A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy (Love in Sweet Bloom)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Duke grunted as he lifted the oversized bag of dog food out of the back of his truck. He tossed it over his shoulder then trudged around the back of the animal shelter. Normally at this time of year he would be back in England. He’d be visiting with his mother and his sister.

Not this year.

The reasons weren’t bad . He’d sent them money for Christmas last year and they’d promptly chosen to spend it on a cruise. Unfortunately, their cruise that had been scheduled for November had been pushed to the middle of December. Right about now, they were probably packing and preparing to leave. Then when they got back, they’d be off visiting family.

He didn’t mind. His mother deserved to have something nice and if a holiday was what she wanted, he was more than happy to give it to her. But now he was stuck in Sweet Bloom, Texas for the month. He took on more shifts at work, but that wasn’t enough to fill his time.

At one point, he’d thought that going out on that blind date could be the start of something else to fill his time—but boy, he was wrong about that.

Duke released the bag of dog food at the back entrance with a groan. He’d forgotten to prop open the door. He wiped a hand over his brow and sighed. He’d put all the food out here then he’d go through the front to open the back door.

He continued moving the bags of donated food to the back, his thoughts drifting to a familiar subject. When he’d bumped into Sophie in town, he’d been instantly reminded of her beauty. Her brown hair had been pulled up into an adorable messy bun. Some of her hairs had fallen around her face, giving it a wispy look.

Man, she’d been angry to see him. He had to laugh at that. Apparently she was the type to hold grudges—yet another reason why they would never work out. Deep down, he’d been pleased to notice that she’d been staring at him. He didn’t know what it was about her that stirred up these sorts of feelings, and he didn’t have to. Sometimes mysteries could remain as such.

Pippa had a point. Maybe there would come a day when Sophie was open to getting to know him better without feeling cornered. For someone who didn’t like cats, she sure had a pair of claws on her.

He headed back to his truck after depositing the last bag and closed the tailgate. Then he marched up to the entrance and through the door. There were two new volunteers with their backs to him when he entered the shelter. The head vet tech was giving them the rundown. They were likely going to help with cleanup. There were a lot of stalls that needed to be sprayed out both from sick animals to those being boarded.

Good. The flyers were working. He’d taken on as many shifts as he could, but there was only so much he could do to help out this place. He wandered the halls until he reached the back entrance and then he pushed open the heavy door, letting in the bright afternoon sunlight. One bag of food was used to prop the door open while he brought in the others to the storage room. Once he’d grabbed the last one, he let the door slam behind him then he returned to the storage closet.

Duke had just put down the last bag when the door opened and the vet tech ushered the new volunteers inside. He might have laughed out loud if he wasn’t in shock. Sophie stood before him beside a girl he didn’t recognize. The vet tech gestured around the room. “Over there you’ll see the bedding we have on hand. And over there are our assortment of food. There are also toys we let the dogs borrow when they’re here for more than a day or two, otherwise they get bored.” The tech smiled at Duke. “And this is one of our best volunteers. Duke, meet Sophie and Debra.”

Sophie scowled. Debra smiled shyly. Duke touched the brim of his cowboy hat. “Afternoon, ladies.”

The tech ushered them out, probably to finish the tour and leaving Duke to set to work getting the kibble ready for the dogs. He was in the middle of pouring measured amounts into metal bowls when the door opened. “If you have any questions, you can ask Duke. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to help.”

Duke glanced over his shoulder and his heart skipped. Sophie hugged the wall as the door to the storage room closed. She sure resembled an angry stray cat. Her sharp eyes stared daggers at him, almost as if to say ‘mess around and find out’.

He rolled his shoulders and returned to his work.

“Nothing?” she finally snapped.

“Hmm?” he murmured.

“ Nothing ,” she repeated. “You don’t have anything to say.”

He pretended to think about that for a moment, tilting his head upward to the ceiling then he shook his head. “Nope. Can’t say that I do.”

She marched across the room and stood beside him, her face peering up at him. “Are you stalking me?”

At that question, he stilled. Then he slowly turned his irritated gaze on her. “ What ?”

She blinked as if startled by his dark tone, but she quickly recovered. “Are. You. Stalking. Me?”

He leaned his face closer to hers, surprised when she didn’t immediately back away. “I was here first,” he said firmly. “How would I have known that you were going to volunteer?”

She blinked a few more times then looked away. “I think it’s a little suspicious that you happen to be at the same shelter as I am.”

“I’ve been volunteering here for over a year. If anything, you’re the stalker.”

Her mouth fell open slightly and he glanced down at it.

Nodding to her, he muttered, “Might want to close that. You don’t want to catch any flies.”

Sophie snapped her mouth shut and folded her arms. She continued to stare at him with disdain. The longer she did that, the harder it became to keep his cool. He hadn’t done anything wrong—well, except offend her by disregarding her career and her love of dogs. Oh, and for some reason, being from England.

“Is there something else you want to say?” He gave her a firm stare.

She shook her head. “You need to stay out of my way,” she snapped.

He nearly told her that was saying something, but he held his tongue. She was just as fiery and dangerous as he remembered.

It bordered on being intoxicating.

Her eyes shifted to what he was doing and without asking, she picked up a sheet of paper he’d been working off. The dogs being boarded varied from eight pounds to over a hundred. Food would be served based on their weight.

Sophie immediately got to work pouring amounts into bowls. He didn’t know how she’d figured out where he was at on the list, but she did.

Intelligent.

Efficient.

Sophie continued to show that she was a valuable asset in a place like this one. They worked in silence feeding the dogs, then they got the dogs outside in their penned yard before they started cleaning out the kennels. He didn’t know where Debra was placed, but that didn’t really matter. He only had eyes for one person.

He entered the first kennel and picked up what he could with a poop scoop then retrieved a hose. One by one he cleaned out the kennels on his side of the room. When he was nearly done, he slowed to watch Sophie as she did the same on her side.

The whole time they had been working together, she’d refused to look at him. It must have been difficult to fight such an instinct—a fact he nearly pointed out, but again, he stopped himself.

He finished with his stalls first and brought the dogs in one at a time. Sophie followed suit. When she was about to go out to retrieve her next dog, he called out to her. “You might want me to?—”

She shot him a deathly glare and he snapped his mouth shut.

If she wanted to bring in their biggest dog all on her own, that was up to her. The great Dane was one of the most energetic dogs they had in the shelter. He didn’t like being penned up and the second he got within a few feet of his kennel, he was going to fight her.

Sophie might be a dog person, but she wouldn’t be any match for her next pup.

At first, everything seemed normal. The dog trotted happily at Sophie’s side, nearly half her size. But the second the door to the room closed, his ears perked up. His eyes grew wide and he started tugging on the leash.

To Sophie’s credit, she held onto that leash firmly—it wasn’t enough. The dog yanked and pulled until Sophie lost her footing on the slick cement floor.

Down, she went, a yelp escaping her throat. The Dane tugged her, dragged her, and kept her off balance as he ran laps up and down the aisles.

Not once did Sophie call out for help. Duke stopped, resting his forearms on the broom he had in hand as his eyes followed her movements. He really should help. Then again, he didn’t need any more of her wrath. An amused smile still tugged at his lips.

Sophie finally found her footing. She braced herself by spreading her legs out farther. She wrapped the leash around her fist and tugged, all the while speaking calmly to the dog. Her hair was a mess, wet in spots and in a frazzled, messy halo around her head.

Duke didn’t know how she did it exactly, but she got the dog back into his kennel. Sophie removed the leash, shut the door with a triumphant sound then her whole body stiffened when her eyes landed on the informational paper posted to the outside of the kennel.

Her dark eyes shot to meet Duke’s and her frown deepened. “Of course,” she seethed.

He didn’t move from his location, nor did the smile fall from his face.

She jabbed her finger at the paper in the laminated packet attached to the door. “I can totally see the resemblance.”

Duke lifted a brow. He knew exactly what she was referring to without looking. The Dane’s name was Duke. He chuckled as he shook his head and got back to work. He doubted she’d last more than one day. After an experience like that one, she’d have to be crazy to choose to come back.

Whistling to himself, he let his thoughts linger on her longer than usual. Besides her beauty and her spit-fire attitude, she had a few other things going for her. She was charitable. The woman had shown up at a shelter to volunteer. Bad people simply didn’t do that. She had a heart of gold as far as he was concerned.

And boy, did she have determination.

He shouldn’t be surprised. Stubborn people usually were determined as long as what they were fighting for was something they believed in.

Sophie could have dropped that leash and hollered for help. But she didn’t. She’d stuck it out.

The smile wouldn’t leave his face the whole time they worked in silence. Whether she wanted it or not, he had found a deep respect for her. It really was too bad she wanted nothing to do with him. If there was any shot he could change that opinion, he might have set to work to do it.

Alas he couldn’t. He wasn’t in the game of chasing women who didn’t want to be chased. Much like most men, he’d learned that the hard way. A woman who had to be convinced to be with him wasn’t worth his time.