“You don’t have to…” She started to protest then thought it through. She’d just said she wasn’t sure she was taking the job. Of course he’d need to escort her around the property. Besides, it was getting into evening and the staff here probably needed to close up to head home for the night.
“It’s no trouble,” Alex continued, oblivious of her thought process. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, and we start classes at oh-nine-hundred. If you decide to come back and give the job a try, try to be here by oh-eight-hundred to help set up. The rest of us are up earlier working with the dogs.”
“Okay.” She hoped he hadn’t caught the relief in her voice. It might be too obvious, and she didn’t want his pity. He’d already been far nicer than he needed to be.
Abruptly, her phone issued an obnoxious multi-toned alert. She jumped and fumbled to pull it out of her pocket, fumbling as she tried to silence it.
“Whoa.” Alex raised both eyebrows at her this time. “If you do come back tomorrow, try tuning that down. It could freak out some of the client dogs if it goes off at the wrong moment.”
“It freaks me out now,” Elisa admitted wryly. “New phone. I haven’t figured out all the settings yet and didn’t realize the text notifications were set to that alert.”
Alex chuckled. “I’ll get Souze back into his kennel.”
Embarrassment was quickly becoming her state of being here. She gave him a nod and looked down at Souze. “Good night, Souze. It was nice to meet you.”
On the off chance the big dog might give her a token sniff, she held out her hand as Alex had instructed her before, relaxed in a loose fist.
Souze studied her for a moment, stretched out his neck, sniffed the back of her hand, then gave her a very small lick.
“All right, then. That’s new.” Alex sounded pleased.
Simple happiness bubbled up inside her at Souze’s response.
Alex started to turn away, paused for a moment, then turned back. “Was there anything that I did, any of us did, that made you feel uncomfortable? Hesitate? You don’t have to tell me, but if we can fix it somehow, either me or Forte would welcome the feedback.”
She blinked in surprise. It could be a trap, a way to get her to voice a criticism and give him an excuse to snap at her. Her brain froze for a full second before she could kick it back into gear. Dropping her eyes so he wouldn’t see her consider the possibility, her gaze fell on Souze.
Steady. Calm. Absolutely capable of dangerous things and not in any way threatening.
She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “You’ve been very considerate and so was Brandon. I’ve just…got a lot of history myself.”
There was a long pause. “Whatever else you take away with you tonight, consider this: No man here will ever intentionally harm you, and no dog anywhere will ever lie to you.”
She fumbled for some sort of coherent response, but he was already walking Souze down the row of dog runs. She quit trying for a verbal response and watched him give Souze quiet praise before sending the dog back into his kennel. Truth might be a tough thing to find these days, but she thought she could still recognize it. He’d meant what he’d said at least, believed in it with incredible conviction. And it made her believe his words, too.
Glancing down at the phone in her hand, she tapped the notification to view the text.
Ping. How long do you think it will take?
Elisa froze, staring at the phone screen unable to move, speak, anything. He’d found her. Already. What could she do?
Chapter Five
Alex started to close the kennel’s door and stopped. Souze always watched when Alex put him away, almost as if he was waiting for Alex to forget to secure the door. Souze might be one hundred percent obedient and have perfect recall so far, but the dog considered his chances of getting out on his own every single day. It was one of the reasons Alex was still working with him so closely and why Souze hadn’t been considered ready for transfer to either the American military or a law enforcement unit. He needed to know the inside of every dog’s head at Hope’s Crossing Kennels to be sure they were ready for their next mission.
At the moment, Souze’s mind wasn’t on what Alex was doing. Instead, the big dog’s head was turned toward where Elisa stood waiting. A second later, Souze stepped to the corner of the kennel in her direction, leaning forward slightly, his body language tense and alert.
Alex followed the dog’s gaze to Elisa, finished locking up the kennel’s door, and immediately headed toward her. Her face had gone pale, and she swayed where she stood, staring at the phone in her hand. Concern hit him in the gut hard.
He slowed once he was in arm’s reach, not wanting to scare her further by sneaking up on her while she was distracted.
“Elisa.” No response. Not a good sign. She was too exposed like this, her fear raw and leaving her vulnerable. He gritted his teeth and repeated her name, putting a little punch into it. “Elisa.”