Page 7 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

“Dog fighting rings.” His eyebrows shot up as he stared at me. “Bronson wasn’t used to fight. We think they saw his size and breed and thought they had a fighter, but when his true nature revealed itself?—”

“Shit.” He barely breathed that out. “Shit.” It was as if he could see the story behind each scar, and that had his frown deepening. “So, does he have anyone interested in him?”

“No.” I sucked in a breath, then another. Some of the dogs here were dumped, some surrendered as their owner’s circumstances changed, but it was dogs like Bronson that broke my heart. “He actually finds it really hard to warm up to people. When prospective adopters come past his cage, they see this massive scarred pit bull and either think he’ll be some big tough guard dog or that he’s too scary to consider.”

“Scary?” His expression softened as Bronson pushed his head into the man’s chest. “Not you, fella.” Bronson nearly knocked me out with his tail as it began to wag furiously, those little excited whimpers going again. “No, you’re a good boy, aren’t you?” Garrett sat back on his heels with a rueful smile. “I came here to adopt a cat.”

“Oh…” My face fell, and that was completely unprofessional, but right now I couldn’t seem to stop myself. For a minute, I thought… I shook my head and plastered on a smile, and Garrett caught every single shift in my expression. There was a strange kind of quiet focus about him. “Right, so the cats are through that door.”

I pointed to where he needed to go, but instead he just focussed on me.

“But I think my plans have changed.” He held my gaze for far too long, making me feel squirmier by the second. I could keep my cool around guys usually, but regarding the dogs? I wanted to hard sell every single one of them to prospective adopters, even though I knew that was madness. Not everyone who thought they wanted to adopt a dog should. “How do I apply to adopt this guy?”

“I…” My heart was beating too hard, too fast, in my chest. Surely, he could hear every single thud. “Did you want to hold his lead for a second? I’ll go get the application form.”

I had to stop myself from thrusting the lead at the man and that meant catching the moment those long, elegant fingers wrapped around the nylon rope.

“Yeah, I think Bronson and I need to have a bit of a chat.” He sat down on the ground and the dog rushed at him, almost clambering into his lap. “Alright, mate. It’s OK. I’m not going anywhere.”

The two of them looked like a match made in heaven, the dog flumping down on Garrett’s legs.

“God, we should get you to model for the calendar we do each year.” Shit, I just blurted that out as I got to my feet. “I mean we get models… guys… people! They have their photo taken with the animals and… You know what.” I shot him a shaky smile. “I’ll just go and get that application form for you.”

“Oh my god,did you see the hottie in the scrubs?” Joanne, one of the shelter workers, hissed as I walked into the office. “He can adopt me and he won’t even have to do a background check.”

“I didn’t notice,” I said, in a tone of voice that made clear the exact opposite had happened. Sigh… “Speaking of adoptions, where are the dog application forms?”

“He wants a dog?” she asked. “He said he wanted a cat.”

“Bronson,” I replied, looking up from the mess of Marg’s desk. “He wants to adopt Bronson.”

“Holy shit, really?” Jo looked ecstatic for a second, then her face fell. “Crap, but you really bonded with him. I mean?—”

“The job means finding dogs a home. If Garrett?—”

“Ooh, the hottie’s name is Garrett?” she said. “Noted. Did you get his birth date, zodiac sign, maybe his favourite sexual position?”

“What?” Why the hell did I see the way his thick thighs stretched the fabric of his scrubs right then? “No, god?—”

“Pity.” She plucked a form from one of the piles, somehow producing exactly what I needed. “But right now, you could get his phone number.”

“We can only use that to contact him whether or not he’s successful in his application,” I said, looking blankly at the form.

“After we do a home visit. I’ll let Marg know I am ready and able to assist when that comes up,” she said, rubbing her hands together.

“OK.” I shook my head with a smile. “But remember the appropriate conduct seminar we all had to sit through?”

“It’s only inappropriate if he’s not into it,” she called out as I walked back into the kennel, but what I saw there stopped me in my tracks.

“I think he likes me,” Garrett said, because Bronson was half asleep on his lap. “Does he normally do this?”

“No.” I crouched down in front of them and ran a hand down the dog’s flanks. “I know it looks like he’s super lazy, but this… He’s relaxed.” I turned to smile at him. “I think Bronson really likes you….”

Jo had ruined this for me. All of her stupid suggestive bullshit had my words twisting in my head, staring at the gorgeous man. No matter what my brain thought, my eyes were determined to track the shape of his nose, noting the small bump at bridge, the sharp cheekbones that then descended down to a full pair of lips that were slowly curving into a smile.

“I like him a lot too,” Garrett said.

But his caress now was almost absentminded as he rumpled the dog’s ear.

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