AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She extends her hand with a cautious smile. "Samantha," she says. "But everyone calls me Sam."
"Evan," I reply. "Everyone calls me Evan. You ready to get started?"
As Sam grips my hand, I feel a jolt of electricity shoot up my arm. I can't remember the last time I felt this kind of attraction to someone. It's not like me to get distracted like this on a job, but Sam has me absolutely mesmerized.
I clear my throat and try to compose myself.
"Yeah, let's get started," I say, motioning to the kennels. "We've got fifteen dogs to load up."
Sam nods, her eyes flicking over to the door. "I can't wait to get them up to Oregon."
I open the door for her and she walks in with me, the two of us waving at the assistants at the desk in the lobby. I lead Sam back to where the dogs are already in their harnesses--a couple pittie mixes, mostly mutts, and a litter of three unidentifiable terriers.
"What little cuties!" Sam exclaims, but she doesn't go straight for the puppies like I expected; instead, she makes a bee-line for a grey pitbull, the dog wagging her tail cautiously. Sam kneels and scratches her behind the ears, nuzzling her nose.
"Looks like an instant connection," I say, crossing my arms.
Sam glances up at me. "It always is," she chuckles, "but I have four at home already, along with a seven-year-old. The chaos never stops."
It's only then that I notice the wedding ring on her finger.Damn. Off-limits, then.
"Ready to get started?" I ask.
She nods. "Let's get these babies on the road to their forever homes."
As we start to load the dogs up, Sam and I work together like we've known each other for years. We've got a system down pat: I get the dogs led out of the shelter, then she loads them into the back of the van and settled in their kennels.
"How long have you been at this?" I ask during one exchange.
She frowns, taking one of the puppies out of my arms. "Huh...gotta think about that. Fifteen years?"
"Fifteen years?" I repeat. "No fucking way."
She scoffs. "Why do you say that? Don't I seem experienced enough?"
I laugh. "Nah...just don't look old enough."
There isn't much time for small talk as we load up the dogs, especially if we want to make it to our host family's house by nightfall. Another animal rescue volunteer will put us up for the evening, before we keep driving onward to Oregon, and the dogs will get a chance to run around...but only if we hurry.
As we continue to load up the pups, I feel the heat of the sun beating down on my skin. I can feel sweat starting to bead on my forehead, but I don't want to let it show in front of Sam. I've always been good at keeping my cool, even in the most stressful of situations. But there's something about her that makes me feel like I'm losing my grip.
Maybe that something is the damn ring on her finger, and the fact that I can't just turn off my attraction to her.
Once all the dogs are loaded up, we hop in the van and start our journey. Sam is behind the wheel, and as we pull out onto the highway, I can't help but steal glances at her. A lock of her black hair has fallen over her face, and she keeps blowing it out of the way like she can't be bothered to move it. The dogs whine in the back as we make our way through the city streets, but I'm hoping they'll calm down once we get out of traffic and onto the highway.
"So, what's your story?" she asks suddenly, breaking the silence.
"My story?" I repeat, caught off guard. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, how did you get into this line of work?"
I shrug. "I've always been an animal lover; we lived on a farm for a while when I was a little kid, and we had all kinds of livestock and animals around. I started volunteering at shelters in high school and just kind of fell into this work after that."
Sam nods, her eyes on the road ahead. "Yeah, I get that. I was the same way. My mom used to say I was born with a leash in my hand."
I chuckle. "Sounds about right."
"You have any plans once you're in Oregon, or are you off on the next adventure?"
