Page 7 of Selling Innocence

“Wonderful. Are you looking for daycare or boarding?”

“Boarding. I go on a lot of trips. I was having someone stop in at my house to check on him, but I didn’t like leaving my dog alone the rest of the time. I thought he might do better at a place like this, where he gets attention all day.”

I nodded, then moved past him to the reception desk. From the top drawer, I pulled out a flyer that had our prices, rules and information. “Here’s all the basics. We don’t have a wait list right now, but if you’re taking vacations right around the holidays, we do fill up. I’d suggest securing a spot early. What kind of dog do you have?”

“An Australian Shepherd,” Char said. “He’s a sweetheart but he’s always on the go!”

I laughed at the exasperation on Char’s face. I knew that feeling, having taken care of a few Aussies in my time already. “They are a handful. The nice thing is that we don’t just take care of the animals—we also will do daily training lessons to keep them engaged. In fact, most clients can’t believe how much better behaved their dogs are when they get back.”

“That sounds perfect. Do you do the training?”

“I do some, but I’m just a part-timer here. Mostly, I help out. We have a great trainer on staff who creates all the plans. You can meet him before you make up your mind, too, and create a list of what you’d like him to work on.”

Char took the flyer from me, only glancing at it for a moment before looking at me again. And wow, his eyes should be illegal. They looked darker than they were because of the red in his hair, like they could drag a person into them.

Worse, he had that, ‘I really care,’ vibe that made a girl feel safe and happy. I’d lived most of my life around killers, around men who could keep me safe but rarely understood a thing about feelings. Char, though?

He made me feel like I could tell him anything and he’d take my hand in his and assure me I’d make it through.

And boy was that tempting…

“Maybe we could get some coffee?” he asked, the words coming out slightly shy as though he didn’t usually ask girls out.

The temptation hit me first. In fact, my mouth had already opened to tell him when I got off before my brain caught up.

Romance was so not in the cards for me—not now and probably not ever. No matter how the idea of spending a day with a man like this excited me, it just wasn’t the sort of thing I could have. The thought of having to lie through my teeth the entire time—even about something as simple as my name or age—stole all the thrill from it.

So I closed my mouth and shook my head. “Sorry, but I’m not interested in dating.”

“No?” He asked as if my rejection interested him more. “Well, how about I leave you my card and you can call me if you change your mind?” He pulled a business card from his wallet, then set it on the counter.

He didn’t hand it to me, probably because he knew I could turn it down if he did. Instead, he left it there, making it my choice what to do with it. “I’ll look this over and call you guys when I’m ready for my next trip. If you don’t call me, at least I can see you then, huh?”

“Yeah, sure.” I made certain my voice didn’t give him any hint of desire, to make sure I gave him nothing to latch onto.

He turned and left after that, the barking of the dogs reminding me that I had a job to do.

What was it with today? Was it just the day when the universe wanted to show me hot men I couldn’t have?

Fate did seem to have a vicious sense of humor…

* * * *

I cracked my window after turning off the alarm sensor. I could almost feel Colton grinding his teeth as he got a notification about the sensor even from across the country.

Funny enough, however, I didn’t get a call. Maybe Nem told him to leave it be? I was on the ninth floor, which meant the odds of anyone managing to get inside from there were next to zero.

And really, if they managed it, they’d earned it.

The cool breeze from outside felt wonderful, reminding me of how stuffy the apartment could get. Sure, I could close all the windows and run the AC, but that was different from a lovely breeze.

I settled into my bed, stretching out and trying to ease my muscles. I loved working with the dogs, but it took its toll on me. I had small scratches and bruises on my legs from the overly excitable pups, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Sometimes it felt like those dogs were the only thing I had in my life that was honest. I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else around them, didn’t have to worry about what they wanted from me, didn’t have to play a part. Instead, I got to just exist, which wasn’t something I’d had much of in my life.

Sleep came quickly to me, aided by the long day and cool breeze. I dreamed of my father—my real dad—and last time I’d seen him. Most of my dreams were from that night—the fear, the questions, the pain from the bullet he’d fired at me.

I woke with a gasp, bolting upright in bed, my hands flying to my side as if I still had the wound. I pulled up my shirt to check, but it was the same healed scar it had been for months now.

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