still.”
Rebekah knew that most of the staff at the shelter, as well as a few people in downtown Spring Forest, had reported sightings of the elusive gray dog that always seemed to outsmart them. She held her breath as Bunny slowly walked toward the stray, one of the treats she always carried in the front pocket of her faded overalls now outstretched in the palm of her hand.
Unfortunately, before Bunny could get within ten feet of the animal, one of the installation guys dropped his end of the FEVER PAWS sign and the sound of the aluminum clanking against the gravel burst out with a gong-like echo. The scruffy dog took off on its short legs, running directly toward the oncoming cars traveling in both directions on Little Creek Road.
Without looking, Bunny took off after the creature and only stopped when the horn of a big rig blasted through the air seconds before its huge chrome bumper nearly clipped the older woman. Grant caught up to his aunt first, and when Rebekah made it to the shoulder of the road, she could hear his admonishment about Bunny getting herself killed. His words fell on deaf ears as the woman craned her neck, watching the dog dart into the copse of trees on the other side of the street.
“I can’t believe he got away again.” Bunny shook her head as a mail delivery truck drove past, leaving a heavy gust of wind in its wake.
“Come on, Aunt Bunny,” Grant said as he led his aunt toward the building. “If that dog wants to be caught, he’ll come back.”
“What do you mean if it wants to be caught? He’s a stray, running from place to place. Why wouldn’t he want a real home?” Rebekah heard the words coming out of her mouth and tried not to flinch at her accusatory tone.
Grant shrugged. “I mean not every animal should be domesticated. Some things are meant to be wild and untamed.”
Some things? Or some people? Rebekah bit the inside of her cheek to keep from asking Grant if he was referring to himself. He’d better not be implying that her getting pregnant was any sort of attempt to domesticate him. Not that she’d ever want to, but even if she’d been willing to try, she knew she’d have better luck taming a tidal wave than taming the unpredictable force that was Grant Whitaker.
She took several calming breaths and commanded her legs to walk confidently back inside the building despite the tiny pieces of gravel that were now digging into the arches of her feet.
She refused to give him a second glance as she stormed ahead of him. The man had absolutely nothing to worry about. She wasn’t about to force anyone to be anything they weren’t.
* * *
The following Thursday, Grant was still kicking himself for not getting the address of Rebekah’s doctor before he drove into Spring Forest. He’d had to take a red-eye flight from San Francisco with a layover in Chicago to make it to Raleigh before ten this morning. After landing, he’d barely had time to splash some water on his face and brush his teeth in the airport bathroom before racing to Furever Paws. If she’d called him, or offered her own phone number, he could’ve driven straight to the appointment and met her there with nobody being the wiser.
As it stood, they now risked having his aunts and everyone who worked at the shelter see them leave together. But at least he was pretty sure she’d be spending the morning at work since she’d scheduled the doctor’s appointment during her lunch hour.
Grant checked the clock on the dash of his rental car right before pulling into the parking lot at the animal shelter, then felt his chest ease the second he spied Rebekah’s blue car. She hadn’t left yet.
Just as he turned off the engine, one of the double glass doors opened and a very beautiful Rebekah strode out wearing a sleeveless dress that hugged her waist before floating down to her knees. Again, she was wearing heels and the sight of her long, shapely legs made his lungs constrict.
By the time he’d exited his rental, she already had the back of her sporty little European car open and was wrestling the giant tote bag she always carried off her shoulder.
There were several other vehicles in the lot, but nobody else was outside. Still, Grant kept his voice low when he strode over to her. “Hey, looks like I’m just in time.”
Rebekah jumped back, hitting her head on the corner of the rear hatch. Grant winced at the impact and sympathetically reached out to cradle her scalp in his palm. But her own hand had already beaten him to it and he ended up resting his fingers over hers. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded then took a step back, her eyes darting around the lot as though she was making sure there weren’t any witnesses to their interaction.
“Nobody’s outside,” he said as he followed her around to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Rebekah cleared her throat, but her gaze was firmly fixed on the glass double doors when she asked, “What are you doing here?”
Grant tilted his head. “You’re seeing the doctor today, remember?”
“Of course I remember my appointment. I just didn’t really expect you to show up.”
The implication stung, but Grant forced himself to shrug it off. “I would’ve met you there, but I wasn’t sure if your doctor’s office is here in town or if you have a practitioner in Raleigh.”
Back when he was a kid, visiting his aunts along with his family, there’d only been a few established doctors in Spring Forest. They hadn’t needed medical services much during their trips, but he recalled one summer when his aunt Birdie had driven him to a small clinic in the older part of town for rabies shots after he’d gotten too close to a protective mother raccoon who didn’t appreciate a nine-year-old Grant wanting to hold one of her babies. He knew there was now a new medical practice located in a building off Spring Forest Boulevard, but he doubted that Rebekah would use a local obstetrician and risk running into someone from town.
The muscles in her neck moved as she gulped. “Like I said last week, you don’t need to go to the actual appointment with me. I can meet you at Whole Bean Coffee afterward and fill you in.”
She must’ve thought Grant was an idiot if she believed he would fall for that. Rebekah didn’t even want to be seen in the parking lot of Furever Paws with him. No way was she going to share a coffee in public with him where anyone they knew could walk by and overhear them discussing her pregnancy. If she was going to try and outplay him, then he’d just double down on his challenge.
“Lunch sounds great. We can grab a bite to eat after we go to your appointment. Together.” He held up his keys. “Should we take your car or mine?”
She did that sexy thing where she lowered her chin and tugged a corner of her lip between her teeth. Her hand gripped the driver’s door handle, looking as if she was ready to yank it open and jump inside to speed away. “Why don’t you just follow me?”
“And risk having you ditch me at one of the intersections?” He gave her a wink before shaking his head. “No way.”
“Fine.” She sighed then clicked a button on her keyless remote, electronically shutting the rear hatch of her car. “But get in quick and duck down so nobody can see you.”
Grant tried not to smirk as he jogged around the front of the car to the passenger side. It was impossible for his six-foot-two frame to sink very low without jamming his knees into the glove box. Not that he would’ve actually hidden anyway. He understood
