Free Ultimate Courage (True Heroes Book 2) by Piper J. Drake

Hopefully she’d be able to come up with something unpredictable.
    So far, her attention had only managed to stay focused on Alex Rojas and his incredible generosity. Okay, and she sort of wondered if the tennis ball was still in his pants pocket. As random thought processes went, she was going to need to go for more constructive stuff.
    Standing, she groaned. Today had included a good mix of sitting, standing, and even some walking, but she’d done a lot of driving in the days prior. Her hamstrings were tight and aching and no amount of stretching so far had made the soreness disappear completely. Maybe she needed to get into better shape.
    Staying above a mixed martial arts school was already influencing her mindset.
    She reached for her overnight bag and pulled out a clean tee and pair of soft sweats. They were comfortable to sleep in and perfectly reasonable to roll out of bed and drive out of town in.
    As she was pulling her current shirt over her head, a knock sounded at the door.
    She jerked her shirt back down to cover her breasts and belly, reining in a moment of panic. “Who is it?”
    “It’s Alex.”
    Oh. Her hands shook as she opened and closed them a couple of times to get them to quit clenching by default. Trying to ease off the rush of adrenaline, she focused on who was on the other side of the door.
    It wasn’t her ex. And Alex hadn’t shown any signs of wanting to take her back to her ex, either.
    In fact, his gruff tone had returned and she was starting to realize it came out when he was about to do something nice and felt awkward about it.
    He was really sweet, in a super rough and ready kind of way.
    “You okay in there?”
    The man gave good voice. She wondered whether he knew it and if he was the person who usually answered the phones at the kennels. It’d explain a lot of disappointed-sounding callers with very ridiculous questions from this morning.
    “Can I come in?” He sounded uncomfortable.
    “Oh!” She hadn’t realized how long she’d kept him waiting for a response. Crossing over to the door, she unlocked and opened it, backing away as she did.
    “For you.” Alex held out a small container. He had a bag dangling from his other hand, presumably with Boom’s frozen yogurt.
    She took the container and her mouth watered at the sight of the pristine white swirl of frozen yogurt inside. Abruptly, she realized how insanely hungry she was. One problem. “No spoon?”
    He fished around in the bag and came up with a plastic-wrapped utensil. “Got one.”
    The man thought of everything. He might be heaven sent. She could dream about him with wings later.
    “How much do I—”
    He waved her off. “Come to work in the morning and work it off. We seriously do need an administrative assistant, and I don’t want to conduct interviews.”
    Frustration churned in her belly for a minute, warring with the sharp hunger. She shouldn’t accept favors from him. Favors and unspoken expectations were how misunderstandings got started. And she hadn’t decided to stay yet. Part of the reason she’d been able to stay on her own this far was because she’d always taken off at the first sign that her ex had found her again.
    The text was more than a sign. It was a bright red warning flag.
    Alex’s voice cut across her train of thought, calm and mater-of-fact. “I got you plain frozen yogurt because I wasn’t sure what you’d like, but I’ve got a couple of containers on the side here with strawberries, kiwi, graham crackers, and random candies. Didn’t want to set off any allergies. It’s been a while since you’ve eaten and you don’t want to keep thinking so hard on an empty stomach.”
    Hunger and appreciation for his consideration won out. “The strawberries, please. And the graham crackers.”
    “They’ve got a cheesecake flavor down there. You might like it with these next time.” He handed over the containers and she thought there might be a hint of amusement in his eyes.
    He was