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“Scared animals that don’t know what’s going on. If they’ve got a lot of animals now, it means they rescued a bunch from somewhere, or other shelters were overcrowded and moved animals around. Sometimes in natural disasters, like a fire or flood, animals will be shipped up from other states too. I’m curious to see what the situation is.”
When they were on the way, he said, “You know, sweetheart, if you want to keep volunteering at the shelter, I’d be happy to go with you. You don’t have to give it up for me.”
“I’m not giving it up for you; it was something I wanted to do while I had time on my hands between jobs. Plus, yesterday I met Luna and Cael at the petting zoo, and Cael said that I can help out whenever I’m free on the weekends. That would be really neat. They have baby goats!”
He gave her a sweet smile. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
She hummed, her body heating. “Right now? I just want you.”
“You’ve got me.”
“Then drive faster, sexy.”
ChapterTwelve
“So why did you pick this shelter to volunteer at?” Mercer asked as he drove to the animal shelter.
“Well, I got my cat Bootsy there,” she said. “He was my buddy for ten years, a stray that someone dropped off. I don’t know how old he was, but he wasn’t a kitten. He was black with white feet, and he loved to sit on my chest when I slept.”
Mercer glanced at her, and she was smiling. He’d never had a pet. As a lion, he could intimidate a natural animal if he wasn’t careful, which meant he’d have to be very careful at the shelter where the animals were already stressed being in cages.
“He died suddenly about six months ago; I’m not really sure what happened. A couple weeks after that, I stopped at the shelter just to see if they had any cats, and it made me really sad, so I knew I wasn’t ready to get another one. When I lost my job, I reached out to the shelter to see if they needed help and they were pretty desperate, so I spent time every day walking dogs and playing with cats. I wanted to help, even if I wasn’t ready to adopt one.”
“Do you think you’re ready yet?”
“No,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not ready to open my heart to another cat yet.”
His lion didn’t like that, but he reminded the beast that they weren’t really cats like she was thinking, but his beast was still a little miffed.
Arriving at the shelter, he parked in a volunteer spot. Rhomi had contacted the volunteer coordinator and asked if Mercer could come along, and they were happy to have another set of hands to help with all the animals they currently had.
She took his hand and they walked up the sidewalk, pressing a doorbell.
“They keep it locked all the time so they can control how many people come to see the animals at a time,” she said. “If they do an adoption event, like low-cost or no-cost fees, it can get crazy with lines for people coming in to see them.”
A woman with long, graying blond hair opened the door and smiled. “Hi there, you must be Mercer. I’m Laina, the volunteer director. Rhomi, I’m so sad you’re not going to be coming around anymore. You’ve been a wonderful addition to our volunteers.”
“It’s been fun.”
“Thanks for bringing a friend! We’ve got dogs that need walking and cats that need brushing. Who wants what?”
She glanced at him as they walked through the reception area, and he shrugged.
“Can we both walk dogs?”
“You bet.”
They gathered baskets of toys, treats, and brushes, then Rhomi took Mercer to the fenced-in areas. The concrete pads were surrounded by chain-link fencing with benches for the volunteers. She went into one and he went into the other.
“Sometimes the dogs get along, but we’ll probably be walking them on opposite sides of the yard.”
He put the basket on the bench and rocked back on his heels.
“This is pretty cool.”
She smiled sweetly at him. “I’m so glad you came with me.”
“Do you think there will be a cat that your mom would like?”
