Have Mercy. Jo Leigh

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      Mercy was the only one whose bow tie had tiny black dogs printed on the pink satin. He wondered if that was something management had thought up, or if it was her own touch. If he had to bet, it would be on Mercy. Just watching her with the animals told him more about her than she’d probably be comfortable with.

      Her voice didn’t quaver and her step, now that she was inside, was confident, but there was a story there, and not a pleasant one. She’d found herself a refuge, though. One with a lot of wagging tails.

      They went to the pet suites in the back of the main room, and he focused once more on business. Mercy might be interesting, but she was a bit player. The star was here. Somewhere. There was no other reason for Drina to have come here with a dog of her own. Drina, who was about as fond of dogs as he was of spiders.

      They passed a yapping Chihuahua that looked more like a rat than a dog, a German shepherd, several dogs who looked like mutts to his untrained eyes, and then he saw it. A little dog, one with a great deal of white fur. Combed to within an inch of its little life. A bow in the hair, pink painted nails and a collar that was studded with diamonds.

      Mercy said his name, and when he looked at her, he realized he was smiling a bit too brightly. It didn’t matter. Let Ms. Jones think it was because he was delighted with the accommodations.

      This wasn’t going to be a difficult job, after all.

      2

      MERCY KEPT HER eyes peeled for Gilly as she showed Mr. Desmond—Will—the pet suites. It was a good thing for him that he’d made a reservation as all the suites had been booked. That was one of the things that would change when they took over the building next door. They would triple the number of pet suites, add another grooming salon and so much more.

      “These are nicer than some hotels I’ve stayed in,” Will said. He was standing in the currently unoccupied Southwestern suite. Each pen was its own room, complete with a twin bed, TV, piped-in music, food and water station, toys and, if a guest so desired, blankets and trinkets brought from home.

      “They’ve all got themes,” she said, “although that’s more for the parents than the pets.”

      “I can tell Buster’s going to be spoiled.”

      “We discipline the dogs, gently, of course. We believe strongly in rewarding good behavior.”

      “You’re going to have to be extra gentle with Buster. He’s had no training.”

      “Oh? How long have you had him?”

      “Not long. He’s a gift for my nephew back in Wichita. I’m taking him with me when I head back home. Cory’s birthday is coming up and he’s been begging for a dog.”

      Mercy scratched the little one’s chin. “I’m sure Cory will be thrilled.”

      “I hope so.”

      She looked into the main room again, and there was Gilly, playing with Rio. The dog was huge, well over a hundred and fifty pounds, but he was as gentle as a kitten. Mercy was convinced that Rio had been a Buddhist in a past life. He calmed everyone down, including the most high-strung of the dogs.

      Gilly glanced her way. Mercy waved her over, but all Gilly did was smile and go back to tugging on Rio’s toy.

      Damn her. Gilly knew Mercy hated giving the tours. This one was especially hard because Mr. Desmond was, well, gorgeous.

      He was tall, maybe six-two, with dark, thick hair, dark eyes, dark lashes. He was as trim and toned as an athlete, and if she’d been someone else, someone who wasn’t a total and complete coward, she’d have asked him what he did for a living. She knew he was successful. He wouldn’t be staying at Hush if he wasn’t. But that didn’t tell her much.

      “What about food?”

      It took her a few seconds to realize he was talking about Buster. “I’ll show you,” she said. The meal room was near her office. She led the way, wishing like anything that she didn’t feel so awkward. She kept thinking about all the dog hair that was stuck to her jacket and pants, about Mr. Desmond’s eyes, about the fact that he wore no wedding band, and how a man like him would never look at a woman with dog hair all over her.

      She opened the door and Will stepped inside. She let him take it all in—the refrigerator, the different food formulas for every kind of nutritional need, how spotless everything was.

      “Nice,” he said. “What is Buster going to eat?”

      She told him about the puppy food, and how often Buster would eat. And she told him he’d be able to order the food from Hush if he wanted. They shipped all over the world.

      Will looked at her, nothing dramatic, not even really a stare, but it was enough to ignite her blush. Her curse. She blushed at everything, always had. At least when she was talking about PetQuarters, she could lose herself in the canned speeches.

      “What brought you here?” he asked. “Before this week, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a pet concierge.”

      “It’s a new field, but I’ve been working with animals since I was sixteen. I met Ms. Devon when I volunteered at an animal rescue shelter. She’s very fond of pets and wanted to make sure that no guest would have to leave their critters at home.”

      “Piper Devon.”

      “That’s right.”

      He looked back into the main room. “It seems to be going well.”

      “Very. We’re expanding our role, catering not only to registered guests, but pet owners in midtown. We have a lot of daily visitors. Quite a few have already been picked up, but our clientele know we can accommodate crazy schedules.”

      “So someone’s always here.”

      “Oh, yes. We have night teams. The dogs are mostly worn out by nightfall, but there’s always at least two of us standing by in case of emergency.”

      “Good to know.” He stepped outside the food room just as Emily and Matt came in. Dinner was in half an hour, and even with that much notice the two of them would have to hustle. So many of the pets were on special diets.

      “What’s back there?” he asked, pointing toward the grooming salon.

      “That’s where the pampering takes place. We offer any number of grooming options, from a simple bath to dog show prep.”

      “I noticed you offer pedicures.”

      She nodded, making sure she didn’t roll her eyes. “Everything a pet could ever want.”

      “Yeah. I’m sure the dogs line up.”

      “Well, no, but a lot of these pets are like children to their owners.”

      Will shook his head. “Damn foolish, if you ask me.”

      “We also offer rehabilitation services. We have a pool for our arthritic guests and we have an acupuncturist here on Mondays, a chiropractor on Wednesdays and we also do wellness checkups given by a really wonderful vet.”

      “Sounds СКАЧАТЬ