Need You for Keeps (Heroes of St. Helena, #1)(81)
Clovis waited, as if expecting Shay to go on. When she didn’t, the older woman shook her head. “Honey, he’s a man who felt cornered and was showing his teeth, nothing more. He wouldn’t know love if Cupid himself was standing in front of him flashing his arrow. You’ve got to get creative.”
Harper lifted a brow. “Like placing false claims to have him arrested?”
Clovis smiled. “You laugh but I didn’t sleep alone last night.”
“You and Giles?” Shay asked, happy for Clovis.
“Every night this week,” she admitted, trussing up her sagging top. Harper was back to covering her ears. “And it took me years to get him to come around. But I didn’t put my life on hold, waiting for him to get a clue. I went about my life, did what made me happy, and finally he came to his senses.” She looked at Shay’s St. Paws polo shirt and frowned. “Maybe show a little more if you want him to come around sooner.”
“You’re right,” Shay said, ignoring the last part and standing. “Today is about St. Paws and my animals.” Although she would rather have Jonah there to celebrate a day he had helped make possible, she needed to go out there and find some families.
Clovis stood too and knocked her cane over. It landed with a clank. A second later, Shay heard claws pounding on the cobblestone and Jabba came tearing out the door and onto the patio. He picked up Clovis’s cane in his mouth, made three laps around the yard, and then dropped it at the woman’s feet, tail wagging, eyes excited.
“Well, look at that.” Clovis gave a caring ruffle of the ears, then picked up her cane, and Shay wondered if Jabba had already found his family. “Now, if no one shows, I got Giles and his fellas on standby, ready to model my man-hammocks for a good cause.”
When Shay walked in she knew they would be spared the geriatric Chippendales, because the shop was packed full of people and pets. They were eating and smiling and admiring her work. It was a wall-to-wall party, with a line zigzagging all the way through the space and out the front door.
Gratitude filled Shay’s chest and she whispered, “Thank you.”
“Oh, this wasn’t us,” Clovis said, then looked at the man-hammock convention by the register. “Well, they’re here for me, but the rest of them are here because of him.”
Clovis pointed to a table at the front and Shay felt all of the air whoosh out of her lungs. Because sitting near the entrance, under a Cuties with Booties banner, was the one person who could take this day from amazing to perfect.
Jonah wasn’t just sitting under any sign. Nope, this Cuties with Booties sign had a huge picture of everyone’s favorite deputy, showing off that no-Kevlar-needed chest and posing in nothing but regulation pants, shooting glasses, and a pair of range-grade headphones. A silhouette target with a shot straight through the heart was the backdrop, and to his right, in matching glasses and muffs, sitting on his combat boots was Socks. The tagline read, ADOPT THIS CUTIE AND I’LL SHOW YOU MY BOOTY.
As though sensing her presence, Jonah looked up and immediately zeroed in on Shay. His gaze was so intense and direct, she felt her breath catch and her stomach go into a free fall until all she could do was stare back.
A hush settled over the room as Jonah stood and made his way around the table and through the parting crowd, his strides sure and purposeful, not slowing until he was in front of her.
No distance, no guard up, no games—he looked too tired for games.
“Why are you here?”
“Because I want Socks to go to a good home and to a family that loves her for all that she is.”
Shay looked at Socks sitting on the table in her little doggie bed, happy as a clam with her earmuffs, and Shay told herself not to cry. Jonah was being Jonah, a good guy supporting a good cause. “I do too.”
“So do we,” someone said from behind, who sounded a lot like Ida. “Because then we get to see his booty.”
Jonah shot a warning at Ida, who waved apologetically for him to continue, then he looked back to Shay. “I also came because, like you, I protect what I love.”
Shay shook her head, unable to get past the fear that instead of a door opening, this was yet another one closing. “You said I didn’t know what love was.”
“I was wrong.” He cupped her face. “About so many things. I was so busy trying to find all the reasons why this could never work that I overlooked the most important piece of evidence. I love you.” He stepped close, their bodies brushing, Shay’s heart melting at the three words she’d waited a lifetime to hear. “You are strong and passionate and so damn loveable.” He ran a finger over her cheek. “You are the color in my black-and-white world, and I love every shade that you are.”
“Even the ones that steal kittens and drive you crazy?”
“Especially those,” he said, and Shay’s heart stopped in her chest as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. It was a custom one with little kittens on it and hung from a house-shaped key chain. “You are the best part of my world, the best part of my day, and even though I don’t deserve you, I don’t want to wake up tomorrow morning without you.”
“How about the morning after that?” she asked, because she wasn’t looking for a temporary stopover. She wanted the real deal. And she wanted it with him.
“I heard that you specialize in forever families,” he said quietly. “And Kitty Fantastic and I were hoping you’d let us be a part of yours.”