Mack slammed his fist on his steering wheel. Ten days! He couldn't believe they'd gotten it.

He was disgusted at himself for fighting for it, guilty as sin for accepting it. The instant the sellers agreed, he'd felt sick. Sick! For doing his job!

There was no use telling himself not to feel bad, no point in saying how he was doing nothing wrong. Bev deserved more, and he'd failed her. Why had so much been at stake? His job. His career. His way of life. Not things he could throw away in an instant because of a woman he barely knew.

No wonder he never made time for women. It was easy when he didn't care, but awful when he did. And there was no use denying he cared about Bev and her animals.

His truck bounced over the curb and skidded into the shelter parking lot. It was nearly midnight and there was no way he was going home to his empty house to think about what a jerk he was. He was going to face Bev and tell her what he'd done. And he'd help her find another solution, no matter how hard she tried to push him away.

Bev was like him. He was sure she'd be at work at this hour, fighting the battle until the end. And her classic old jalopy in the parking lot told him he was right.

He was getting to know her.

He jumped out of his truck, and stalked to the front door. His mood was rank, his body tense. When the front door opened easily under his touch, Mack cursed. The woman did not take her safety seriously enough. He stepped inside, but before he could lock the door behind him, his feet became very cold and wet.

"What the...?" He looked down to discover his leather loafers submerged beneath murky brown water, his black socks blending into the opaque darkness. A quick glance revealed the entire floor had turned into a pond, a few papers floating on the surface of the water. "Bev! Are you all right? Bev!"

He sprinted across the entry, dirty water soaking his pants as he splashed to the door to the pens. "Bev!"

There was no answer.

Vaulting down the steps to the first aisle, he sank another two inches into the water. "Bev!"

What had happened? Was she all right? Visions of her slipping and knocking herself out, sinking below the surface of the water sent shudders through his body. "Bev!"

"Mack? Is that you?" Her desperate call wafted out of a doorway on his right, relieved disbelief in her voice. "Help me!"

His heart clenching at her voice. She was alive! "Bev! Are you hurt?" He sloshed through the hallway in water up to his mid-calf.

"Hurry up!"

"Hang on! I'm coming!" He ran through the water, imagining all the precarious situations she could be in. If anything happened to her...

He burst into the room before he could finish the thought. Relief surged through him. She was all right.

The moment of respite was brief, as he took in the rest of the scene. The water was halfway up the bottom row of cat cages, leaving the tall cats up to their chins in water, and the kittens were paddling desperately to stay afloat. "Holy cow, Bev. They're going to drown."

"I know!" She was on her knees fishing kittens out of the first cage. The ends of her hair were dipping in the water, and pink hearts on her underwear showed through her wet, white shorts. "I just got here. I'm never going to get them all out before they drown." Panic shook her voice, even as she draped two wet kittens over her shoulder. "I don't know what happened!"

Shelving his desire to give her a hug of reassurance, Mack immediately knelt beside her and yanked open the next cage. "No animals are going to drown. We can do this." He lifted three kittens out, flinching when a sharp claw dug into his thumb.

She flashed him a desperate smile. "Thanks."

"You got it, babe." For once, they were on the same team. It felt good.

Between the two of them, it took only a few minutes to clear out the bottom row of cages, relocating the cats to the upper levels. Though Mack had more than a few gouges from very unhappy felines, all the animals seemed to be all right, albeit wet and cranky. "What next?"

Bev took a step back, inspecting their results as if she couldn't believe the immediate danger was past. "The dogs. Their pens have about five inches of water in them. Not enough to drown them, but we can't exactly leave them there."

"I'll get 'em. Where should I take them?"

"You could try the outdoor pens. There's enough room for some of them there."

"Right." Mack turned to leave, trying not to think about how appealing Bev looked, with her wet shirt clinging to her curves, her ponytail plastered to her head and her dark eyes looming out of her pale face. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and take her away, but instead he walked out of the cat room toward the dog pens.

A few minutes later, he was carrying two wet mutts out the back door to the pen. He'd started with the shortest dogs. Mack stopped in the doorway and looked out at the pen. Water was streaming from the building to the pen, turning it into a swamp of bark dust and mud.

A gentle touch to his lower back caught his attention. "Oh, no. Look at that. We can't put them out there."

Mack adjusted the squirming dogs, feeling the water from their fur soak through the final dry spots on his shirt. "I have an idea."

Bev took one of the dogs from him and hugged it to her, burying her face in the soft fur. "If you say I should take them to the Humane Society, I'll kill you."

Mack tightened his lips. "Do you really believe I would say that?"

She lifted her eyes to his, searching his face. "No."

He nodded, relieved. "We can take them to my house."

"Your house?"

"I have ten fenced acres. I hate to keep Janey penned in, but I don't want her to get hit by a car. So I fenced in the whole thing. We could take them there. I have a huge basement game room. There's plenty of room for the cat cages down there."

Her jaw dropped open. "Ten fenced acres?"

He nodded. "Let's go—"

She didn't move. "They might dig up your yard."

He snorted. "Grass can be replanted. How many dogs do you have here right now?"

"About thirty. I haven't taken in new ones since..." She stopped and looked at him. "I'm not taking new ones at the moment."

"Because of me."

"Yes," Bev sighed. "But I know you wouldn't do it if you had a choice."

His heart flipped. Had she forgiven him? "Bev..."

But she had turned away, her cheeks pink. "We'll have to take about six trips to get them all to your house."

"A lot will fit in my truck."

"You're going to put wet animals in your beautiful car?"

"Give me a break, Bev. I'm not a monster. Janey's in my car all the time."

"But these are shelter dogs. Soggy. Muddy. I don't even have papers on all of them." She was trying very hard not to crack a smile, but the corner of her mouth was twitching. "They might have diseases."

"I guess I deserved that." Was this the first time she'd teased him? Maybe she really had forgiven him. The thought sent a thrill racing through him.

She finally chuckled out loud, touching his arm. "Don't worry. I won't classify you as a snob now that you've let wet cats claw you." She lifted the tail of his jacket. "And your suit is ruined. You definitely won me over with your sacrifices."

"Did I?" There was a huskiness to his voice that drew a flush to her face.

He expected her to avert her gaze, but she looked right at him. "You are well on your way."

"If I ask you to come home with me tonight, are you going to turn me down again?" He trailed his fingers down the side of her neck, drawing circles around the collar of her wet tee shirt.

Bev cocked an eyebrow at him. "I have to go home with you. We're taking thirty dogs and the cats with us."

Mack let his fingers drift downwards, between the swells of her breasts. "And after we get them settled?"

"We'll have to see." There was no coyness in her tone, and no flirtation in her eyes. Just smoldering passion and the promise of something. Exactly what, he didn't think either of them were sure.

Time to go home and find out.