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Dalton had the worst start in life. She had some semblance of what he went through. She never visibly saw anyone hurting him, but those scars he carried were very much real. For her own drama, her mother simply ignored her. She was more interested in looking beautiful and trying to catch a rich husband so she didn’t have to work. Emily knew she was a constant reminder of fucking up.
She had never told anyone this, but the only reason her mother had gotten pregnant was to snag a rich man. It had taken her a few years to realize that her own father had been a married man, passing through town. He’d been on business, and her mother thought she had hit the jackpot.
Once he realized she was pregnant, he’d left town. She knew he had visited from time to time, but Emily never knew who he was, and she never cared to either.
She didn’t for a second think it had broken her mother’s heart—just her wishes of getting a sugar daddy of a husband. That was all her mother wanted.
Emily would never rely on a man. It was why she always worked hard. She put the blanket neatly over the bed, and placed in several toys. She made sure every single dog had a toy or two.
All dogs ever wanted was love. She saw it every day. They didn’t make stupid demands like sex for a mother’s freedom. They were never mean, and didn’t put brown paper bags in girls’ lockers, or force them to fall over in front of the whole school. They certainly didn’t sneak into the school’s changing room and hide to film them getting changed.
Dalton had tried to do that, but she’d hated her body for so long, she never changed out in the open. She used the bathroom. He got quite annoyed that day, told her she was a fucking fat bitch and a waste of space.
She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and turned toward Zero. The dog was a mongrel, and there were no distinctive features on his face to determine what kind of dog he was.
Either way, she loved him. He was always so playful. Like now, he rolled on his back and growled into the air, making her laugh.
“What are you doing?”
She gasped at the sound of Dalton’s voice. How long had he been standing there watching her? She tried to glance behind him to see if anyone saw them, but no one was there. It was still quite early, as she liked to get in before anyone else.
“I work here.”
“You work at the animal shelter? Didn’t you volunteer here when we were kids?”
Zero had rolled onto his stomach and was now looking toward Dalton. He was a good dog, but she didn’t know what kind of man Dalton was.
Was he a good man or a bad one?
There were a lot of rumors circulating about who he was exactly, and she didn’t have a clue if any of them were real or not. That was the trouble with gossip. In most situations, they were all lies.
Before she could answer, Zero got up and walked over to Dalton. She watched in amazement as he sat down at Dalton’s feet.
Did Dalton even realize that he bent down to pet him without even looking at her?
“Yeah, I work at the animal shelter.”
“Why?”
“I love dogs.”
His brow went up and she tried not to laugh at how shocked he seemed to be. Was it so hard to believe that someone could work at an animal shelter out of love for animals?
“Zero has taken a liking to you.”
“Zero?” he asked, frowning.
She nodded at the dog at his feet.
“Fuck me, this dog is ugly.”
“You can’t say that. He’s adorable and he’s never acted that way for anyone.” She was quite amazed. “I know this is a long shot, but have you considered rescuing?”
Why was she even asking him this? This was insane.
Dalton looked down at Zero and then back over at her. “Is that what it will take?” he asked.
“I’m not sure I follow?”
