by T. J. Kline
“You okay?”
Hold it together, Alyssa. This is no different from biology class.
Unable to speak, she nodded. He dabbed at the blood that oozed with gauze, quickly but carefully working his way through the layers of skin before pulling some unrecognizable part of the dog’s insides to the outside of her body. Alyssa was surprised to find that her repulsion passed and curiosity got the better of her as she watched him make another incision, revealing the first puppy. Reaching for the tray of equipment beside him, he plucked another piece of gauze from a pile and pulled open the amniotic sac encasing a small black puppy. He pulled the membrane from the puppy’s face before clipping the umbilical cord and tipping the puppy upside down.
“Okay, we’re going to move quickly. Here’s the first one. Just rub him down really good and make sure he’s breathing.” He watched her for a moment as she ran the towel over the sides of the puppy. “Good. Don’t forget to move over his face and neck, too. That will help work the fluid out.”
She tried to follow his instructions, but the puppy gave a gurgled yip. Alyssa froze midstep on her way to the makeshift puppy bed, her gaze shooting toward his in fear. “What did I do?”
He glanced up, chuckling slightly at her discomfort. “Nothing. That just means he’s alive and ready to meet his mom. Get ready, I’ve got another one for you.”
She set the puppy on the pile of towels, surprised to find them warm from a heating pad placed underneath. Hurrying back to the operating table, she reached for a clean towel to receive the next puppy. He laid it into her hands and she began rubbing it as she walked toward the bedding.
“Why do you keep the bed warm?”
“It’s enough of a shock being born,” he replied as he continued to work. “This way, it’s a more gradual adjustment and it helps regulate their body temperature.”
They repeated the process in silence while the squirming pile of puppies grew. Some black, some white-blond, but all of them grunting now, nudging one another in the pile.
“Last one,” he announced, laying it into her hands.
She could feel the difference in this one immediately. He was smaller than the others and, where the others had been plump with round bellies, she could feel the ribs on this one. Alyssa rubbed at the puppy’s side gently, feeling as if this one might break at any moment, but there was no quiet whine this time. She opened the towel and didn’t see the telltale rise and fall of his chest.
“He’s too still.” She hurried back to Justin at the table.
“Set him down,” he ordered. “Grab that stethoscope.” She held it out to him, and he arched his brows, nodding at his hands, buried inside the anesthetized dog on the table. “You need to see if he has a heartbeat. I need to stop her bleeding.”
“I don’t know what I’m listening for,” she argued.
“Just put that on.” She slipped the earpieces in. “Good, now lay the end on his chest and tell me what you hear.”
“Nothing . . . wait, I hear something but it’s quiet.”
Justin reached for a piece of gauze and rubbed it over the puppy’s face a few times before it gasped, opening its mouth wide. “Okay, take him and put him right in front of the mask. I’ll come check on him as soon as I finish with the mom. Just stay with him.”
ALYSSA LAID HER head in the crook of her elbow, trying to stay awake. Justin was finishing with the female Lab as she watched the puppies. She was keeping a close eye on the littlest one, the one that had trouble breathing. They were all so small and weak, but he was even more so. Her hand instinctively curled around the side of her pregnant belly, where her child lay, nestled under her ribs. In less than six weeks, she’d be watching her own child sleep. Rather than comforting her, the thought made her panic.
She had no idea what she was going to do next. The last thing she’d expected when she went out to lunch with her best friend yesterday was to find out Lillian had been sleeping with her husband for the past four years. Elijah’s infidelity hadn’t come as a complete surprise. They’d been drifting apart for years; however, it didn’t lessen the pain of the betrayal, or the shock that it had been with her friend. The confrontation with Elijah that followed had been bad enough, but with his apathetic response when she had demanded he either remain faithful or give her a divorce, he shattered the last remnants of the illusion she’d clung to that their Hollywood marriage wasn’t as fake as everything else in the industry. He’d laughed at her, reminding her that she was nothing more than an out-of-work actress, and nothing without him, before agreeing to the divorce. He’d told her to leave the house before he returned from the office for dinner, as casually as if he was dismissing one of the house staff instead of throwing out his wife and child. In a daze, Alyssa had packed the car up with her clothing and jewelry, assuming she would find a way to sell what she didn’t need to support her and the baby.
But that would last only so long. Her mother suggested she come home for a short visit, which would at least give her a roof over her head and buy a little time before the baby was born, but she hadn’t told her parents about Elijah’s cheating, or the divorce. She wasn’t sure how long she could stay without telling them the truth. They both adored Elijah; he’d paid for their condo. What if they blamed her? She’d invested everything she’d had into Elijah’s agency, and he’d already warned her that she wouldn’t get anything from him. She didn’t even have a way to pay for doctor’s visits or the delivery now, she reminded herself. Worse, she didn’t even have a doctor any longer. Worries beat against her brain like the staccato beat of a drum, making her heart race in her chest as her child moved within her.
Two strong hands settled on her shoulders. “You did a good job.”
“Oh!” Alyssa jerked upright and slid the rolling chair to one side.
Justin’s lips curved into an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you were awake.”
He cocked his head to one side, and his dimple sank into his cheek, giving him a boyish charm. She brushed back the bangs that had fallen from her bun and tucked them behind her ear. “I was. I just thought you were still with the mom.” She realized she was staring at his perfect mouth and quickly looked back at the puppies, which were grunting softly and wiggling against one another. “I was just sort of lost in my own head, I guess.”
He turned to a cupboard nearby and withdrew two needleless syringes. “What are those for?”
“We need to give them colostrum so they have the antibodies they need and don’t get sick.” He walked back and handed her the syringe. “Just a little on the back of their tongues, and we’ll do it again in an hour. Like this.” He reached for the first puppy and put a few drops of the liquid into its mouth. “Later, she should be able to feed them all. If not, we’ll supplement them the same way.”
Justin glanced up at her through thick, dark lashes—lashes most of the women in her career field would kill for. “This is a nice litter. What do you think you’re going to do with them?”
“Me?” she squeaked, pausing as she reached for a puppy. “Doctor, I can’t take them with me.”
“I think we’re beyond that ‘Doctor’ business. Just Justin is fine.” He arched a brow and smiled at her, the dimple creasing his cheek before his brows dropped forward between his eyes, thoughtfully, and he set the puppy down, reaching for the next one. “You won’t be going anywhere for a while, at least not until your car gets fixed. But I guess you probably won’t be able to keep them in a hotel either. I guess they could stay here until you head out.” His brows lifted again, as if he was certain his explanation was sufficient.
Crap, how am I going to pay for a hotel, or to fix the car? Is he really expecting me to pay to keep these puppies, or for the surgery?
“Um . . . I can’t pay for any of this.” She tucked the strand of hair behind her ear again and saw his eyes flick to the massive diamond solitaire settled on her left hand under the latex glove.
Alyssa couldn’t meet his g
aze for fear of the recrimination she expected to see there. She wanted to tell him it was none of his business, remind him that appearances could be misleading, but knew she wouldn’t. She used to have a backbone, but over the past six years of her marriage, she had caved as Elijah pressured her to spend less time on set and more time helping him build his agency. She’d given him control of her already successful career, allowing him to make higher demands in her contracts, until producers could no longer meet them. She had believed him when he convinced her that it was time to “retire” in order to focus more attention on his agency and starting a family.
Her hand trailed over the baby, quiet within her. Now that fantasy lay in rubble at her feet. Her husband had kicked her out, said he didn’t love her, didn’t want her or their child, and left her pregnant and alone. She should have been devastated. Instead, she felt hollow.
Her eyes slid over the man seated in front of her, his still-wet hair standing at odd angles at the top of his head as he fed the puppies, and guilt swept in. The least she could do was offer him some sort of explanation. He had come to her rescue and stayed outside in the sleet to find the dog she hit.
Alyssa cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. “The truth is that expensive things are all I have right now. I don’t have any money or any way to get any until I sell a few things. I’m not even sure I still have insurance on the car to fix it.” She looked down at the puppies, praying he wouldn’t force her to admit anything more.
“Sounds like you’ve got yourself in a real mess, Alyssa.” He ducked his head to meet her gaze. “Give me some time to see if I can’t figure out something to help you.”
“Why . . . I can’t ask you to . . . ”
Justin arched a brow and cocked his head at her. “I don’t recall you asking. Besides, my father would skin my hide if I was anything less than a gentleman for a damsel in distress.”
She wanted to believe he could be her white knight, but Elijah had taught her the hard way that fairy tales were nothing but fantasy. The only person she could count on now was herself.
Chapter Two
JUSTIN STARED AT the woman across from him. As familiar as she looked, he couldn’t put his finger on where he might have seen her before. Alyssa wasn’t from around here, that much was certain. There weren’t many women in town who could afford a designer purse, impractical boots, and a luxury vehicle more suited to city jaunts than the winter mountain terrain. But there was something else, some memory niggling at the back of his mind, teasing him, just out of reach.
She was exquisite, the most physically attractive woman he’d ever seen, but there was something in her eyes that drew him in. Sadness. Melancholy seemed to radiate from her, and he wanted to pull her into his arms, to shelter her from whatever haunted her beautiful green eyes. Her damp cardigan sweater clung to her with the tie resting just above her protruding belly. Even pregnant, she was svelte to the point of being too thin.
Her waifish appearance reminded him of a fashion model. She was certainly lovely enough to be one, but the idea didn’t suit the woman standing in front of him. Justin assumed models would be accustomed to taking criticism and judgment, and this woman looked as if she’d crumble if he so much as raised his voice.
That was it, he realized. Behind her sadness, he recognized fear. Justin felt the uncontrollable instinct to protect Alyssa swell in his chest. She might not be his responsibility, but he couldn’t stop the desire to help her any more than he could have let the dog die. When she glanced up at him again, his mouth opened without acknowledgment from his brain.
“D’you know anything about accounting or running an office? You did pretty well with these guys. You could work here for a while, at least until you get your car fixed or figure something out, since my regular help doesn’t seem inclined to answer her phone.”
“I guess, but I couldn’t let you fire her . . . ”
What the hell are you doing? He knew she came from money, since she wore a huge wedding ring. Hell, that ring alone should have been enough reason for him to keep his mouth shut, since she was another man’s wife, but his lips continued to move.
Justin laughed out loud, but he wasn’t sure whether it was at himself for his stupidity or her comment. “I can’t fire her; she’s my cousin. But maybe this would be a wake-up call to be more responsible.”
Alyssa gave him a slight smile before ducking her head again. He didn’t miss the fact that she wasn’t able to meet his eyes for more than a few seconds.
“My sister has a ranch with a few guest cabins. I can see if she has one empty. I’m sure she’ll let you stay as long as you need to.”
Her eyes jumped back up to meet his. He could easily read the gratitude, and a hopeful light flickered to life in her eyes. But there was more—a wariness he couldn’t explain and that had no reason to be there.
“Why are you being so nice? You don’t know me.”
Justin shrugged, as if car crashes and late-night emergency puppy deliveries were commonplace for him. “It’s the right thing to do.”
The light in her eyes darkened immediately and she frowned, not saying anything more. He reached for the runt, still in front of the oxygen and barely moving. “I don’t know if this little guy is going to make it,” he warned, slipping the dropper into the puppy’s mouth. He wasn’t surprised when the puppy didn’t even try to suck. It wasn’t a good sign.
“We have to help him,” she insisted, her voice firm as she set the puppy she was feeding back into the squirming pile of little bodies.
Justin looked up at the determination he heard in her voice, the antithesis of the resignation he’d seen there only moments before. His gaze crashed into hers, and he felt an instant throb of desire. He cursed the reaction, especially since she was right, he didn’t know her or her story.
“We? Does this mean you’re staying?” The corner of his mouth tipped upward in anticipation of spending some time with her, finding out how a woman like her ended up in the middle of nowhere like this.
Easy, boy. You’re allowed to help and that’s all. That ring on her finger and that belly say she’s committed to someone else.
Yeah, well, that sadness in her eyes and the fact that she’s alone say something completely different, he internally argued with himself. Justin wondered what happened to his “no romantic entanglement” resolution and how quickly this woman was able to make him reconsider it. But he couldn’t just leave a damsel in distress to figure things out on her own. His father had taught him better than that.
ALYSSA WATCHED AS the tow truck lifted her car onto the back of the flatbed trailer, chewing at the inside of her lip as she handed the driver her insurance card. She was grateful for the twenty-four-hour service but suspected the driver had come out so quickly in the storm only because he’d recognized the name of Justin’s clinic, not because of her insurance company. She looked at the crushed bumper of the car and cringed.
When Elijah told her to take the BMW and leave, he hadn’t said which BMW. When he found out she’d taken his new M4, the one that cost him nearly two hundred thousand dollars, he was going to be furious. Her stomach churned and she felt ill at the thought of him finding out. It had been a stupid act of defiant retaliation for what he’d done to her.
Now she questioned her own sanity in doing it. She’d planned on selling the car when she arrived at her parents’ house and using the money for a nest egg, something to give her and the baby a new start, especially since she probably wouldn’t see a dime from Elijah. How had she gone from a dream life—married with millions, about to have their first child, and famous—to being alone, crashing her car, and becoming the owner of a litter of puppies? All in the span of twenty-four hours.
That didn’t even take into account the job and temporary housing Justin had offered her. Alyssa couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that she was making yet another wrong turn on a long road of mistakes, but she really didn’t have any other choice but to accept
Justin’s generosity. At least this way, she would have a roof over her head and a way to try to pay for her car repairs if Elijah had already canceled the car insurance.
She signed the slip for the tow truck driver, ignoring the curious glances he kept casting her direction when he thought she wasn’t looking.
“I knew it!”
“Excuse me?” Alyssa took a step backward.
“I thought I recognized you but, well, it’s kinda dark and . . . you’re Alyssa Cole. You were in that movie a while back where you were the wife of the politician. Didn’t you win an award for that one? I liked the one with the aliens undercover in the White House better, though. That was awesome,” the man gushed.
She glanced back at Justin, who stood nearby, watching the exchange, waiting for her to finish. The only indication he’d heard was the slight dip of his brows on his forehead.
The aliens flick had been the last movie she’d acted in before ending her career two years ago. She might have won an Oscar for the other, but fans loved this one, gaining her several viewers’ choice awards. She’d been approached to do the sequel, but Elijah—both her husband and agent at that point—had demanded such an exorbitant salary for her that the producer had rescinded his offer. There were offers for several other movies, but according to Elijah, they all fell through for one reason or another. It was then that Elijah suggested she think about retiring to start a family. With his agency successful, for the most part thanks to her as his high-profile client, she agreed to put her career on hiatus in order to focus on starting their family. Like an idiot, she’d believed he wanted the same things she did. She’d been crazy to think a baby could bring them closer to repairing the charade that their marriage had become.
“Why didn’t you do the others? They weren’t nearly as good without you.” The driver caught himself and looked at her sheepishly. “I don’t suppose you’d take a picture with me?”
She smiled at the young driver. He was far more excited about the circumstances of their meeting than she was, but it wasn’t his fault her husband—soon to be ex-husband, she corrected—had single-handedly crushed her career before leaving her pregnant and alone.
