Free Bind by Sierra Cartwright Page A

many?
    Reminding herself no one had the ability to dictate her emotional state, Lara squared her shoulders as an outward show of pulling herself back together. “Thanks again for the coffee,” she said as she was leaving the room.
    “My pleasure. Next time I’ll have biscotti for you.”
    “Sounds heavenly,” she replied. She closed the door, knowing she wouldn’t be back.
    Lara kept her focus as she waited for the elevator. She avoided eye contact with other occupants and kept her head back as she strode through the lobby.
    At the main entrance, a woman took a step forward. “Ms. Bertrand?”
    “Yes?”
    “I’m April Martinez. Mr. Donovan asked me to give you a ride back to your offices.”
    The gesture startled her, but she realized it shouldn’t have surprised her. From her very first interaction with him, she’d felt something mesmerizing and seductive about the way he took charge of situations. Now she could add unsettling to the mix. The man liked to be in charge. Part of his dominant nature? Another sample of what it would be like if she were his woman?
    “Ma’am?”
    Humidity had made the afternoon feel like a swamp. The idea of air-conditioning appealed in a way that made the idea of resistance futile. “Thank you.”
    April indicated the sedan near the curb. Lara recognized it from the night he’d offered to rescue her from the rain.
    Heat suddenly slid down her spine. Over her shoulder, she glanced up at the building, unable to shake the feeling she was being watched. Maybe she was. More likely, she was being fanciful. Connor Donovan had more important things to do than watch her drive off.
    Unless he was waiting to see if she complied with his wishes?
    She entered the car and a few moments later, the driver merged into traffic. “Do you have the address?” Lara asked.
    “Mr. Donovan provided it.” April rattled it off. “Unless you’d like to make any stops?”
    In the rearview mirror, she met the woman’s eyes. Lara wondered, again, how often Connor did this kind of thing. “The office is fine.” Even though something to fortify her nerves appealed—the bakery or a bar. At this point, she’d settle for either.
    After April dropped her off, Lara hesitated. She realized she wasn’t mentally prepared to go back to work.
    Instead of entering the building, she sent text messages to her administrative assistant and to her father, letting them know she was taking the afternoon off.
    The drive home seemed interminable. The traffic didn’t distract her, and neither did cranking up an oldies station on the radio.
    And of course, when she arrived, Mrs. Fuhrman was outside with her five dogs. It didn’t matter that the eccentric woman wasn’t supposed to have that many. After her husband had died, Mrs. Fuhrman had signed up to be a foster parent for rescued dogs. And she couldn’t always allow herself to be parted from them, especially the ones with physical ailments. The dogs were all shapes, sizes, temperaments and ages. The oldest, Happy, only had three legs.
    Lara closed her car door just as Suzy-Q, an apricot-colored mastiff mix, yanked on her leash and broke free, dashing over toward Lara.
    Even though Mrs. Fuhrman was yelling at the dog to come back and to be nice, Suzy-Q jumped up, paws landing in the middle of Lara’s chest, knocking her back so that she rested on the car’s fender. The dog seemed to smile before licking her face and slobbering on her blazer.
    She grinned. There was nothing like puppy love to change her attitude.
    “Get down right now, Suzy-Q!”
    The dog ignored her owner. Instead, she put her big head on Lara’s shoulder.
    “I’m so sorry, Lara,” Mrs. Fuhrman called out. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She hears your car and starts to lose her mind, I’m afraid.”
    “She’s fine.” She stroked the dog behind one of her ears then told her to get down. Immediately Suzy-Q complied.
    Since four leashes were totally tangled and some of the dogs