Hero in Her Heart. Marta Perry

he’d blurted it out, making it almost inevitable that she’d say no.

      He didn’t intend to take Ryan’s advice and try to charm the woman. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be friendly. Let her feel she was getting to know him. Get her on his side.

      As for what he was going to do with that totally inappropriate blast of attraction he’d felt when he’d held her hands—well, that was probably a good thing to ignore. She wasn’t his type. And at the moment, she was a very effective barrier to his getting what he wanted most in the world.

      He and Max reached the end of the obstacle course. He waited for her to tell him what totally useless thing she wanted him to do next.

      “Reward your dog,” she reminded him in the same detached, calm tone she’d used the first four times she’d had to tell him that.

      “Yes. Right.” He gave the dog one of the treats Nolie had provided and patted him.

      Nolie crossed the concrete floor to join them, frowning slightly.

      “What?” She obviously thought he’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry I didn’t remember.”

      “It’s not that.” She fondled Max’s ears, and the dog looked up at her with a totally besotted expression of adoration. “Do you understand why I’m having you do obedience exercises with Max?”

      He shrugged. He could hardly tell her again that he thought the whole thing was useless.

      He thought she suppressed a sigh.

      “Let’s go out in the sun and take a break. There are some things you need to understand about the training.”

      Max stuck to Nolie’s heels as if he were attached. He followed woman and dog outside.

      An old-fashioned porch swing hung from the branch of an oak tree at the corner of the training center. Nolie sat and waited until he took the seat next to her. The swing creaked gently, swaying a little.

      Nolie rubbed Max’s head. “Max has already gone through obedience training. Haven’t you, Maxie?”

      He gave her a wide doggy grin.

      “So the obedience training is for me.” He said the obvious. She probably thought he needed a little obedience training.

      A smile touched her face, softening it. The eyes he’d thought a pale, nondescript blue the day before had been turned to aqua by the sweater she had on.

      “Not exactly. The training is for both of you. It’s to allow the two of you to get used to working together. More importantly, to let you bond with Max.”

      He didn’t need to bond with the dog, because they weren’t going to be together that long. But now was probably not the time to say that. He ruffled the dog’s fur, and Max leaned against his knee.

      “He’s a good-looking animal. Purebred?” He’d show interest, not agreement.

      “Max is mostly yellow lab, but I wouldn’t venture a guess as to what the other part is. All my service dogs come from the humane society. They’re abandoned animals who need a chance to prove they can be useful.”

      She said that with a passion he didn’t quite understand. There was a lot he didn’t understand about Nolie, come to think of it.

      “So, once Max and I have bonded to your satisfaction, what comes next?” Supposing he had to stick around that long. “What’s your time frame?”

      Worry lines creased her forehead. “We only have a month. Still, I’m usually working with children, and it should go faster with an adult. I’d suggest that this week and next week we do obedience work and then put in two weeks of intensive live-in training.”

      “Live-in? Not in the cottage?”

      He glanced toward the cottage she’d shown him the day before. White frame with black shutters like the house. It had rosebushes on either side of the black front door. A yellow rambler rose was already coming into bloom on a trellis over the walk. It looked like a kid’s playhouse.

      “Yes, I know it’s small, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.” The brisk assurance in her voice said that this was non-negotiable. “You and the dog have to live together during the intensive training. That twenty-four-hour-a-day experience is crucial to the whole process.”

      He got what she meant then, and he didn’t like it. “You mean you’re hoping I’ll have a seizure during that time, don’t you?”

      “Not hoping, no.” Her brows furrowed, and she seemed to choose her words carefully. “I hope you never have another one. But if you do, that’s the test of whether Max will live up to my belief in him.”

      “There’s no guarantee, in other words,” he said flatly. “This could all be useless.”

      “It’s not useless. I can guarantee you that when we’ve finished training together, Max will do his job in protecting you should a seizure occur. The question is whether he’ll know the seizure is coming and warn you.”

      Passion for her work filled her as she said the words, so strong he almost felt its heat. The face he’d thought plain was alive with enthusiasm. He wanted to tell her again that he wasn’t going to have another seizure, but she swept on.

      “The foundation wanted scientific proof, and there isn’t any. But it happens. I’ve seen it happen. When the bond between dog and client is strong enough, the dog knows when a seizure is coming.”

      He couldn’t help being moved by the strength of her conviction. No one could. He leaned toward her, his hand on her shoulder, feeling the passion that flooded through her for her cause.

      Nolie wanted to be sure a bond formed between him and the dog, so that she could prove her theories to the foundation. He wanted to create a bond between himself and Nolie, so that he could get her on his side.

      The trouble was that if he sat this close to her for another moment, he’d probably kiss her. What would that do to either of their plans?

      Chapter Four

      Nolie walked through the chrome-and-glass doors of the fire-department administrative offices the next morning, trying to concentrate on the mission that had brought her here. Unfortunately her wayward imagination kept transporting her back to those moments on the swing with Gabe.

      She’d given away too much of herself to him. She didn’t do that with anyone except Claire, and that was only because she and Claire had found each other in a support group for abuse survivors.

      The support group hadn’t wiped away the dark shadows of her past, but it had given her an amazing friend. She was constantly grateful for that.

      Claire was safe. She could tell Claire anything and know that it would never be used against her. But Gabe—

      Gabe was so intent on his passion to return to fire fighting that she didn’t think he’d stop at much to get there. Including using her, if he thought it would be to his advantage.

      Had he seen, when she’d talked about the stray animals she trained, that she equated herself with those abandoned creatures? She had to find a way to keep her guard up with him, or he’d trample over her on his way back to the life he wanted.

      And that wasn’t the most serious problem. If Gabe continued to deny his need, that might keep him from bonding with his service dog. All her work on the grant proposal could come to nothing.

      She crossed the glossy tile floor to the elevators, searching the posted directory for the fire chief’s name. She had to get an unbiased opinion about Gabe, and she certainly couldn’t get that from his family.

      The Flanagan family’s overflowing love would probably make them support him if he declared that the sky was pink with orange polka dots. She couldn’t imagine what that must be like—to have people love and support you that much.

      She