“I’m sorry. There’s insurance involved, and it’s not allowed. If you were to come to the sanctuary, I could introduce you properly. There are other animals who are friendly there as well. Hades and Persephone were chosen by the production for their wolfier look.”
“You mean it, though? If I went to Colorado, you’d let me meet the animals?”
“The safe ones, yes.”
“I’d love that. Let me just”—he took out his phone—”text Molly. My PA has my schedule, and she’ll know when I can find time to travel to Colorado. I read all about the sanctuary. You do wonderful work.”
“It’s not me. It’s Ariel and her team. And she would be ecstatic to tell you all about it, I’m sure, but fair warning, she’ll hit you up for cash. That’s the nature of a nonprofit.”
“That’s fine. I have a discretionary charitable fund, and I love animals.”
As Sebastian typed, I watched him grow excited over the prospect of visiting the sanctuary. I hoped he wasn’t an exotic animal groupie or one of those glamping photo safari types who would need to be catered to. So far, he’d displayed nothing but a genuine interest in Hades and Persephone.
Plus, he’d followed my instructions to the letter. He hadn’t even reached out to the fence between them. Ariel had dealt with all kinds. It was none of my business what he did, but he looked like a legit animal lover.
“These guys are done for the day,” I said. “Are you?”
“Heavens no.” He checked the time. “Oh shoot. I’ve got to get back to makeup. They’ll kill me if I mess up this wig.”
“Guess I’ll see you around, then.”
“Yeah.” His eyes met mine. “That’d be nice.”
As we stood, things got a little awkward. I waited for him to leave so I could get Hades and Persephone into the crates in my truck. Sebastian didn’t seem to want to go, though. He didn’t seem to be finished with us.
“Was there something else?” I asked.
“You know—” He wrapped his hand around the back of his neck. “I actually live here.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Here?”
He tilted his head. “St. Nacho’s, I mean. I live in the town that owns this property. Well, I used to. My dad still lives there, and I visit often. After we finish shooting tomorrow night, I’ll have a couple days off. I could show you around, or—”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.”Or proper, actually.“I need to stay with my guys here, and—”
“Oh. Yeah, of course you do. I just thought if you needed anything from the market or wanted to have dinner with me…”
“With you?” That surprised me. In my experience, the talent rarely acknowledged the animal handlers.
They especially didn’t acknowledge me.
The more lovely the person, the more likely they were to avoid me—as if my scars were contagious.
“Yeah, well. I—” His face reddened furiously. “You’re very easy to talk to, and we both like animals, so I thought you could tell me more about what it’s like to live at an animal sanctuary.”
Shock held me immobile. “I can’t leave the gods of the underworld unattended. Even though they’re in kennels, I need to make sure they’re all right, you understand?”
“Oh, I see.” His shoulders fell. “I do understand. I wouldn’t like it if you left me alone in a kennel, even if I was basically safe, so—”
“If you want…” I faltered. “If you’d like to eat with us, you could come by our motorhome with takeout.”
He brightened. “Really?”
“Actually, I have another, very friendly dog with me.”
“You do?” Happiness lit up that pretty face of his. “Can I pet him? Or is he off-limits too?”
“She’s a she. Morrigan. As long as I’m there, she’ll love you to death. But she takes her job as my second-in-command pretty seriously, so don’t break into my rig while she’s alone.”
