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The rhythm of filling the bowls had my mind wandering. Seeing Ford last night had freaked me out, but what had me even more on edge was what he’d done. My hand started to drift to my lips, but I managed to stop myself halfway there. I couldn’t think about it again, not after going over and over it in my mind last night. It was on a constant loop—the way his hand curved around my waist, the way his palm felt against the side of my neck, but it was nothing compared to the softness of his lips. Damn. I was thinking about it again.
Growing up with a family like mine wasn’t easy. I was surrounded by men—men who protected what was theirs at any cost. My dad was a DEA agent who’d become the head of his department, and my “uncles” were all on his team. Uncle Jord was the guy I went to when I needed help with my computers. Uncle Ryan was the serious one, the one who I could talk about what I wanted to be when I grew up—spoiler alert, I still had no idea what that was. And Uncle Ky was…well, he was Uncle Ky, the womanizer of the group. All four of them had gone through the academy together and had known each other since they were my age.
But Ford…
Ford was different. Ford had had a rough life, and you didn’t need to be aware of his entire history to know that. He had an edge to him, an edge which only ever seemed to soften when he talked to me. But the older I got, the more I realized I didn’t look at him in the same way I looked at Jord, or Ryan, or Ky. My stomach fluttered when Ford showed up, and my smile would almost break my face when I saw him for the first time in weeks after he’d been away on a job.
It was different with Ford. So different. But I’d never acted on it. I’d known him all my life. He was part of the family, part of my dad’s team, my mom’s best friend. So I pushed it aside. And I’d managed to not think about it, not since I was a pre-teen with braces. But last night had brought it all bubbling back to the surface. One touch of his lips, and I was helpless to stop the flooding feelings consuming me.
“Feeding is done,” Betty announced, once again making me jump. My fingers were wrapped around a scoop inside the dry biscuits tub, and I had no idea how long I’d been standing here. Betty pulled off her plastic disposable feeding apron. “I’ve got to head out to the library.”
I nodded as I cleared my throat. “Sure. Who’s taking over from me tonight?”
“I think it’s Lou, but you’ll have to check the schedule.” Betty removed her apron and smiled wide at me. “I’ll see you around campus?”
“Yep.” I nodded. The shelter had around ten volunteers, seven who were college students. Some did it so they could add it as extra credit, but I did it simply because I liked to be able to cuddle the dogs and stroke the cats while they purred in my arms. It was such a simple reason, but no one ever believed me—not that I cared.
I washed my hands in the sink as I heard Betty exit through the back door, and pushed my shoulders back. It was time to go and show these animals some love, and I knew my first stop would be Lottie. She was gentle and loving; always tilting her head to the side as if she didn’t understand what anyone was saying. Stroking her and making her feel safe was a universal language, so we managed just fine.
The smile on my face now was genuine, and the closer I got to the cage Lottie was kept in, the bigger it got.
“Hey there, beautiful lady.”
I undid the lock on her door, and she sat in the middle of the cage, her tail wagging in excitement, but otherwise, she was deathly still. I opened the door and stepped inside, then closed it behind me. As soon as my knees hit the floor and I opened my arms, she came running at me. She was a Belgian Malinois; she was a big dog, but she managed to not knock me over.
I laughed, the sound echoing off the concrete walls. “I missed you too,” I told her, pushing my fingers into her soft, short fur.
I liked to think I showed all the dogs the same attention as Lottie, but the truth of the matter was, I didn’t. From the moment a stranger brought her in as a stray, and I’d looked into her eyes, I knew there was some kind of connection. It sounded insane, especially as my family wasn’t big on pets, but there was just something about Lottie that had me wanting to protect her.
I’d taken her home a couple of times toward the beginning of her stay, but Justin—Stella’s boyfriend—was allergic to dogs, so he wouldn’t come around to see Stella. Which, in turn, meant I had to stop bringing her home.
I pushed my face into the fur of her neck as her paws rested on my shoulders and just breathed her in. It was only a matter of time before she’d have to leave, but I didn’t want to think about that. I’d rather she left having been adopted than…
A lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t bear to let the thought enter my mind. I’d do anything to make sure Lottie had a home to go to because the alternative wasn’t an option.
After having a significant amount of snuggles, and giving her two extra treats I’d bought myself, I stood and wiped the fur off my dark-blue T-shirt. “I better get on with cleaning the cages out, Lottie.” She stared up at me, her ears perking up at my words. “I’ll co
me back before my shift is over,” I told her, backing away toward the door. Her tail stopped wagging, and she watched me with rapt attention as I moved out of her cage and back into the pathway between the two lines of kennels.
I hated having to leave her little home, but I didn’t have a choice. I had a certain amount of jobs I needed to get done before I could go, and one of them was checking the emails. We were also an adoption center, and we got to vet the people who would become their owners. I’d had hundreds of people walk through the kennels and choose their new pets, but each and every time, they’d look at Lottie and then walk on by.
Shaking my head, I opened up the emails and went through them one by one, setting up several visits. I was just replying to the last email when my cell rang on the desk next to me. Mom’s face flashed on the screen, and my stomach dipped. Had Ford told Mom and Dad that he saw me last night? What if she was calling to tell me off? I mean, I could have destroyed his undercover operation, but…
My fingers drifted to my lips, and I could have sworn I felt Ford’s gentle caress against them. As a kid, I’d imagined so many times what that would feel like, but nothing compared to when it actually happened. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach just thinking about it, and—
Crap. The cell.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Belle.” Her sigh rang out over the line. “I thought you were never going to answer.”
I chuckled, the sound uneasy. “Sorry, I was…” I stared around the room and swallowed. Neither Mom nor Dad knew I volunteered at the shelter, and they certainly didn’t know I worked a couple of shifts at the coffee house each week. I had a scholarship, and they were paying for my off-campus apartment, so they assumed that I was all set, but I wanted to have freedom. I wanted to be independent, explore everything I could, and that included working for actual money but also giving back to the community.
“Studying.”
Mom made a sound in the back of her throat. “So, you can’t talk?”
“I…I can talk a little. Why? What’s up?”
