Free Deadly Desire (Carrington-Hill Investigations Book 2) by Kate Allenton

stench from the surrounding cages threatened to overwhelm him. He glanced over at the next stall. “Hot and sweaty, you’re a riot.”
    She grinned. “Suck it up , rich boy. I warned you.”
    “You could have at least warned me that I’d be doing manual labor. Hell, I would have worn my old sneakers.” Who was he kidding? He would have talked her out of coming here to begin with. “Why are we here again?”
    Sara laughed at his unease, her voice a sweet reminder of what she’d implied. Now only if she’d just give in.
    “You remember that picture they took this morning of us standing in front of the building?”
    He swiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. “Yeah.”
    She gave him a mischievous grin. “I called in a favor and we’re going to be on the front cover of the society pages in tomorrow’s newspaper. I hope you don’t mind.”
    She stopped shoveling and leaned against the handle of the shovel. She gestured to the stalls. “This is just my way of giving back to the community. I love animals. Don’t you?”
    His head snapped up , and he propped the shovel against the fence. “I could have just written them a check.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Hell, I could have hired someone to come clean out all of these kennels.”
    She stepped out of her cage , and he watched as a beautiful dog as black as midnight came running down the hall with a purple leash flailing behind his wagging tail. The dog looked healthy and loved, like he could have belonged in a family. Not like the animals he would have expected to find in the kennel. He jumped up into Sara’s arms, lapping at her face with his long pink tongue. If he had to guess, the dog was a lab and was able to make Sara smile, something that even Collin hadn’t figured out how to do on a regular basis.
    Sara went down to her knees , scratching the dog behind his ears. “I missed you too, Spike.”
    The dog’s tail whipped back and forth as his pink-and-black spotted tongue continued to assault her face, leaving slobber in its path as he continued giving her puppy kisses. Sara sat the dog down and started petting the canine, and her face radiated with a joy he’d yet to witness. Lucky dog. He had to figure out a way to get her to smile more. “This is why I do it.”
    She kissed the dog’s head once more and rubbed the dog’s coat before she pushed to her feet. “They don’t have a lot of volunteers here . Besides, I enjoy coming to see Spike.”
    “I can see that .” Collin stepped out of his stall and pointed to the puppy. “Why don’t you adopt the mangy mutt so you can see him all of the time without having to pick up a shovel?”
    She ran her hand over the dog’s sleek black fur on his head and around his ears. “Did you hear what that mean man called you, Spike?” She kissed him and continued to stroke down the dog’s coat. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about does he?”
    Sara stood and patted his head one more time. “I wouldn’t be able to take care of him.” She sobered. “My work takes me away at a moment’s notice, and I can be gone for weeks at a time.”
    Her shoulders sagged but only briefly before Spike jumped up at her again, as if he could sense her mood. She grinned and pulled a treat out of the smock she was wearing and fed it to him. Seemingly satisfied, Spike wagged his tale as he trotted back down the hall the way he’d come. 
    Collin rose, stepped up behind her, and started massaging the knots in her neck. She moaned and closed her eyes. “Sara, I know it’s only part of the ruse, but I enjoy spending time with you.” She stiffened under his ministrations, but he kept working at relieving her tension anyway. She’d eventually get used to him touching her, but a bigger test was coming. One that included much more than a back massage. “Don’t go reading anything into it. I just think that it would be nice if we were friends. That’s all.”
    She stepped out of his reach , and his