Free In Your Arms: A Small Town Love Story (Safe Haven Book 1) by Erin Sloane Page A

around them. Fala was old and a little vulnerable in the company of young boisterous dogs, but if Justice was going to have time up at the house, Marlo had to see first that they got along.
    The greeting went well. The dogs met each other first through the fence. Justice showed a lot of interest but no sign of aggression. Fala showed equal interest but soon turned back to Adam for some more petting. “Right, let’s move to the next part of the plan.” Marlo leashed Justice and she instructed Adam to start walking Fala down to the meadow.
    “What will you do if this doesn’t work, if Fala and Justice can’t get along?” The look she gave him seemed to say that not getting along wouldn’t be an option.
    For the next half an hour Marlo worked with Justice, calling instructions for Adam until she was satisfied Justice and Fala could co-exist, some distance apart, in a meadow. It took her one step closer to the goal of having the dogs in the house together.
    “That seemed to go well,” Adam suggested when they were back in Marlo’s office.
    “I’m pleased,” Marlo agreed. “I’ll raise the stakes with the two of them tomorrow. It may look as if I’m taking this slowly, but I won’t put either dog at risk. You can help again in the morning if you have time.”
    The idea of spending the morning with Marlo and the dogs was tempting. “I’d like to, but I can’t.”
    “Sure, that’s fine.” He noticed that tightening to her mouth as she dismissed him a little too quickly. She had no resilience, instead diving straight into rejection. She needed to learn how to bounce. He had noticed before that she didn’t like to ask for help, and now that she had asked, he’d turned her down. Shit .
    “I have to go to Richmond in the morning. I’m meeting up with a veterinary forensic team who are going over the farm where Justice and the others were discovered. At the time of the raid they turned up some bodies of dogs in a pit. They’re searching the property now more thoroughly. I’ve been invited to observe the operation.”
    “Ugh, I don’t think I could do that.”
    She’d relaxed a bit. Not so much a bounce-back as a slow roll, but that was a start. “Well, I’m not looking forward to it, but I need to see how they’re going to put the prosecution together. It appears a lot of dogs were killed out there. This forensics team have gone over a few of these dog fighting setups now. Being out there with them gives me the opportunity to learn what to look for beyond dogs chained to oil drums.”
    He kept watching her. She stood at the sink, washing her hands, circling and wringing her fingers as if she was biding time. “Why don’t you have dinner with me in town tonight?” he asked.
    Her hands stilled under the running water. “I can’t.” She kept her back to him.
    Out came that automatic negative response that kicked in if he complimented her or tried to help her. Now it seemed she called it up for duty if he asked her to dinner. On the surface it seemed she was backing him off but he’d felt the attraction between them. “You can’t or you won’t?”
    Marlo closed off the tap with deliberation and shook the water from her hands. When she reached for the towel, he thought he saw the smallest tremor but as she faced him she appeared in total command. “Won’t.” Her mouth was firm.
    “Why is that?” He might get that wall to crack.
    She brushed aside a strand of hair. Her gaze was steady and determined and it dropped to his hands briefly when she answered. “You’re married. I don’t think dinner with you is appropriate.”
    He followed her gaze to his hands. The wedding ring. Of course. He hadn’t got around to having his neck chain fixed, so he’d left the ring on his finger. And obviously Jeff’s knowledge of him and Emma hadn’t been shared with Marlo. The time had come to give up some information.
    In any relationship you had that give and take of personal details. Some people spilled