Silence filled the small room for almost a full minute after Mack left. Josie broke the silence by walking to the door and shouting, "Feel free to make a donation to the shelter."

After a moment, she shrugged her shoulders and turned back into the room. "He ignored me."

Bev sighed. "Maybe he didn't hear you."

"You give the man far too much credit," Josie said. "He came by to destroy you emotionally."

"I don't know. I kinda believe him that he came by to warn me." There was no way he could have been so gentle with her injuries and devoted to his dog if he were inherently a jerk. Granted, he was an obscenely rich workaholic who'd never look at someone like her romantically, but still...she couldn't believe he was so heartless that he came by to gloat. After all, he hosted birthday parties for his mother. And never would her body be so cruel as to respond to a man who was a jerk. Some instinct would have leapt in to protect her.

"He definitely has the potential to sit on any one of us in a darkened movie theatre," Josie announced.

"Actually, I think he'd do it with the lights on, intentionally," Les added. "And he'd probably kick a dog on the way out."

"Only if it were a mutt. He wouldn't kick a purebred," Josie added. "The man is way too blueblood for us."

"He has a mutt," Bev said quietly. "He takes her in his car."

"Huh." Josie pursed her lips thoughtfully, one eyebrow quirked in Bev's direction.

Les moved slightly closer to Bev. "I think he came by to see if he could get a little cheap thrill from Bev before he destroyed her life."

"He did not!" Even as Bev smacked Les's shoulder in protest, she thought of Mack's hands on her legs, soothing her wound, stirring up reactions she hadn't been prepared for. "Definitely not. I'm not his type."

"Yeah," Josie said. "Mack isn't the type to be attracted to women who wear overalls. He's a designer dress kinda guy."

"Thanks." Josie was right. Much as Bev might spend the next eighty years of her life fantasizing about him, he'd never be interested in her. It was better that he left on an unfriendly note. It would make it easier for her to forget about him...maybe? Or maybe she'd just spend the rest of her life regretting that she'd let him walk away without at least peeking to see if he might possibly be interested in her...

"No offense, Bev. You wouldn't want him anyway."

Les nodded. "Yeah. He's a jerk who doesn't deserve a chance with you."

Bev shot a glance at Les, surprised by the venom in his voice, but when she caught his eye, he turned red and looked away.

"Mack's too handsome for his own good," Josie declared. "If he'd spent some time as a loser, he'd be more sensitive."

"Like me?" She had a feeling Mack was plenty sensitive. There'd been genuine regret in his eyes, she was certain. How could he not be concerned? He loved his dog and his actions were going to affect dogs. Bev walked back to the counter to finish cleaning up from the bandaging incident. "It really doesn't matter whether he's sensitive or not. The fact is that my shelter is in trouble."

Les leaned on the examining table, his normal color restored. "I'll help you."

Bev sighed. "Help me what? Are you going to give me enough money to buy this place?"

"Well, no," Les admitted. "My treat for dinner, though. We'll work out a plan there."

"You're sweet, Les, but I have to work." She glanced at her watch. "Shoot, I need to leave. I'll have to come back after work and finish cleaning the cages."

"I'll clean 'em for you," Les said. "You deserve a break."

Bev grinned at Josie. "Your brother is a real sweetheart."

"I guess. He's never offered to do my chores for me," Josie said. "I think he has the hots for you."

Les turned burgundy, and he ducked out of the room, muttering something about getting started.

Both women laughed, and Bev grabbed her car keys. "Maybe I should start dating your brother. He's the only male I've met who actually thinks I'm worth something."

Josie lowered her voice. "Don't get me wrong, Bev. I love Les, but he's too wimpy for you. You'd get bored in a month with all the 'Yes, Bev. Whatever you want, Bev. Anything for you, Bev.'"

"I don't know, that sounds mighty nice right about now. Imagine if Mack had dropped to his knees in adoration the moment I'd asked him to spare my shelter. If he'd said, 'Anything for you, Bev,' my life would be looking pretty rosy."

The image of Mack on his knees adoring her sent waves of excitement rushing through her. He was so passionate about his work, she was certain if he ever transferred that loyalty and passion to a woman, the woman would be treated like a goddess—adored, loved, and put first in his life. She imagined Mack's hands soothing away her worries, rubbing the tension out of her shoulders...moving lower...followed by his lips, kissing away her troubles...

"Maybe Les was onto something. Did you try to change Mack's mind with your body? Might be worth trying."

A jolt of awareness made Bev shudder as Josie's suggestion intensified the images racing through her mind.

Shaking her head to clear it, Bev rolled her eyes and walked into the cement-floored hallway, nearly catching her toe on the rubber mat covering it. "Not my style, Josie. You may have been a geek in high school, but at least you weren't fat."

No way was she sexually confident enough to try to seduce Mack. Not when she wanted him so much that rejection would devastate her. Better to forget about him. Or at least try. Focus on the fact that his actions were going to make her animals homeless.

Emotion welled up inside her at the thought of her precious animals. Yes, that should help her to stop fantasizing about a man she had no business fantasizing about.

They stepped out into the sunshine, and Bev pulled her pink sunglasses out of her purse.

Josie grabbed her arm and spun her around until they were facing the glass door. "Look at yourself, Bev. You aren't fat anymore." She grabbed the waistband of Bev's baggy overalls and cinched them in. "You have some seriously badass curves underneath all that baggy denim. Use them, girl."

Bev shoved the sunglasses on her face and turned away, suppressing her longing for the courage to embrace her sexuality the way Josie could. "Sorry, Josie. That's your game, not mine."

Josie frowned. "When are you going to believe that you're a hot item now?"

Pausing with her hand on the rim of her car door, Bev said, "Josie, it's not that there was a thin, cool chick hidden beneath the layers of fat when I was younger. It's that there is a fat loser hidden beneath my less chunky body today. I'd rather not raise my expectations that those people that used to sit on me will suddenly adore me. Life is a lot easier if you make your expectations realistic."

"At least admit that you looked great in my dress."

"I'll admit that I was never as aware of my breasts as I was when I was wearing it. Now, I have to run. My shift starts in six minutes, and I have to grab some food on the way there."

"You're going to kill yourself if you keep running Give a Dog a Bone by yourself, and working so many hours at the clinic."

"I don't have a choice, do I? I need to pay my bills. Plus, I get free or cheap supplies through the office. Being a vet tech has good perks when you run a shelter."

"I'm worried about you, Bev."

"Worry about the animals instead. They're the ones in trouble."

Josie furrowed her brow. "I'll stay and help Les, so you don't need to come back tonight. Go home and post a plea for donations on the Internet. Maybe you'll become a cause."

Bev squeezed her friend's shoulder. "You're the best, Josie. And that's not a bad idea. I'll spend some time tonight working on it."

"You'll think of something. And when you think of it, Les and I will do whatever you need to help you."

"Speaking of Les, give your brother my love, will you?"

"He's too wimpy for you."

"Better a wimp than a heartless fiend," Bev said, as she climbed into her rusty car. Not that she was having any success convincing herself that Mack was a heartless fiend, and imagining Les's hands on her body was nearly enough to make her feel nauseous, especially when she could still feel Mack's stirring touch on her leg.

Leaving her car door open, she whistled shrilly. In a moment, there was a clatter of toenails across the sidewalk, and a thirty-pound ball of smoky gray hair shot across her lap to the passenger seat. "Good boy, Mac."

She had just shut the door when Josie appeared in the window. "You do realize that your dog has the same name as the man who's ruining your life, don't you?"

Bev stared at her friend. "I never thought of it." She ruffled the shaggy head, the brown eyes barely visible beneath the thick hair. "I guess I'll have to change my dog's name. It would be too insulting to leave him named after Mr. Spenser."

Not to mention, every time she called her dog, she'd think of Mack. There was no need to torture herself that way. Definitely, time to rename her dog.

"I think it's an omen."

Silently reciting a good luck ditty, Bev turned the ignition, grimacing while the engine sputtered. "What kind of omen? That my dog will turn out to be a killer?"

"That this deal with Mack isn't over yet."

A surge of hope rushed through Bev at Josie's suggestion, and she wasn't sure whether it was for the shelter's sake or her own hormones. No, it was for the shelter. Give a Dog a Bone was what mattered, not her ridiculous attraction to a man who would never want her.

The engine finally roared to life, and Bev relaxed. "I'm sure it's over. The man is blind to anything that doesn't have dollar signs on it." Including a woman without money, sophistication, or a body that would rock his world. A woman like her: simple, ordinary, and invisible.