Damaged: The Dillon Sisters by Layla Frost (young adult books to read TXT) 📗

inferno, he grinned. It was so genuine and easy, it fed the giddiness inside me. “Tomorrow?”

“I work tomorrow.”

“Saturday night then. Seven?”

What am I doing?

I might as well get real wild and stop at the store for that plant.

I’ll be the girl with a hot date and a succulent, sucka. Look at me, pretending I have my shit together.

I glanced to the side to see my bus coming. Before I could chicken out, I told him, “Loco Diablo.”

“It’s a… planning session.”

The bus stopped in front of me, and I gave him a small wave before stepping on.

I was up the steps when he called, “See you Saturday, Briar.”

“Bye—”

The rest of my sentence was cut off by the closing door. It didn’t matter, I couldn’t have finished it anyway.

Because I didn’t know his name.

Chapter Ten

Curiosity

Briar

For lonely puppies

UHHHH…

Looking down at my cell, I tried to figure out how to phrase my Google search. I typed, deleted, and retyped until I decided on the bluntest—and stupidest—info I knew.

Hot bodyguard to tech guy Redmond, WA

Unsurprisingly, nothing of use showed up other than weird niche dating sites and even weirder niche porn. I quickly exited out of the browser since perusing porn while on break in the employee room was likely frowned upon.

Reopening the porn-free browser, I tried Google again.

Tech companies Redmond, WA

That search garnered a lot of results, but nothing I could use. I had no clue what I was looking for unless the website plastered his face all over every inch of their home page.

Which none of them did.

Bastards.

I switched to the images tab to see if there were any pictures of the tech guy so I could find out who his bodyguard was, but there weren’t.

Damn.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t after his name so I could contact him to cancel. I just wanted to know it. Since no one had thoughtfully said it in front of him like they had mine, Google it was. I’d managed to resist the urge the night before, but I couldn’t wait. I was weak. My curiosity was driving me nuts

Hitting a dead end, I had no choice but to be patient—something I was not good at—I checked the time to see I still had fifteen minutes left on break. Since there was nothing else to do, I stood and pocketed my phone before heading to the kennels.

Moving some cages into the grooming room, I was about to get to work when the door opened, setting off a fresh round of barks.

“How did I know I’d find you in here?” Sue asked.

I’m antisocial and predictable?

“Lucky guess,” I said.

I opened a cage, and a scruffy ball of brown fluff barreled out at me, desperate for attention. Petting its fur, I tried to work out some of the tangles with my fingers.

The new group of filthy, terrified pups had been rescued from a puppy mill. I wanted to make sure they’d be ready in time for the bachelor auction. Not just because they’d bring in some much-needed funds—though that was true—but also because the shelter wasn’t a good place for them. It was a hell of a lot better than where they’d been, but they deserved big homes with room to roam—something they hadn’t had in the mill’s cramped, tiny cages. They’d lived through so much bad in their short lives.

I could relate.

“How’re things coming for the auction?” I asked.

Sue shot me a frazzled look before rolling her eyes. “You know how it is. Everything gets messed up at the last minute. And since there’s still a week left, there’s a lot of last minutes left.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great.” I shifted to stand.

Like she could read my mind, she grabbed one of the grooming kits and handed it to me.

Unzipping it, I pulled out a special brush and got to work on the chocolate doodle’s more intense tangles as Sue paced and ranted about caterers, venues, donations, and everything else that went into a charity event.

For the shelter’s sake, I hoped the auction brought in crazy money because it would do a lot of good. But for Sue’s sake, I hoped it brought in super extra crazy money so all that hassle was worth it.

“You know what would help?” Sue asked, her voice a little too light and nonchalant.

Already knowing where she was going with it, I shook my head. “Not happening.”

“You don’t have to be out in the crowd. You can stay in the back, making sure the dogs are set. You know you’re the best at calming them.”

I was.

Because only someone whose head was filled with chaos knew all the secrets to calm.

Too bad they rarely worked on me.

Especially right then when I felt like I was letting down Sue and the dogs.

Likely reading a hint of my panic—though definitely not knowing the depths of it—Sue held her hands up in the surrender position and smiled. “Can you blame me for trying?”

Yes.

But I mostly blame myself.

She glanced at the wall behind me. “Weren’t you supposed to be on break?”

“Oops.”

“I’ll clock you in and adjust your time.” She paused at the door before looking over her shoulder with a mischievous smile. “By the way, expect a delivery tomorrow afternoon.”

Since it was unlikely she was firing me via singing telegram or Edible Arrangement, the verbal carrot she’d dangled didn’t spike my anxiety. It just added to the list of things that were piquing my curiosity.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Just a little something.”

Maybe instead of an Edible Arrangement spelling out You’re Fired, it’s one that says Thanks.

Oh, if it’s made of delicious chocolate covered strawberries, I hope they spell out Thank you so very much for all you do, Briar Dillon.

“You’re evil,” I said.

“I know,” Sue shot back before leaving me alone with the pups—my favorite place to be.

I worked at their fur, hoping at least some of it could be saved. The matted ones who needed to be shaved would still bring in bids, but the fluffy ones would draw more attention, upping their chances of finding a home.

Maybe Aria