Page 35 of Wild Card
I slid down the fence, dropping into the dirt on my ass in defeat.
Dalton crouched in front of me. “But maybe there’s something I can do.”
I met his gaze, now all liquid warmth that made me want to curl up in a ball and cry. I averted my gaze. “What can you do?”
“I can’t let you keep her, but…” He sighed. “Let me go talk to Rusty. He wants to sell her, right? Anyone who pays thousands for her is likely to be a good owner.”
I huffed. “Maybe.”
Dalton put his hands on my knees, squeezing. “Let me see what I can work out with Rusty. He doesn’t care about the dog. He just wants his payday. So maybe he’ll drop the charges, at least.”
“A lot of good that will do Banshee.”
Dalton smiled at me. An actual,realsmile. I didn’t know the man was capable of it.
“Let’s keep you out of jail, and then we’ll figure out the rest.” He slapped the outside of my thigh. “Come on. Get out of the dirt. Stand up. This isn’t over yet.”
I climbed to my feet, glaring. “Stop treating me like one of my goddamned strays.”
“Why? As far as I can tell, you treat your strays pretty good.”
I huffed. “Yeah, well, I can take care of myself.”
His eyebrow rose. “No offense, Ax, but you’re not doing a spectacular job with that. You just let an officer of the law take advantage of you.”
I shoved him on reflex. Thankfully, this time, he didn’t pin me to the fence and cuff me.
“You can’t take advantage of the willing,” I said.
“Don’t be so sure about that,” Dalton muttered.
“If you want to feel guilty, then feel guilty over what’s going to happen to that innocent dog in there. Because I amfarfrom innocent. We both know who really pushed us to this, don’t we?”
Dalton gave me a long look, then huffed and let out a low laugh. “You’re shameless, you know? It’s tough to resist.”
“I know.” I smirked. “But don’t worry, Deputy Harvey. Now that I’ve gotten my taste, you can go back to living like a righteous lawman.”
He turned away, but not before I saw the flicker of something like disappointment. He’d fought this hard, though. Clearly had a guilt complex about it. It was best that I stop tormenting the man.
Dalton cleared his throat. “Right. Well. I’ll go have that talk with Rusty. I’ll leave Banshee here until we get this worked out. The poor girl has been yanked around enough for one day. Just promise me you won’t take her and run for the border.”
I snorted. “I would if I could. But no. We’ll be here.”
Dalton nodded. “Good. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can. Maybe Rusty will let you foster her until the sale, at least.”
My jaw clenched, but I could see that Dalton was trying his best in a difficult situation.
“Yeah,” I gritted out. “Thank you.”
I’d all but told the man to arrest me. It was a damn miracle he wasn’t booking me on felony theft and returning Banshee to that loser, Rusty.
I just hated that I couldn’t keep her safe any more than my first two foster families could have kept me.
This time, I’d be the one doing the abandoning—and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
CHAPTER 10
Dalton
