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But Abbe didn’t want to hear any of his excuses. “You know what? Bring her back. Right now.”
“Abbe, are you okay?” Henry said. She held up an imperious finger to get him to be quiet.
“Who’s that?” Rafe asked, the tone of his voice dropping. “That’snotCharles.”
“No, it’s not, and don’t change the subject. Are you in a car with Daisy right now?” she snapped.
“Yes,” came Rafe’s tight reply.
“Bring her here to the shelter,” she said, ended the call and paced around a little bit more. Then, hearing Jinx who was still yipping himself hoarse, she bent down to let him out of his kennel.
“Sorry baby,” she said, soothing the sensitive dog. Whenever she got upset the animals did, too. She tried to calm down for Jinx’s sake.
“Who was that?” Henry asked as he started Jinx’s exam.
Abbe made a frustrated sound. “Someone I never should have trusted to adopt a special needs dog.”
“Daisy,” Henry said, nodding. He’d done her hip surgery.
“This guy, he made herflywith him.”
Henry made a disgusted sound. “Some people just don’t understand. They think any animal will be fine in cargo. They’re not like us, Abbe. They don’t get it.”
Something about the tone of his voice gave her pause. She realized how close they were standing and eased back as unobtrusively as she could, though, on second thought, she wondered why she was easing away from him at all. Henry was a good-looking guy. Young, kind, intelligent. He was also sensitive, caring, and great with animals—she could keep adding to this list all day. What wasn’t there to love about him? But as soon as she asked herself that, the thought of Rafe and what he did to her chased the possibility of Henry right out of her mind.
ShewantedRafe—wanted him right down the bone. Which was terribly unfortunate because she had just decided that as soon as she got Daisy back, she was never going to see him again.
In another half an hour, Henry circled back to Abbe to tell her he was finished. Jinx was still trembling with little dog rage, so she held onto him to keep him quiet.
“You know, I think that’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen,” Henry said appraisingly.
“Thanks,” Abbe said, rolling her eyes.
Henry chuckled. “No, I mean that in a good way. Did you know there are ugly dog competitions? And that you can win prize money and, more importantly, get dogs like that adopted? There’s a competition next weekend on the North Shore. You should bring Jinx. He’s a natural.”
“Huh,” Abbe said, petting the hideous dog in her arms. “I’ll look into it. Thanks, Henry.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, looking away. “You know, we could go together—"
Whatever Henry was going to say was cut off. Abbe’s head turned when she heard a car door slam outside, a male voice barking orders at the driver, and then the jingle of a dog collar as someone came up to the door.
Knowing it was Rafe, and knowing he had at least listened to her and brought Daisy back, she went to the reception area and braced herself for a fight.
Seven
The door flung open and Rafe stormed in, looking furious. He was wearing a suit—something Abbe hadn’t seen him wear yet—and a long camel-colored wool coat. Abbe wasn’t a fashion-obsessed person but you’d have to be an idiot to not know that he was head-to-toe bespoke. He looked like he was stomping down an Italian runway, except for the fact that his expression was more, “bloody murder” than it was, “I’m too sexy.”
Daisy trotted next to him, her tail wagging and tongue lolling, happy to be back at a familiar place, or maybe just happy in general, Abbe couldn’t tell.
“Well, here she is. Safe and sound,” Rafe said, gesturing to Daisy, who obviously looked great. “Mydog. And I’m not giving her back.”
Abbe came around the reception desk to yell at Rafe properly. “You’re lucky Daisy is okay! I told you about her hip problem! How could youcrateher—”
“Wait, what!? I would never crate Daisy!” Rafe yelled back. “She slept on my bed the whole flight!”
Abbe pulled back, frowning with confusion. “What bed?” she asked.
“My bed.”
