The Protective Dominant Read Online Free PDF

attention. His cage was marked ‘Jet, four-month-old golden retriever’. He wasn’t looking at her or anything. He had his head in his paws, and her heart ached as she studied him. When kids tapped on his cage he politely backed away. She could see other animals getting adopted but despite the popularity of his breed, she knew no one would take him because he was so sad.
    “That one,” she said.
    Taz’s eyebrows rose. “You want to do this? Really?”
    One of the volunteers caught Jenny’s interest and began to fill her in on Jet’s past. “His owner kept him outside on a deck. He barked for hours until someone reported it and we took Jet. He’s got some real issues with separation anxiety. He’s bonded with one of our vets, but when he’s not around him, he gets like this—really shut down.”
    Jet’s issues sounded a lot like Jenny’s—she shut down unless she was with Taz. She stared into those empty eyes then at the intimidating, huge paws. This was not going to be a small dog when he reached full growth.
    Jenny looked at Taz. He had his arms folded, watching her neutrally. And it hit her—he was trusting her to know her own mind, just as if she wasn’t broken. She swallowed and nodded to the volunteer, a smiling older woman. “I’d like to adopt him, but I have no idea what I’d be letting myself in for. I’ve never had a dog. I do have a big yard that’s partially fenced.”
    “You’d want to fully fence it if you could,” the woman advised. “I know, since I’ve got a few dogs. You can’t be a volunteer and not want to take them all home.”
    Jenny blinked, thinking of her beautiful, perfect garden beds. “He wouldn’t, uh, dig or anything?”
    Humor sparkled in the woman’s eyes. “You’d have to teach him not to, but no guarantees.”
    Again Jenny looked at Taz. He sighed and cupped the back of her neck. “I’ll build you a fence for the rest of your yard.”
    “Really? I’ll pay for the lumber and your time.”
    He muttered something under his breath she decided she was better off not hearing.
    “What do I do now?”
    It turned out not to be a case of just taking the pup home. Jenny decided to visit a pet shop and get supplies because she had a good feeling about the dog despite the suggestion she visit Jet a couple of times at the local shelter to see if she could bond with him.
    But she paid the adoption fees then knelt down in front of Jet’s cage. “I know you’re sad, but maybe together we can help each other,” she whispered. “Because I’m sad too.”
    When they left the mall, Jenny was dazed, but it occurred to her that she hadn’t gotten lost once in her darker moments. “Wow, now I need a list. Lumber store—”
    “We’ll go to the home supply store together. You’ve got cedar posts in your yard now. I can match them and, besides, I have a truck for carrying lumber. We’ll go now.”
    “What? Now?” But he only shut the passenger door on her words before silently hopping in on his side. She relaxed against the seat, too exhausted from her first trip out in a long time to argue with him.
    At Home Depot, he found the right pre-made fencing in no time and would have paid for it, but she put a stop to it, threatening to walk out and get a cab home if he didn’t let her. It put him in a lousy mood, which he took out on shoving the supplies in the back of his truck.
    All right, so he was moody again. She decided she had other things to think about, like whether she’d lost her mind over a puppy. “He’s going to dig up my flowers. I just know it.”
    Taz grunted.
    “What have I done?”
    He finally looked at her as they turned into their neighborhood.
    “I can’t undo it. I have a dog.”
    “You have time to grow into it.”
    “I’ve never had a pet. But how hard can it be?”
    “I don’t know, but if you haven’t had one, probably pretty hard.”
    He parked and she sat back with a sigh then looked at him. “Thank you. I haven’t… I didn’t