Well, not even have them in danger in the first place.’
‘You were there for me, and just knowing that I could call you at stupid o’clock in the morning if I needed to helped a lot,’ Jess reassured her.
‘You never actually called me, though,’ Carly pointed out. ‘Because you’re too stubborn.’
Jess gave her a rueful smile. ‘I guess I just needed time to come to terms with things in my own way. I’m never going to stop missing Matt and Comet, but I’m finally learning to see the sunshine again.’
‘I just wish you’d go back to working with dogs,’ Shannon said. ‘You loved your job so much. And working as a temp doesn’t make you anywhere near as happy—even if you did get to meet the most gorgeous man in the world today.’
‘I’m fine,’ Jess said. She’d heard this argument countless times before. And she had the same answer: she wasn’t ready to go back to working with dogs. She might not ever be ready. As a temp, she kept her days too full to think, and that suited her right now. ‘See you both later. Text me to let me know you’re home safely.’
‘Of course,’ they said, rolling their eyes.
She couldn’t even use the excuse that she was a policewoman any more. She just wanted to know that they were safe. Needed to know.
‘Stop worrying, sweetie,’ Shannon said and hugged her. ‘Everything’s going to be just fine.’
* * *
On Wednesday morning, Jess spent an hour working through Ayesha’s list, then had an hour of training with Luke and Baloo before his rehearsals. She was guiltily aware that her best friend was absolutely right about Jess being happiest when working with animals: despite her initial reservations, Jess was really enjoying training the dog. She loved seeing the Labrador blossom and become more confident as her training progressed. And she’d missed this.
Maybe she should consider going back to it. Not with the police—she knew she couldn’t handle the idea of training people and their dogs to face the kind of situation Matt and Comet had faced—but maybe she could set up classes doing something like this. Or even working with the animal handling department of a film company.
‘She’s doing really well,’ Luke said. ‘I can’t believe how quickly she’s picking things up.’
‘She’s very trainable. And this will make her life easier.’ Jess paused. ‘And yours.’
‘Baloo’s not mine,’ Luke reminded her.
Oh, yes, she most certainly is, Jess thought, but kept her counsel.
As the runner came up to tell Luke that the director was ready for him, Jess said, ‘See you later. Break a leg—or is that only said for stage performances?’
He laughed. ‘It’s pretty much the same thing. Thanks, Jess. See you later.’
* * *
At lunchtime, Jess’s phone rang.
‘Hi. It’s Luke,’ he said.
As if she wouldn’t recognise that voice—like melted chocolate, warm and rich and sensual. ‘Hi.’
‘I was wondering if you and Baloo would like to have lunch with me.’
‘Baloo’s very partial to chicken sandwiches,’ she said. ‘So if they’re on the menu, our answer is yes.’
He laughed. ‘I’ll bear that in mind. See you at the catering tent in ten minutes, then?’
‘Hang on, I’ll just check with Ayesha.’ When the production manager confirmed that it was fine for Jess to take her break, she told Luke, ‘Yep. Ten minutes.’
And hopefully by the time she met him her common sense would be back in control. Along with her knees, which right now were doing a great impersonation of blancmange. Ridiculous. Luke McKenzie was a movie star. He was supposed to have that effect on women. It wasn’t real.
They reached the catering tent at practically the same time.
‘The team here is pretty good,’ Luke said. ‘I don’t know if chicken sandwiches are on the menu today, but I can definitely recommend their BLTs.’
Baloo looked hopefully at him, and Jess laughed. ‘Bacon is full of salt. Which is not good for dogs.’
Baloo hung her head and looked sorrowful.
Luke ruffled her fur. ‘Did you train her to do that?’
‘No. She’s a natural.’
‘Don’t say it,’ Luke warned, ‘because it’s not going to happen.’
Jess spread her hands. ‘Not a word will pass my lips.’ But she was thinking it, and she knew he knew it.
‘So how was your pizza last night?’ he asked as they walked over to the catering area.
‘Good. I meant to say earlier, my sister and my best friend asked me to say thank you for the photos. They were thrilled.’
‘My pleasure,’ he said simply.
The bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches were as good as Luke had promised. Although Jess refused to let Baloo have any, she relented enough to let the dog have a treat from her pocket, and the dog settled between them both with a happy sigh.
‘Care to indulge a nosey actor?’ Luke asked.
Her heart skipped a beat. ‘How?’
‘Set rules,’ he said. ‘Were you a dog trainer before you did this job?’
Apart from the last year. But she wasn’t going into that. ‘Pretty much,’ Jess said. ‘I thought about being a vet when I was at school, but I realised I couldn’t handle the tough side of it—situations where I couldn’t make an animal better and had to put them down.’ She grimaced. ‘I was never allowed to watch Lassie films as a child because I’d always sob through them.’
‘I was never allowed to watch them, either,’ Luke said.
Jess had hoped he’d be soft-hearted when it came to animals. Good. Things were starting to look that much more hopeful for Baloo.
‘So what made you think of being a trainer?’ he asked.
‘I took my dog to agility classes when I was twelve, and I loved it—I got chatting to the trainer, and she suggested it,’ Jess explained. ‘My parents were brilliant and supported me all the way. I did a degree in animal behaviour, then qualified as a dog trainer.’ Luke didn’t need to know that she’d become a police dog trainer and had spent two years as a police officer first.
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