Reid bends down at the knee, so he’s face-to-face with the German Shepherd.“I prefer Hunter,” he muses out loud.“What’s his back story?Does he have one like these lot?”
“Reid, this is a shelter.All their stories are sad no matter how you tell them.”
“So he got left here because his previous owner didn’t want him?”
“His previous owner bought him because she was being stalked, and she needed protection.Sadly, the woman was killed after eight months of purchasing him.”
“So you want to give me a dog to protect my family and it’s a dog who failed the first time.Faith, I don’t get another chance at this.You said so yourself.”
I clip him around the head, earning a growl from the dog, so I wisely take a step back.“Sorry, Mr Waffles.”
“Hunter,” Reid corrects.
“I prefer Mr Waffles.”
Faith snorts.“To answer your remark, no, he didn’t fail.She couldn’t take him everywhere with her, Reid.She had to go to work.From what the sister said, her stalker cornered her after work and strangled her to death.”
“Bleak,” I mumble.
“Wait, he’s been here four months?”Reid asks, and I hear the sorrow in his tone.
“Only a month.They don’t get homed until about 12 weeks.I’ve been thinking about keeping him myself.Our land isn’t as big as yours, but it freaks me out sometimes.I swear, back at the beginning of Summer, right before we went on the cruise, I think someone had been sleeping in a tent here.”
I freeze, gaping at her.Reid’s head snaps up, and Mr Waffles goes on alert, coming up off his arse.“Did you see anyone?”
Her gaze goes from Reid to me.“What?”
I clear my throat.“Malia said she thought there was an outline of a tent in the grass in one of the fields.It can’t be a coincidence.Right?”
“Have you guys seen any on your land?”she questions Reid.
“No.But our land is also used.There’s a herd of sheep on the back acre.Mum’s been renting it to a local farmer because his land hasn’t recovered from his neighbour’s herd going onto his land.Then we have the new work site being built.There’s always someone, somewhere.Plus, the owner at the back of us would kill anyone who trespassed.”
“Maybe it’s nothing,” Faith whispers.
But I can’t help but feel like it is.
“I’m going to love you for forever,” Milly gushes, putting a pause in our conversation.
Reid looks up at me.“So what do you think?Should I take Hunter home?”
God, why is he so damn hot?
“Yep.I think Mr Waffles is perfect.”
“Stop calling my dog Mr Waffles.”
“That’s his name,” I point out.
“It’s Hunter now.You will give him a complex.”
My lips twitch.“Whatever you say.”
“Well, you can’t do anything until I see if I think you’re a good fit,” Faith remarks.
As she goes into more detail, I take a seat on the ground and watch as Reid Hayes gets properly acquainted with his dog.
As they go through commands, I can’t help but feel a tingle between my legs, hoping he uses that voice with me in bed.
