Page 122 of Love Without Control

“I think that’s it, Dane. Now scoot,” Maria ordered, giving me a light shove between the shoulders. She’d come a long damn way from the shy girl who nervously called me Mr. Osbourne every time she saw me.

I arrived at the Furry Love animal shelter with five minutes to spare and was met at the front door by the director, Mrs. Starrett. “Mr. Osbourne, so nice to see you.”

“You, as well,” I said, opening the back of my vehicle and extracting the dolly. She peered into one of the clear-topped boxes and clapped her hands beneath her chin.

“Oh, these are just perfect! Look at all the pretty colors!”

Barry and I had decorated fifteen dozen paw print cookies in a rainbow of colors over the weekend, and I had to admit, they were eye-catching. And fucking delicious.

I wheeled the boxes into the facility, and Mrs. Starrett directed me to an area where two long tables were set up along the wall. “So you’re having a drive to get more pets adopted?” I asked, helping her place the individually wrapped cookies on pretty platters.

“Yep. We always need people coming in to adopt our furry little friends, so we decided to bribe them with cookies. Thank you for the gracious discount, by the way.”

“No problem at all. Happy to help.” I held up a box with an X marked on the side. “We tried something new and thought we’d see if you wanted to try them out. These are homemade dog biscuits. I did research on them, and they’re made from all natural ingredients and are safe for big dogs and puppies.”

Her eyes lit up, and she opened the box, pulling out a few of the small bone-shaped treats. “Oooh, let’s do some market research, shall we? Follow me.”

I trailed her into an area where puppies frolicked in a low-fenced enclosure. Three of them bounded over when she stepped over the barrier and squatted down. “Here you go, babies,” she cooed. “Mr. Osbourne brought you a little treaty-treat.”

Two of the pups grabbed their snacks in their mouths and scampered off, but the third, a small blond dog, rolled onto his back and held the bone between his front paws. Mrs. Starrett and I both laughed when he took a tentative nibble and literally sighed.

“I guess he’s a fan,” I said, stepping over the low fence and squatting to give the pup a belly rub. He snarfed down the rest of his cookie before rolling over and running laps around me. “You sure are cute, little buddy.”

He gave me an agreeable yip and then leaped into my arms. I chuckled, holding his warm, furry body to my chest.

“It looks like you’ve made a friend, Mr. Osbourne,” the director said, her gaze shrewd. “Do you have a backyard?”

Ten minutes later, my gullible ass was walking to the front of the facility with a puppy in my arms. Eden would adore him, and I wanted nothing more than to bring a little joy to my wife. As we were passing through the clear-fronted enclosures holding the cats, my new pet let out a whimper.

“What’s wrong, little dude? Are you scared of cats?”

I walked closer to where his brown gaze was directed, and he held out a paw that seemed too big for his body and pressed it against the plexiglass. The little black-and-white kitten inside rose up on her back legs and laid her front paws in the same spot. Then the pup licked the glass, and the kitten did the same.

“Awww, it would be a shame to separate them,” Mrs. Starrett said.

“You are an evil, manipulative woman,” I said, feigning exasperation but not really feeling it.

“That’s what my husband says. Shall we take them to the play area to see if they get along?”

After another thirty minutes, I opened the passenger side of the SUV and loaded the pet carrier holding the puppy and kitten, who were curled up together on a pink blanket. Both of them were fast asleep.

“Here are your supplies,” Mrs. Starrett said, handing over a large bag with the shelter’s logo imprinted on it. “There’s enough food for each of them for two days.”

“I’m getting out of here before you can foist a hamster or some other damn critter on me,” I complained, climbing in behind the wheel.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Osbourne,” she said sweetly, but I was pretty sure she was doing some kind of evil witch laugh on the inside.

Chapter 40

Ituckedthebookbeneath my arm and trudged through the sand. Juli’s latest romance novel was phenomenal, though her original—the one where Evie was the main character—would always be my favorite.

The butter house came into view, and I sighed. I needed to apologize to Dane again. I’d pulled “the father card,” and that wasn’t right of me. I’d been frustrated and allowed the words to come out before I could think better of it.

Sure, he’d been rough around the edges when we first met, but he’d turned his entire life around. Now he was a legit businessman and a damn fine husband. He’d done it all for me and deserved better than my barbed words.

Setting down my stuff on the lanai table, I opened the back door, fully prepared to ask forgiveness.Perhaps on my knees,I thought wickedly a second before I heard Dane’s voice.

“Don’t you dare pee on the rug.”

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