Free Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis Page A

didn’t look at Brady “Brady Miller. He’s come to visit Adam and Dell.”
    Dee cackled. In fact she laughed so hard, she ended up doubled over. “Honey, I meant the dog.”
    “Oh.” Lilah grimaced as her face heated and tried to pretend that Brady wasn’t right behind her, looking far too amused.
    “You’re right, though,” Dee said, sizing up Brady. “He’s a real cutie, too.”
    Lilah sighed. “The dog,” she said firmly, “is a rescue. He’s going to a good home.” And finally, as she said this, she saw Shelly pull up out front. Which made her realize she had only a few minutes left with Toby.
    She was well aware that the whole point to running the humane society was to place animals in loving homes. She knew this, but her gut didn’t always get it, and both it and her heart squeezed hard as she looked down at Toby waiting patiently at her feet, so quiet and accepting of whatever fate came his way. Dammit. Every one. She mourned every single one. “I have to go.”
    Dee cocked her head, then looked to the door as Shelly entered the bakery. “Aw, honey,” she murmured, covering Lilah’s hand with her own, her voice holding so much sympathy that Lilah’s throat closed. “Never gets easier for you, does it?”
    “What?” Brady asked, looking into Lilah’s eyes with a frown. “What doesn’t get easier? You stay up all night studying again?”
    “Studying?” Dee asked in surprise. “Studying what?”
    Lilah sighed. Her studies weren’t classified information, but neither had she told anyone other than Dell and Adam. And Brady—by accident. Literally. It was just that she’d quit college and come home with her tail between her legs. This time if something happened, she’d rather be a two-time failure in private. “Nothing,” she said, grabbing a bottle of water to offset the donut calories. She fumbled through the bottom of her purse for loose change.
    “Oh, don’t worry about it.” Dee patted her hand. “It’s on the house since I know you’re about to get your heart broken.” She smiled sweetly over Lilah’s head at Brady. “I adopted my own sweet Lexie from her last year. She cried for a week. Lilah, not Lexie.”
    “I did not,” Lilah said. She’d cried for two weeks. She knew exactly how ridiculous that was, just as she knew how silly she was being over dreading handing Toby off. She’d only had him one night, and he was going to a woman who really wanted him.
    “She still comes and visits,” Dee told Brady.
    Lilah felt the weight of Brady’s gaze as he studied her thoughtfully, but she couldn’t concentrate on that with Shelly waving at her. She was midforties, with wavy brown hair piled on top of her head and a friendly, kind face. She wore jeans and a rec center sweatshirt, perfect for a day with kids at the rec center and for being a new doggy mama.
    Lilah grabbed the donuts Dee had bagged, murmured “let’s go” to Toby, and walked blindly toward Shelly. The two of them moved outside for some privacy. Lilah gave Shelly both her bag of donuts—she’d lost her appetite—and an introduction to Toby. In five minutes Shelly and Toby were fast friends, walking off together into the sunset.
    Okay, it was morning, and the sun was nowhere close to setting, but to Lilah it felt like an ending nevertheless. She swiped at her eyes. “Suck it up,” she whispered fiercely to herself. “It’s all good, no matter how hard it is.”
    “I’m going to refrain from saying ‘That’s what she said’ since you seem to be having a moment.”
    Whirling around, she glared at Brady, who was leaning against the front wall of the building. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”
    Instead of answering, he handed her a bag.
    Opening it, she found two additional old-fashioned chocolate glazes. “Since you handed yours off. Thought you could use them,” he said with a shrug.
    “I gave them away so I wouldn’t eat all three. I was saving myself.”
    “Okay.” He tried to take