***
After their workout, Curt followed Jenna out to her car. He kept his gaze on their surroundings. Mostly. The sight of her ass in those Lycra pants was not something to be missed, that was for damn sure.
He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, place his hand firmly on that tight ass, and make sure all the assholes hanging around knew exactly who she belonged to.
A bit caveman-like, but he was feeling like a Neanderthal right now.
Travis had driven his own car to the gym so he could talk to Jake about the messages and phone calls Jenna had received. After listening to a couple of the sick voice mails, Curt had been so filled with rage he’d had to go for a run to clear his head. He and Travis had agreed that Travis would handle the messages on her phone. Curt didn’t trust himself not to call the bastards back and threaten them with bodily harm.
As Jenna drove them back to her place, Curt’s phone rang. Looking at the screen, he saw it was Travis.
“Yeah?”
“Just answered a call from Colin Richards on Jenna’s phone. He’s the vet. He’s been taking care of that old woman’s dog. Anyway, the dog isn’t very happy, and he wants Jenna to stop by the vet clinic to see it.”
“All right.” He ended the call then relayed the message to Jenna.
“Oh, no, poor Daisy. Okay, the vet clinic is just a few minutes away. We’ll head over and see Colin.”
When they arrived, the door to the clinic opened, and Curt saw the guy from the other day step outside. He’d been the one waiting with a tranquilizer gun.
“Colin, how are you?”
He smiled. “I’m good, Jenna. You still sore?”
“Bruises are still a bit tender, but I’m okay.”
She hadn’t told him any of that. Curt scowled. She shouldn’t have been participating in that self-defense class this morning if she was still in pain. But he made certain he removed the frown when she turned to look at him. He wasn’t doing anything to ruin the truce they’d come to. This morning, she hadn’t fought when he’d told her they were coming to the gym with her, and that was a step in the right direction.
“Sorry to call you like this on a Saturday morning but I’m worried about Daisy. She’s not eating and she appears to be moping.”
“Oh, poor baby. She’s probably missing Mrs. Childs.”
“I’ve been to see Mrs. Childs. She’s going to be in the hospital a while,” Colin said as he led them down a hallway and into a large back room. Daisy sat in a big pen. She had a large bed and blanket as well as dishes filled with food and water. She simply lay there, her head resting on her paws as she watched them approach. The vet was right, she did appear to be moping.
Jenna crouched down. “Oh, Daisy, you poor girl. Are you missing Mrs. Childs?”
“The thing is, I don’t think Daisy can go back to living with Mrs. Childs. We could be talking months by the time she’s recovered enough to look after Daisy, and, even then, Mrs. Childs has told me she’s thinking about going into a home. As much as it pains her to do it, she’s decided that the best idea would be to rehome Daisy.”
Jenna turned to look at Colin, her face filled with sadness. “Oh, no, that’s terrible. She must be so upset.”
“She is. She really wants Daisy to go to someone who will love and take care of her. Someone the dog loves.”
Curt could see where this was going even if Jenna couldn’t and he didn’t like it. Not that he had anything against dogs, although this dog was more the size of a small horse. How much would she eat? If Jenna had a dog this size she might not be inclined to rely on Curt for protection, and, right now, that’s all he had to tie himself to her.
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, both Mrs. Childs and I put our heads together and we came up with someone we thought would be perfect.”
Colin was silent for a moment, obviously waiting for Jenna to figure out who he meant. But Jenna was busy patting Daisy. Curt resisted the urge to snatch her hand back, remembering the way the dog had stood over Mrs. Childs, snapping and snarling at everyone. A dog this big could do a lot of damage to someone Jenna’s size. How the hell could she be expected to take care of her?
Curt gave the other man a warning look. The vet just smiled and shrugged. Then he pointed down at Daisy as her tail started wagging when Jenna patted her head. The dog stared up at Jenna with such hope in her eyes.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen her tail wag since I brought her back here. We definitely made the right choice.”
Jenna stood, and Daisy followed her with her gaze, a look of doggy devotion on her face. “What do you mean?”
“Daisy loves you, Jenna. It’s clear to see you’d be the perfect person to look after her.”