LITMIR.BIZ

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to tell you, but it must’ve slipped my mind.”

      Rebekah knew the woman and her sister were incredibly smart when it came to animal care, but when it came to business matters, they tended to follow their hearts instead of their heads. It was why they’d hired a director in the first place. It was also why they’d hired an attorney earlier this year to look into quite a bit of money that had gone missing. Unfortunately, they didn’t always follow Rebekah’s or the attorney’s recommendations.

      Worse than that, they tended to rely on the wrong people. They’d entrusted their money to their brother Gator—Grant’s uncle—and it looked like he might have embezzled from them. And they’d entrusted this sign to Marv and...well...

      Rebekah shot a pleading look at Grant and once she caught his attention, she pointed her chin first at the sign and then at his aunt. She wanted to tell him that this wasn’t her fault, but first she needed to make sure he was seeing the same thing she was.

      “Poor Marv, huh?” Grant nodded toward the sign that the workers were trying to hang between the wooden posts. “Let’s just hope his return policy is better than his screen-printing skills.”

      In bright red letters were the words F-EVER PAWS, however the hyphen between the F and the E was so minuscule, that from far away it appeared to say, FEVER PAWS.

      “I’m not sure if he has a return policy.” Bunny pushed a strand of white hair back into her messy bun. “I think we should just leave it for a few days. I’m sure it’ll grow on us.”

      Grant groaned and Rebekah experienced an unfamiliar tug of solidarity at his frustration. “Aunt Bunny, it says Fever Paws. Customers are going to think all the animals here are sick.”

      “Grant, we don’t have customers.” Bunny waved another hand at him. “We have prospective adopters looking for family companions.”

      “Well, your prospective adopters are going to drive right by when they see that sign,” Grant replied.

      “I guess you’re right.” His aunt sighed. “Well, we’ll just have to call it a loss. I don’t want Marv to be out any expense.”

      “Aunt Bunny.” Grant gently rested his hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “Your heart is bigger than your current bank account. The shelter really can’t afford to take a loss like this. I’m going to tell the guys to take the sign back and re-do it.”

      Rebekah’s heart softened at the way he gently, yet effectively steered his aunt back to reality. Really, it was her job to keep Furever Paws on a budget and, as the director, she should’ve been the one talking to the Signs 4 Less guys, not Grant. But she had plenty of other headaches to look forward to today, and if it got the man out of her hair for a few more minutes, she’d take whatever breaks she could get at this point.

      Turning on her heel, she headed toward the shelter’s entrance and thought about the cool air-conditioning and chocolate croissant waiting for her in her office. But a movement in the oak trees near the street caught her eye.

      Bunny must’ve seen the streak of gray fur, too, because her boss let out a squeak before announcing, “Everyone stay completely still.”

      Rebekah knew that most of the staff at the shelter, as well as a few people in downtown Spring Forest, had reported sightings of the elusive gray dog that always seemed to outsmart them. She held her breath as Bunny slowly walked toward the stray, one of the treats she always carried in the front pocket of her faded overalls now outstretched in the palm of her hand.

      Unfortunately, before Bunny could get within ten feet of the animal, one of the installation guys dropped his end of the FEVER PAWS sign and the sound of the aluminum clanking against the gravel burst out with a gong-like echo. The scruffy dog took off on its short legs, running directly toward the oncoming cars traveling in both directions on Little Creek Road.

      Without looking, Bunny took off after the creature and only stopped when the horn of a big rig blasted through the air seconds before its huge chrome bumper nearly clipped the older woman. Grant caught up to his aunt first, and when Rebekah made it to the shoulder of the road, she could hear his admonishment about Bunny getting herself killed. His words fell on deaf ears as the woman craned her neck, watching the dog dart into the copse of trees on the other side of the street.

      “I can’t believe he got away again.” Bunny shook her head as a mail delivery truck drove past, leaving a heavy gust of wind in its wake.

      “Come on, Aunt Bunny,” Grant said as he led his aunt toward the building. “If that dog wants to be caught, he’ll come back.”

      “What do you mean if it wants to be caught? He’s a stray, running from place to place. Why wouldn’t he want a real home?” Rebekah heard the words coming out of her mouth and tried not to flinch at her accusatory tone.

      Grant shrugged. “I mean not every animal should be domesticated. Some things are meant to be wild and untamed.”

      Some things? Or some people? Rebekah bit the inside of her cheek to keep from asking Grant if he was referring to himself. He’d better not be implying that her getting pregnant was any sort of attempt to domesticate him. Not that she’d ever want to, but even if she’d been willing to try, she knew she’d have better luck taming a tidal wave than taming the unpredictable force that was Grant Whitaker.

      She took several calming breaths and commanded her legs to walk confidently back inside the building despite the tiny pieces of gravel that were now digging into the arches of her feet.

      She refused to give him a second glance as she stormed ahead of him. The man had absolutely nothing to worry about. She wasn’t about to force anyone to be anything they weren’t.

      * * *

      The following Thursday, Grant was still kicking himself for not getting the address of Rebekah’s doctor before he drove into Spring Forest. He’d had to take a red-eye flight from San Francisco with a layover in Chicago to make it to Raleigh before ten this morning. After landing, he’d barely had time to splash some water on his face and brush his teeth in the airport bathroom before racing to Furever Paws. If she’d called him, or offered her own phone number, he could’ve driven straight to the appointment and met her there with nobody being the wiser.

      As it stood, they now risked having his aunts and everyone who worked at the shelter see them leave together. But at least he was pretty sure she’d be spending the morning at work since she’d scheduled the doctor’s appointment during her lunch hour.

      Grant checked the clock on the dash of his rental car right before pulling into the parking lot at the animal shelter, then felt his chest ease the second he spied Rebekah’s blue car. She hadn’t left yet.

      Just as he turned off the engine, one of the double glass doors opened and a very beautiful Rebekah strode out wearing a sleeveless dress that hugged her waist before floating down to her knees. Again, she was wearing heels and the sight of her long, shapely legs made his lungs constrict.

      By the time he’d exited his rental, she already had the back of her sporty little European car open and was wrestling the giant tote bag she always carried off her shoulder.

      There were several other vehicles in the lot, but nobody else was outside. Still, Grant kept his voice low when he strode over to her. “Hey, looks like I’m just in time.”

      Rebekah jumped back, hitting her head on the corner of the rear hatch. Grant winced at the impact and sympathetically reached out to cradle her scalp in his palm. But her own hand had already beaten him to it and he ended up resting his fingers over hers. “Are you okay?” he asked.

      She nodded then took a step back, her eyes darting around the lot as though she was making sure there weren’t any witnesses to their interaction.

      “Nobody’s outside,” he said as he followed her around to the driver’s side of the vehicle.

      Rebekah cleared her throat, but her gaze was firmly fixed on the glass double doors when

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