No, he wasn’t. Not really.
He shook his head, knowing the guy could spot a bullshitter two clicks away. It was odd how much the confrontation had affected him. Holden was usually an even-keel kind of guy. Calm. Tough to rile up. He didn’t like this side of himself.
Emily messed with his control.
Despite knowing that distance was his best defense and the surefire way to remain in control, he couldn’t in good conscienceturn his back on the woman. She was in trouble, even if the stubborn beauty refused to acknowledge it.
“When we get to ESI in the morning, I want to know everything about this Perez guy.”
Sinjin nodded. “We’ll run him through Carter’s computer. His system is so thorough, we’ll know tomorrow what Perez ate for breakfastnextweek.”
Holden snorted. “Next week, huh?”
A smile tugged at Sinjin’s lips. “Affirmative. Carter might be a jokester, but there is nothing funny when it comes to his computers and any kind of surveillance.”
He couldn’t agree more.
“Now, what about your other concern?”
He frowned. “What other concern?”
“You still going to lie to yourself about Emily?” Sinjin asked.
His head snapped back. “Lie? What are you talking about?”
Jesus…he was stuck in repeat mode.
“I’m talking about the fact you’re pretending you’re not interested in her.”
Oh…that.
He let out a long breath. “I’m not interested in her, I’m concerned about her. There’s a difference.” He waited for his buddy to reply, and when he didn’t, Holden started to walk toward the entrance. “I think it’s time I returned to the kennels. There are a bunch of dogs that need exercising.”
Considering that was the reason Holden was there and he had yet to meet any of them, he needed to get his head out of his ass and his rear in gear.
With his focus returning to the dogs, Holden’s equilibrium returned too, and when he let out another long breath, his shoulders relaxed, and his old friendcalmenveloped him.
“Just so you know,” Sinjin said, falling into step next to him, “interest or concern…either one could lead to a relationship.”
He grunted.
There would be no relationship in his future…unless it was with a dog.
Then why did his mind drift to Emily and how hot she looked in her uniform?
Chapter Five
Late Saturday afternoon, Emily was home from her shift and pleased with the results she’d made with the designs of an additional building and a few fenced areas she intended to add to her small ranch.
With the carpenter already nearing completion of the current renovation to her outbuilding, Emily wanted to finalize her new plans. All week, she’d worked on them during her spare time, so today, she’d enlisted Lyndsey’s help to go over them to make sure she hadn’t left out anything for the new “barn cat” area for unadoptable feral cats. She intended to take in goats and perhaps even a donkey or two, so the barn would be perfect for the cats as well. Once they were neutered or spayed, they could live with the smaller livestock and chase mice.
Yeah, it was becoming clear in Emily’s mind that she didn’t want to just foster animals. No, she wanted to create a separate area to provide a small sanctuary for some of the unadoptable animals that came into Shadow Rock Rescue but never left.
Kade already had an area in place for permanent residents, including livestock. Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to get into the larger animals, but she did know her heart had always resided with rescue, and what was better than rescuing unadoptable animals that she rescued?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. So, she was going for it.