Trusting You, Trusting Me - Jacki James Page 0,1

of scary. When I’d talked to Jordan’s friend who ran the shelter, he’d assured me that none of the dogs they had up for adoption displayed aggressive behavior, but he looked pretty aggressive to me. Then again, what did I know? I’d never had a dog before. I stepped forward, and he made a sound low in his throat that I was pretty sure was a growl, so I stepped back. Yeah, that wasn’t the dog for me.

I turned to look for Trey and found him petting a small brown dog through the cage. He stepped back and snapped a picture. “I’m going to take some pictures of the dogs I like, and then I’ll text Roman and see what he says.”

I shook my head at him. We both knew if he wanted a dog, he would have a dog. Roman was an absolute sucker for anything he thought would make Trey happy. I resumed walking down the aisle. I was nearing the end of the large dogs, and I hadn’t seen one that I wanted to even take out to the fenced area out back, much less one I wanted to take home.

This was something I’d been thinking about ever since Roman’s brother, Jordan, suggested it right after I was attacked walking home a few months ago. I’d thought a guard dog of some kind would make me feel more at ease. As long as Becca had lived there, it hadn’t seemed so important, but now that I was there alone, I’d decided it was time.

I started to turn and walk back through the row of cages when I heard a whimper coming from the far end. There was a small stocky white and black dog with big ears. I thought he was probably some kind of bulldog, but I wasn’t sure what kind. He was adorable, but he wasn’t a guard dog by any stretch of the imagination. “Hey there, cutie,” I said, kneeling to pet him. He pressed his head into my hand, and I grinned. “Aren’t you a sweetheart? Too bad you aren’t what I’m looking for.”

I sighed and went back down the row of larger dogs. Surely one of these guys would be a good fit for what I wanted. Trey walked with me, stopping every few minutes to talk to the dogs. “You really should get one,” I said when we stopped for him to squat down at a pen that held six small black puppies. “Then we could be pet dads together.”

“Look at them,” Trey said, smiling. “They’re the most adorable little things.” I looked at the tag on the pen that gave information on the dogs.

“It says they’re lab mixes. They won’t stay little for long,” I pointed out.

“They sure won’t. The mother was close to a hundred pounds,” a voice said from behind us. I jumped and let out a little squeal.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He was a tall, very good-looking guy. I’d guess mid-thirties, dark hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. He looked kind and not at all like anyone I should be afraid of. Of course Corey Ackerman hadn’t looked scary either, but he’d been one scary-ass dude.

“No worries,” I said, just as Trey said, “A hundred pounds? Is that normal?”

The guy chuckled. “Not for a full blood Labrador, but we think the mom is a Rottweiler Lab mix, and they can get to be that heavy.”

“Where’s their mom?”

“She’s in a pen outback. Someone surrendered her while she was pregnant. She’s a sweet dog.”

“Why isn’t she in here to adopt?” I asked. He wasn’t wearing one of the t-shirts that the other shelter workers wore, but from the way he talked, I assumed he worked here.

“The pups have just been weaned, so now we need to have her spayed before we can put her up for adoption.”

“But the puppies are ready to adopt?” Trey asked.

“They are. Are you guys looking for a dog?”

“I am. He needs to talk it over with his boyfriend first.”

Trey held up his phone and waggled it in the air. “Already texted him and told him I was bringing home a puppy. He’s totally on board.”

I rolled my eyes. “His boyfriend never tells him no. To anything.”

“What can I say? He loves me. And I love these puppies. What do I need to do to adopt one?”

“For that, you will need to talk to one of the shelter employees. I don’t work here.”

“Really? You seem to know a lot about animals,