Page 16 of Go Deep (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)
Across the street was The Pet Adoption House. Set in an old Victorian home that looked like it could have been an old frat house, The Pet Adoption House was the largest privately owned animal shelter in the city.
“Oh. So how did you know about this place?”
“Have you forgotten it’s my senior year of college too? I don’t leave things to chance, Cassidy. Doing well on this project is just as important as all my other classes.”
“You really have done your homework, Slade.” Despite my initial concerns over working with him, I was impressed.
“There’s a reason why I’m the best at everything I do, whether it’s on the field, in the classroom, or in bed,” he boasted.
There it was, classic Slade style—or lack thereof. “So, are we going across the street to talk to them, or are you going to hit on me here?”
“Hitting on you is way more fun, but since we’re here, let’s check out the place.”
Not wanting to engage too much, or to stroke his massive ego any further, we headed over to the shelter. Inside, The Pet Adoption House was set up like a home. Other than the kennels lining the walls along the floor in each room, it was set up like a model show home. The only thing that really looked business-like was the counter and desk they’d installed in the foyer, where a young receptionist waited.
“Hello, and welcome to The Pet Adoption House,” she greeted us. “Do you have an appointment, or are you just here to look through our selection of animals?”
I opened my mouth to let her know we were visiting for a research project when Slade interrupted me.
“A little bit of both, actually,” he said. “I’m Slade Clark and this is my partner Cassidy Greyson. We’re from the university and we’re working on a business project to set up a company that organizes adoption drives for animal shelters. I spoke with a Gladys Foster to get some information on how this shelter works so we can tailor our business plan to suit. She mentioned we can stop by and speak with her for a walk-through?”
“All right. Yes, she’s the location manager. Sure, I’ll get her for you.” The young girl’s face lit up, probably excited by the prospect of some extra bodies to help them to adopt animals out.
“And I’m sure she’ll want to look at the animals,” Slade said, pointing at me over his shoulder.
“Hey, it was your idea to get into the adoption business.”
The receptionist laughed and looked at the screen on her phone. “She’ll be down in just a minute. Feel free to have a look around while you wait. As you see, we have animals in every room.”
We heard Gladys, the shelter’s manager, before we saw her. “Hello, there. Thanks for coming by.” She was a white-haired, older woman wearing khaki pants and a cream t-shirt with the shelter logo. She greeted us like someone’s grandmother, her kindness stopping just short of pinching or kissing our cheeks. “How about I give you a tour while we talk about your business idea?”
“We’d love that.” Slade shook her hand and introduced me, and then I followed along as he gave her an overview of the business plan.
“Oh, that sounds like you could fill a real gap in our system. I can’t tell you how timely your call was. We run several shelters, and I’m part of a community of shelters in the state. We’re all so focused on maintaining our shelters and the level of care to the animals we take in, that it’s an onerous effort getting the word out about all the animals up for adoption. Many of us rely on volunteers, and… you’ll have to excuse me, you two. I have a tendency to ramble on about our work. Let me tell you how we run our operation.
“That would be great, thanks.”
“Well, as you see, we keep the shelter decorated like a home. This makes our visitors more comfortable, and helps prepare the animals to transition better when they’re adopted into what we hope are forever homes. Many pets are rescued from puppy mills, and will not have ever seen the outside of a cage, or even interacted much with people. So this layout helps.
“Do you have any advice for starting up our business?”
“You’ve already done an important step by completing thorough research, which is why I feel you’ve hit a niche that I’m pretty certain could be in big demand. You’ve also been smart about choosing to provide aid to existing shelters instead of opening a new one. From what you’ve told me, your business will help take some of the marketing weight off of our shoulders, and I mean, all of us. Like I said, there are so many other priority tasks in our day-to-day, getting the word out can end up at the bottom of the pile, or is delegated. Simply put, we’re not effective.”
Slade seemed distracted once we entered the area where the dogs were kept. He stopped by one of the kennels with two adorable brown puppies inside. I immediately let out an “Aww,” out of instinct. I wanted to grab them and cuddle them as soon as I saw them.
“You can take them out if you want,” Gladys offered.
Slade opened the kennel and pulled out one puppy, handing him over to me before taking the other one out. The little puffballs whined like the dickens when they were separated, so Slade got closer, turning his puppy so it could see the other one in my arms. That was when his elbow brushed against my upper arm, and damn, it took every last bit of self-control not to react to the spark of electricity that rushed through my body from his touch.
I just hoped he didn’t notice, because he’d never let up if he knew I was actually attracted to him.
“Those two came in this morning,” Gladys informed us cheerily. “The family couldn’t bear to get rid of them, but they couldn’t afford to keep them either.”
I sniffed my puppy. “Oh, you smell so clean!” I told him, petting behind his ears.
“We clean them first thing in our intake area before introducing them to the rest of the shelter. That way we can control things like fleas and ticks. You look like a natural with animals. Both of you do.”
“I would love to keep these cuties, but I’ve got another year on campus. They’d hate being in my tiny dorm rooms.”
