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The End

Excerpt From

Taming A Dark Heart

By

Terry Towers

Available Now

Chapter 1

“And what exactly am I supposed to do with them?”

Gabriella snickered softly as she watched her co-worker at the animal shelter, Tonya Gibson, deal with a tall, dark-haired, strikingly handsome man who was attempting to drop off a carrier of kittens. She inched her way a little closer to the open doorway, while trying to keep out of sight from the man on the other side of the counter.

“What every other responsible pet owner does, man up and keep them.”

The man on the other side of the counter was becoming increasingly irate as it became clear to him that the shelter was not about to take the pet carrier of four crying kittens from him.

“Man up! Have you not been listening to me? These are
not
my kittens!”

Tonya crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, I wouldn’t be working here for a living,
Sir
.”

The condescension in Tonya’s tone wasn’t lost on Gabriella. Apparently it wasn’t lost on the man either; she could see the muscles flex in his throat as he attempted to force his temper down and she covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle another giggle.

“Listen, lady. I woke up this morning, I went outside to go to work and lo and behold there was a carrier of kittens on my doorstep. I don’t want animals. I don’t like animals. I don’t have time for animals. And I know damned well if I
did
have animals I wouldn’t have a cat and sure as hell wouldn’t have it wandering the streets getting knocked up so I would have even more animals.” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “Are you following me, honey?”

Gabriella almost lost it again at the pissed-off expression on Tonya’s face as the man threw the endearment “honey” at her.

“Oh, I follow you,
baby
. But you need to listen to me now. Even if I did buy your story, we’re full up here.”

“Full up? What do you mean full up? How can you be full up? This is a shelter. You guys take stray and abandoned animals and I happen to have abandoned animals.” He pointed to the pet carrier of kittens.

Tonya straightened up to her full 5’9”, which was roughly six inches shorter than the man, planted her hands on her hips and raised a brow at him. “So you say.”

Gabriella had to bite down on her knuckles to keep from laughing full out as the man on the other side of the counter was rendered speechless. Knowing that Tonya’s technique in dealing with him was getting them nowhere, Gabriella unbuttoned a couple of buttons on her white blouse so there was a teasing view of her white lace bra and pulled the elastic band from her shoulder-length blonde hair. Flipping her head forward, she fluffed out her hair and straightened back up. There was more than one way to get a guy to take some kittens home; time to try a different angle with him.

She emerged from the back room, strolled around to the front of the counter and went over to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome.

“I can take it from here Tonya,” she said over her shoulder to her co-worker before settling her bright blue eyes on the man before her.

“Hi, I’m Gabriella and you are?” she extended her hand to him, the golden bangles on her wrists clinking with the movement.

Slightly thrown off by the bad cop, good cop routine that seemed to be taking place, he took a moment to adjust his attitude and took her hand. “I’m Colin.” His larger hand closed around her dainty one, giving it a firm shake.

She smiled up at him, giving him her best seduction smile as she kept her hand in his several moments longer than necessary. As they looked at each other, his dark, nearly black eyes searching hers, she felt an intense sexual attraction flowing between them. On many occasions she had to force the flirting but in Colin’s case there was no forcing involved.

She released his hand, reached out and fingered the lapel of his black suit jacket. By the feel of the fabric and look of the cut she could tell it was an expensive suit. He was a lawyer; that was her guess anyhow. No one could argue with such gusto and look so “GQ” and not be a lawyer, or something of the sort.

“So are you single, Colin?” She chewed at her lower lip and was pleased to see his dark eyes lowering and pausing at her lips, then taking a moment to admire her cleavage before rising back up to catch her gaze.

He straightened up, squaring his shoulders. Oh, she had him right where she wanted him. He was interested. No doubt in her mind.

“Ummm. Yeah. I’m single.”

“Live alone?” She turned to the kittens and removed one from the carrier. It was a tiny long-haired female calico, perhaps ten weeks old. She held the kitten to her bosom and stroked its long, soft fur.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“House or apartment?”

He thrust his hands into his pockets and continued to eye her, a smile spreading across his lips. Damn it, even his teeth were perfect. Her pulse accelerated and her body became warm under his gaze.

Keep to the task at hand Gabby
, she coached herself, as she continued to stroke the kitten’s soft fur. She had one goal, having those kittens go back home with him so he could take care of them. Emotions and her attraction to him couldn’t get in the way of that.

“House, just outside the city.”

She flashed him the most seductive smile she could muster as she placed the kitten back in the carrier. “In that case, they’ll be perfect pets for you.” She grabbed the handle of the carrier and pulled them down from the counter. “They’ll hunt for you and keep mice and other rodents away. They’ll cuddle with you at night. And you’d be amazed at how good having a pet is for your health. It’s a known fact that people with pets are less stressed.”

His smile faded as he clued into her little seduction plot. He took a step backward, waving his hands in front of him. “No. No. They’re not coming back home with me.”

“But…”

She was interrupted by one of the dog-walking volunteers entering the shelter with Oscar, a four-year-old English bulldog on a leash.

“Hey Gabby. Oscar had a good walk today.” He started to make his way around the counter to take the dog out back when Colin stopped him.

Colin’s eyes focused on the dog. “I have an idea.” He pointed toward Oscar. “I’ll trade you. I mean, look at him.”

The dog, sensing he was being talked about, sat back on his haunches and eyed Colin.

“That dog is what … say, fifty pounds, right?”

Gabriella shrugged. “Yeah, I guess something like that.”

Colin pointed to the kittens peeping out from behind the metal door trapping them in the carrier. “And they're tiny. No more than five or six pounds for the set, right? So less space, less hassle, less mess. I think you guys are getting the best deal here.”

Gabriella had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing; she knew exactly where he was going with this and there was no way that was going to happen. She raised a cynical brow at him.

“So… you take the kittens. I take the dog.” He crouched down and gave Oscar a pat on the head. “See, he likes me. So what do you say? Kittens for the dog. Right?” He looked from Gabriella, to the volunteer and back to Gabriella.

“I’d be happy to see Oscar go to a great home, if you’re interested.”

Colin stood, a self-satisfied smile on his face. “Great, it’s a deal.” He extended his hand to her.

Grimacing, Gabriella shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. You can have Oscar,” she raised a finger at him, silencing him before he could respond. “But we don’t do
swaps
here. You still need to take
your
kittens home with you.”

Colin thrust a hand in his hard, short-cut dark hair in frustration. “Listen, I’ll be straight with you.”

Placing the cat carrier in her hand on the floor and crossing her arms over her chest, Gabriella leaned back against the counter and waited for his next suggestion. She had to admit, his idea of a pet swap was inspired. Problem was that it was much easier to find homes for purebred dogs like Oscar than it was for four kittens.

“All right.”

“I’ve never owned a pet. My mother was allergic and my father felt they were a waste of money and a pain in the ass. I went out on my own and never bothered with getting a pet.” He shrugged. “I don’t even know what they eat.”

Gabriella lifted a brow at him. “Cat food.”

“Okay, well, all right I suppose I knew that much. But do you get what I’m trying to say?”

Gabriella picked up the cat carrier and motioned for him to follow her as she opened the front door and stepped into the parking lot. She spotted a black Mercedes and immediately knew it was his.

“I’ve never owned one animal; four is too much. I go away a lot for work. What then?”

“Have a friend drop by and feed them.”

“I’m new to the area. I don’t know a soul here.”

Grinning, Gabriella walked around to the passenger side of the two-door car, opened the door and set the carrier on the passenger seat. She spun around to find Colin was standing less than two feet from her. She could faintly smell his aftershave and the scent was intoxicating, inviting her to get closer. She fought the urge.

“You still haven’t answered what I do when I go away. I assume it’s not recommended to leave animals alone for days on end. And I’m serious when I say I have no idea what to buy them, or…”

Suspecting he’d have a pen tucked away in his inner pocket, Gabriella slipped her hand under his jacket and reached in. Colin didn’t move away, but his body stiffened as her hand grazed his chest before she pulled the pen from his pocket. Turning back toward the car she quickly wrote her name and phone number on the top of the cat carrier.

When she straightened back up she didn’t have to turn back around to know he’d closed the distance between them. The smell of his aftershave was stronger, more enticing. How would he react if she did what her body was demanding she do, pressed herself tight against him, and allowed her fingers to explore the hard muscle of his chest and abdominals that she knew would be under the overpriced dark blue shirt he was wearing?

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in and slowly released it, gathering her strength to resist him before spinning around to face him. She was right. He’d taken another step and was so close that she didn’t even have to reach out to place the pen back into his inner jacket pocket.

“My number is on the top of the carrier. We can go get supplies tonight after I get off work, if you like.”

Colin placed a hand on the roof of the car at either side of her head, boxing her in.

“So is this an offer you extend to all the people who adopt pets from the shelter or am I getting preferential treatment?” He smiled down at her, his expression displaying a hint of arrogance.

Handsome and cocky
, she mused as their eyes met. It both turned her on and made her want to prove to him that he didn’t have the effect on her that he was thinking he had. Regardless of whether it was true or not.

She smirked up at him and shrugged. “You’d be the first.”

His smile widened.

Smug little bugger.

“But then again, people who come here normally know how to take care of a cat. So as my co-worker already stated, man up and take care of your kittens.”

Without waiting for his response, she ducked under his arm and walked away. Feeling his eyes on her, she put a little extra sway in her hips, for his benefit.
Look all you want mister, but that’s all you’ll be doing.
Even as she thought it, she knew that with a man as sexy as him that might be easier said than done.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Colin chuckled to himself as he watched Gabriella walk away from him and toward the shelter. Her hips swayed seductively as she walked and her faded blue jeans hugged her firm, round ass. Everything about her appealed to him, but what really appealed was her determination and quick wit.

He looked down at the cat carrier and four sets of bright blue eyes peered out at him, and they began meowing softly.

“What in the hell am I going to do with you guys?” he asked them, not expecting an answer. The little calico cat that Gabriella had been holding stuck its paw out from a hole in the grate, attempting to gain his attention.

With a sigh, he took a step back from the car and closed the car door. He supposed he could find another shelter and offer them enough money to take the kittens that they’d be insane to refuse, or he could place a classified ad and hope someone answered. They were cute. People should want them… right? Well, that is if you liked kittens and cats.

But then again, he knew if he did that he might as well kiss any chance with Gabriella goodbye. He suspected that she and the kittens were a package deal. Walking around to the other side of the car, he opened the door and slid in. His attention was once more diverted to the kittens, who had turned around inside the carrier and were attempting to see him through the small slits in the plastic back.

What the hell, it’s only four kittens. He shrugged and started the car. How much trouble could they really be anyhow?

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