She grabbed a bag of chips at random from a rack as she hurried away.
Okay, so they hadn’t exactly gotten along the past three days. The intensity of the way he watched her work with the dogs and other vets unnerved her. Though she’d been working with WWP for six months, this was her first experience working directly with the vets. Maybe it showed. Unless he had figured out what she thought she’d been successful at hiding.
“You’ll fall a little in love with all of them.” Kelli Miller, the owner of Warriors Wolf Pack, had warned her when she began working full-time at the WWP main office near Conway. At the time, she thought Kelli was talking about the service dogs they lived with and trained every day. Now she suspected Kelli had meant something else.
Most veterans brought along family members or a friend when they first visited Warriors Wolf Pack. Many were young men and women in their prime when war brutally ripped from them vital parts of their physical functioning. Years of military training and strong families had helped them work through a defined set of objectives and treatment to get to the point where they could manage a service dog. Once a trained animal was added into the mix, their efforts at self-reliance became downright jaw-dropping.
But there were others, loners by circumstance or choice. They had no support system. Battise had come alone.
Jori resisted the impulse to glance back over her shoulder. Not that Battise looked like a stray. He seemed more like a lone wolf. The kind that wouldn’t run long with any pack. Instead, he prowled around the edges, watchful and alert. The missing leg seemed to be a mark of his courage, as if he were a wild animal willing to gnaw off his limb to retain his freedom.
Jori shook her head to dispel her fanciful notions. Battise was at WWP for a PTSD dog. That meant he was plagued by demons he alone understood. She knew about personal demons.
“Don’t.” She said the word under her breath as she hurried toward the cash register. She didn’t need to cloud her judgment with too much compassion.
“Hello, Miss Jori.” The clerk smiled a toothy smile as she stepped up. “Looking good today.”
“Thanks, Sanjay.” Sanjay was so polite, he’d say that if she came in wearing a paper bag. “How’s Mena?”
“Not so good. The tooth pains her.” He tapped his upper jaw. “I tell her, go to the dentist. But she says no. She’s using ground cloves for the pain.”
“If the pain continues, she’ll need to see a dentist.”
“I try to tell her. Lottery ticket today?”
“Only if you can guarantee it’s the winner.”
Sizzling sounds coupled with the mouthwatering smells made her glance sideways at the pigs-in-a-blanket in the warming case next to the cash register. Her stomach gurgled. “Are those fresh?”
“Made this morning.” Sensing a sale, Sanjay reached for his tongs and waxed paper bag. “With or without cheese?”
“I shouldn’t.” Jori sighed and set aside her chips. “Well, maybe this one time.”
“You going to buy something today?”
Jori looked around at the sound of that terse voice coming from behind her.
The shallow span of Battise’s face visible between his cap brim and bush of beard contained black-lashed eyes the sludge-gold color of high-quality crude oil. He held a coffee cup in one hand and a water bottle in the other. Tucked in his right fist was a cellophane bag through which she could see an apple cruller. She wondered fleetingly what it would feel like to be that cruller.
She inhaled and went light-headed at the smell of clean salty sweat wafting faintly off him. Oh God. She was about to embarrass herself by drooling.
Mustering her most professional voice, she shifted her gaze to his face. “Hello, Mr. Battise.”
“Law will do.” His dark-amber gaze dipped and hovered at her mid-chest long enough for her to remember she wasn’t wearing a bra. She’d ducked out for cat food wearing her sleep tee tucked into a pair of cutoffs. To judge by his fractional squint, her body must be reacting to his bold gaze. Yep, her nipples definitely tingled. Damn. Her hormones were in overload.
When that black-gold gaze returned to her face, Jori felt both the attraction and the repulsion of a force mightier than her own. “I’ll ask again. Are you planning to buy something today?”
“Yes, of course.” Jori dumped her things on the counter. What a grouch.
When she had paid, she turned back to him, determined to show him the kind of manners he didn’t seem to possess. “See you shortly.” No need to prolong the moment. Not when her senses were outmaneuvering her brain.
“Wait a second.” He pulled a twenty from his pocket and handed it over to the cashier before continuing. “Might as well tell you, I’m turning the dog back in today.”
Surprise darted through her. “Samantha? Why?”