Breaking the Rules: The Honeybees, book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

 
    “You have one new message,” the mechanical voice told me as I scanned the room—not for Devin, I told myself. Just to see how everyone else was doing after the run, see if they were as worn out as I was. Yet there Devin was, looking as spry and energetic as before, though with a charming stream of sweat down the center of his gray shirt. He was talking to some of the others in the group.  
    Definitely a charmer , I thought. Unpredictable. Can’t be trusted.  
    “Hello, this is Maria Fernandez with the Bay Area Animal Shelter,” the voice in the phone said, and I perked up immediately, listening intently as the rest of the world dropped away. “I’m calling to let you know that the dog you brought in on September 21 has not been claimed, so he is now up for adoption if you’re interested. You can come by anytime. Our business hours are…”
    The dog hadn’t been claimed! He was up for adoption! I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I had never thought the dog would still be there, but there he was. This phone call may have even come in at the exact moment that I’d been out on the trail wondering about the dog.  
    I’m going to adopt a dog! I thought. My body felt lighter, brimming with excitement.  
    And then the fear hit. I had no idea how to care for a dog. I was in way over my head on this one. I didn’t have dog food, dog bowls, a bed, a leash. Would I need a crate? How would I get him home? Adopting a dog was definitely counter to The Rules. A dog would not help stabilize my life. A dog would only invite in more chaos.  
    Yet…there was no way I could walk away. This was the dog who had helped me on the worst night of my life. This was the dog who had listened patiently with his head in my lap, who had prevented me from falling to pieces even more than I had, who had helped me write my rules for getting life back on track.  
    This was my dog. It felt fated, even if I wasn’t sure I believed in fate.  
    A voice interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see Devin standing in front of me. “Up for some breakfast?” he asked, and I started to say no before the words had even finished coming out of his mouth. No distractions. No guys. No instability. “A few of us are going for breakfast together,” he added, and I mentally chastised myself for assuming he was asking me on a date. Guys like Devin weren’t interested in women like me anyway. He probably had a girlfriend, and she was probably tall and sculpted and beautiful. She was, I thought bitterly, probably a server at Les Etoiles.  
    “Oh—I can’t,” I said, torn now. Rule #1 was to make new friends, and this was the place I was supposed to be doing that. But still, the dog was more important right now ( more important than The Rules? the voice in my head demanded).
    Feeling the need to explain further, I offered, “I’m adopting a dog. I have to go pick him up right now.”
    Devin’s face lit up. “A dog! That’s great! I love dogs.” Just as quickly, his face fell. “I had a dog for a while, but he ran away recently.”
    “I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said. Apparently there were lots of dogs running away from home these days.
    “Yeah. I’m still hoping he’ll come back, but…” He shrugged dejectedly. “It doesn’t seem that likely anymore. Anyway, enjoy getting your dog. Maybe we could go on a run sometime and I could meet him.” Here he flashed that beautiful grin again, and Sophie felt weak. Aha, so he was asking her out. She’d been right to be suspicious.
    “Maybe,” I said. Absolutely not , I thought. I was wary of Devin. His carefree, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants attitude was counter to everything I wanted in my life—order, stability, control. And he was just too cute. You couldn’t trust your heart to a guy that cute.  

    At the animal shelter, everything was in chaos. People were waiting to drop off strays, to look around at the pets available for adoption, to see if their beloved cat or