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Ethan turned his head enough to see Shaggy, who was slightly terrifying at such proximity, with her head on his shoulder. “Um…”
Rue drew her hand to her mouth, then without missing a beat raised her camera and start snapping photos.
“Don’t you dare move,” she said, her voice steeped with mischief.
He didn’t, not even when she lowered the camera and scooted right next to him and presented the display. “Is this not adorable?”
Ethan studied the picture. It was him, smiling. An unfamiliar sight, he realized with a pang. Shaggy, who was so ugly she was almost cute, had her chin resting on his shoulder, her eyes rolled toward him in a plaintive, pleading expression that was somehow as funny as it was pitiful. He gave Shaggy’s leathery skin a pat. Upon closer inspection, he found the dog did have a sparse patch of hair on her side, and he scratched it lightly. Her tail thumped a fast tempo.
“You guys are ganging up on me,” he said. As he spoke, two of the puppies tumbled simultaneously from the basket. He and Rue made a grab for them at the same time, both of them missing. They bumped shoulders, and when Rue tipped to the side, he made a grab for her, only for them both to end up in a heap. In the immediate aftermath, no one moved, and he became blissfully, painfully aware of her warm curves pressed and nestled against him. It had been years since he’d felt that kind of body contact, and while guilt wasn’t the first emotion that hit him, it quickly followed, extinguishing all the warmth that preceded it.
Then the puppy assault began.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one lope, then tumble, landing in a tail-wagging, tongue-lapping ball of fur against Rue’s chin. She squealed and curled against Ethan, and he had little time to react before he felt a similar attack against his own cheek.
Until that moment, he’d forgotten just how ticklish he was.
Or how it felt to laugh. Really laugh.
By the time they extricated themselves from the ball of puppies, his face and stomach hurt in long-forgotten ways. He hadn’t felt so light in ages…at least not until his eyes met Rue’s, and an emotion he couldn’t identify socked him in the gut.
She smiled, and when his gaze tracked to her lips, he realized how close they were. Only inches separated them, and so few of those that he thought he felt her breath brush his face. Old feelings stumbled back from hidden corners of his heart. Like what it felt like for someone to look at him like that across a shared pillow, or to wake tangled in someone’s arms. But to his surprise, his mind’s eye hadn’t taken him back to Amy. Instead he saw Rue, blue eyes electric with laughter, mouth so perfect he couldn’t help but be drawn to it. Or her. He’d never met anyone like her. So much life. She made the somewhat smelly, decidedly unpolished back room of an animal shelter beautiful—not just because of how she looked, but for what she did.
“We should get back to work,” she said, breaking the moment. Not that it was a moment.
He’d probably freaked her out, staring at her like he had, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help wanting that absolute zest she had for everything in life. He thought of her sharks and volcanoes and penguins. Definitely everything.
Not the kind of woman any man could hold.
Oddly, that made him feel better. He stood before he could give that too much thought. “I’m on puppy-wrangling duty.”
She drew easily to her feet. She had a great athletic body, muscles long and lean, but she still had curves. There wasn’t a man alive who wouldn’t notice a body like hers—especially not after the unexpected pleasure of finding himself pressed against it.
And he was staring again.
She cleared her throat. “I’ll just go see who Kate has ready next.”
Two hours later, they’d worked their way through every animal at the shelter. Even Shaggy, who thumped her tail relentlessly at the attention. Ethan was pretty sure the mutt actually smiled.
He knew he did. Amy had been a big supporter of animals, but her action had been in fundraisers and food drives. He’d never seen this side of things, and if asked, he probably wouldn’t have expected a photograph could make such a difference. But he saw now.
