty years.
“Good on you. We need more people to adopt rather than purchasing from puppy mills. Let’s not fund these criminals! Anyway, good to meet you. What brings you here today, has Lexi managed to persuade you to adopt another dog? Or perhaps you’re here to volunteer?”
Kane saw immediately why Edward was so good at this job. Within the space of seconds he had managed to ask the top two things of him that they needed without missing a beat or sounding rude.
“Not exactly.”
He let Lexi explain. She filled him in on the whole ordeal. As Edward heard the story, his face fell until no hint of his smile remained.
“Why, that’s simply awful. How terrible for you.”
“It might be nothing but dad wanted to make sure I was protected and that it wouldn’t happen again so Kane and Bud are my bodyguards. I wanted you to know the situation so you wouldn’t be startled or concerned if you came across either of them.”
“Thank you for trusting me with this. I will keep it confidential. Meanwhile, mi casa es su casa. If you need my assistance with anything, let me know. I take my staff’s safety very seriously, but particularly in the case of this lovely young lady here. Lexi has helped us so much and continues to do so with each passing day. No more harm must come to her!”
His compliment caused a blush to appear on her cheeks.
“That’s good to know,” Kane said and meaning it. He didn’t need the man’s permission, but it was kind of him to offer.
“Now, we had a date to discuss this party you are throwing didn’t we?”
“Yes. Are you good to talk now?”
Edward took out a pad and pen, giving Kane a sheepish look. “I’m old school, I’m afraid. Just can’t get a handle on computers. Can’t even send a text message without hitting all the wrong keys. It like I have asbestos thumbs.”
For the next two hours, while Edward made notes, the two discussed various aspects of the party. In addition to raising funds, Lexi was hoping to find homes for some of the longest residents of the shelter, both cats and dogs. A few were already showing signs of trauma, having been locked inside a cage for too long. Away from the noise and fanfare, Lexi planned on showcasing a few of these animals by setting up a meet and greet area in their home theater, which was soundproofed.
She hoped that as people interacted with them, they would fall in love and go home with a new and deserving pet, but they needed to make sure they had the best candidates for the job: it would be pointless trying to set up a home for a dog who was skittish around children when so many of the celebs who were attending had families of their own.
They ran through the database, noting down possible candidates. Lexi wanted around twenty possibilities. Any more than that and it would be hard to control, plus the animals might become too stressed being in such close vicinity of each other. It was very much a game of balance that they worked hard to get right.
When they had a final shortlist, Lexi decided to spend a bit of time getting to know each of the animals: if she was going to have them potentially adopted, she needed to be able to say she had firsthand experience with each pet and that they were safe to handle.
