Sheltered by the Millionaire(27)

Megan smiled tightly and knelt beside her daughter. "Sweetie, that vest  means this is a working dog. We don't touch dogs with this special  vest."

Her daughter-dressed as a Ninja Turtle today-grinned. "I asked. She  said it was okay and Mr. Whit said it was okay. He brought the dog for  my preschool class."

Megan glanced up at him, confused. "What's going on?"

Whit set his Stetson on the receptionist's desk. "I talked to the  day-care director about bringing in a therapy dog for the kids given all  they went through with the tornado. The local school psychologist  recommended this group in Dallas and contacted the other parents to  clear it. I said I would check with you to save her a call, and well,  here we are. The dog handler said she's even interested in evaluating  the dogs here for training."

Introductions were made in a blur and the next thing she knew her  wonderfully intuitive friend Beth was offering to walk the dog  handler-Zoe Baker-back to the play yard.

Megan's head was spinning in surprise. Of course it was a great idea,  but having someone take over decisions for her daughter so totally  felt...alien. But there wasn't much she could say since he'd gone  straight to the school and she didn't want to cause a scene that would  upset Evie.

Still, she ducked her head and said, "Could we talk for a minute. Alone."                       
       
           



       

Miss Abigail knelt beside Evie. "Would you like to come with me to play  with the cats? Your mom told me a new litter of kittens was just  brought in."

Evie skipped alongside Abigail with a new spring in her step Megan hadn't seen in a month.

Whit swept his hat off the desk and followed Megan to her office. "I  meant this to be a surprise, to show you I care about you and Evie, that  I respect your work with animals."

"Okay," she said cautiously, "but why not consult me? This is my child. And animals are my area of expertise."

He scratched his head, wincing. "You're right. I should have. I was  thinking about Evie's fear of going back to school and then I saw this  article about the group in Dallas and I got caught up in the moment  wanting to surprise you. Like with the catnip."

"This is a much bigger deal than catnip."

She couldn't help but feel defensive. "I don't want to push her before she's ready."

"Hey," he took her shoulders in his hands, "I'm not questioning your  parenting. Thinking of her made me wonder about the other kids. So I  spoke with some of the dads at the Cattleman's Club and asked if their  kids were having trouble this past month. This is for all of them. Not  just Evie."

"You talked to the other parents...about their children?" Her lips went tight, anger nipping all over again.

But she couldn't help but remember how carefully he'd studied the  instructions for taking care of Tallulah. Thinking about that kind of  thoughtfulness applied to her daughter touched her. "Which other  children?"

"Sheriff Battle said every time his son hears a train he thinks the  tornado's coming back." He turned his hat around and around in his  hands. "When I saw that article about therapy dogs going into nursing  homes and schools, it got me thinking. Ms. Baker uses shelter dogs,  which I knew would be appealing to you. I even learned there's a  difference between service dogs, therapy dogs and emotional support  dogs. Anyhow, what do you think? Aside from the fact I've been pushy,  when I should have consulted you."

"I actually think that's a great idea. I'm kicking myself for not  thinking of it." She sagged back against the edge of her desk. "You sure  acted on this quickly."

"You've had your hands full. And I figured why wait. The day-care staff  is expecting us this afternoon. I'm hoping Evie will be excited to take  the dog to show off to her friends."

"I still wish you'd consulted me. We talked about this yesterday."

He flinched. "Guilty as charged and I truly am sorry. It seemed like a  good surprise in my head. Would you have said no if I told you?"

Sighing, she conceded, "Of course not."

But that wasn't the point.

He scratched the back of his neck. "My buddies thought it was funny as  hell that I was asking about kid stuff so word got around fast. The  press is involved now too, planning to cover it. I figured it would be a  good chance to talk about shelter dogs and how full your rescue is."

And he'd done all this for her when she'd given so little of herself in  return. She'd just held back and questioned and worried. "You're really  going all out to win me over."

"Busted." He slid his arms around her waist. "I want to be with you."

She toyed with his tie and knew he wouldn't give a damn if Evie painted  it with jelly. "I'm still the same pain-in-the-butt person who's  fighting with you over what parts of Royal you choose to develop."

"And I'm still the same guy who's going to argue there's a way around things."

"We're going to argue," she said with certainty.

"At least you'll be talking to me rather than ignoring me."

"Hey," she tugged his tie, "you ignored me too."

He tugged her loose ponytail in return. "I gave you space when it looked like you were going to cause a scene."

Before she could launch a retort, he kissed her silent, and this man  knew how to kiss. Her arms slid around his neck and she knew without  question he was a good man who would try like hell for her.                       
       
           



       

Which was going to make this hurt so much worse if it didn't work out.

* * *

Whit was mighty damn pleased with how the therapy dog issue had shaken down.

He stood in the back of the Little Tots Daycare classroom with Megan  while all the kids sat in a circle on a rug. The town had done an  amazing job at getting the facility functional quickly so the children  could get back into a regular routine, the kind of reassurance they  needed after such a frightening event.

Their teacher was reading them a book about tornadoes. The golden  retriever was calm, but alert, carefully moving from child to child as  if knowing which one was most in need of comfort, whether with a simple  touch of his paw or resting his head on a knee, or just letting a dozen  little hands burrow in his fur.

As the teacher closed the book, she looked up at her students. "What do you think about the story we just read?"

Beside Evie, a little girl with glasses admitted, "I was scared."

"Not me," said the boy in tiny cowboy boots sitting on the other side of Evie.

"Yes, you were," the girl with glasses retorted. "You were crying. I saw you wipe boogers on your sleeve."

Evie raised her hand until the teacher called on her. "I was scared,"  Evie said. "I told my mom I held Caitlyn's hand 'cause she was scared.  But it was really me. I was the fraidy cat."

The retriever belly crawled over to Evie and rested his head on her leg. Evie rubbed the dog's ears, her eyes wide and watery.

The teacher leaned forward in her rocking chair. "We were all afraid  that day. That's why we have the drills. So we know what to do in an  emergency."

Evie kept stroking the dog and talking. "What if another tora-na-do  comes to our school? What if it hurts Mommy's car again, 'cept it gets  Mommy too?"

Megan started to move forward, but Whit rested a hand on her arm. It  was hard as hell for him to hear the little imp's fears too, but she was  talking. Thank God, she was talking. Megan's hand slid into his and  held on.

The teacher angled forward, giving all the right grown-up answers that  Evie took in with wide eyes, both her hands buried in the dog's fur.

Evie kept talking, but she smiled periodically. Something that didn't happen often.

Megan's chin trembled. "This is so incredible to watch," she whispered.

"I wouldn't have even thought twice about the article if not for you."  He ducked his head to keep their voices low so as not to disturb the  class. "You do a good job educating about your work at the shelter."

"Thank you." Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink.

"I knew about service dogs for the disabled and I'd heard there were  studies showing that owning a pet lowers blood pressure." He scanned the  group of little ones up front with the dog. "But this is a whole new  world." In more ways than one.

"I think of it all as the balance of nature."

"That makes sense."

"Taking care of our resources." She looked up at him pointedly.

"Hey, I've started recycling water bottles and cans because of you."

She clapped a hand to her chest. "Be still my heart."

"Are you making fun of me?" He raised an eyebrow. "I happen to think that was a very romantic gesture on my part."