days!”
They both shook their heads in disgust, so whatever they were talking about had to be bad. Allie sighed, there was so much that she had been sheltered from at Free Indeed. They thought they were protecting the people of their fellowship, but all they were doing was making them intentionally naive. Instead of helping their group prepare for and exist in the real world, they wrapped them up in a protective bubble. Which was fine as long as one never left that bubble, but if they did for any reason, there was no way they were prepared to face the world.
They finished up all of their assigned duties for the day, and then before she knew it, it was time to leave. “You did so great today,” Dory told her, making her feel even better about her day. “We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.” Turning to smile at Rayne as well, she told them both, “Have a good night.”
Allie and Rayne walked out of the shelter, with Rayne locking up behind them. Rayne climbed into her car that was parked out front, and with a wave drove off. Allie smiled and waved back, and then turned to walk back to her new home.
* * *
A s she walked up the stairs to her apartment, Allie saw a brown box waiting for her outside her door. She quickly let out a little squeal of excitement. Not only was it her very first laptop, but it was the very first package she’d ever had delivered just for her.
She snatched it up and quickly let herself inside. Unable to contain her excitement, Allie tore the box open as fast as she could and ripped out the bubble wrapped filler. She reached down into the box and lifted out her brand-new, shiny laptop. After removing it from its packaging, she grabbed the power cord to plug it in and then powered it up.
As soon as the screen turned on, she connected to the internet with the information Annie provided her earlier and opened a browser window. She typed: what is a bj , and then hit the search button. The results quickly came back and filled up her screen. Clicking on the first link, Allie’s eyes widened as she started reading the opening paragraph, “Oh my.” she muttered. “Today was a very educational day indeed,” she snickered as she continued to read the article.
Chapter 7
A s the days passed , Allie was settling into her new job very comfortably, and she loved every minute she got to spend with the animals. The more she got to know them, the more special they became to her, and Allie found herself looking forward to going into work to spend time with them.
Each day she made a point to spend one on one time with Reavers. Even if it was something as simple as sitting next to his crate on her lunch break and talking to him. The dog still growled and snapped at her, but it was considerably less than the first time she had met him. So it was a definite improvement. Allie decided to make it her personal goal to help Reavers get used to human interaction. Maybe someday he’d be ready to join a family of his own. All she had to do was get him over the urge to bite them first.
She was also becoming closer every day to her two new friends Dory and Rayne. It was nice to have women who she was free to talk with about anything and everything, and not to have to worry about being judged or ratted out to her father.
A couple of days into her new job, she noticed Rayne reading a book on one of her breaks. She could make out the scandalous cover from across the room, and it piqued her interest. It reminded her of the romance novels she used to sneak late at night in her room and read after everyone else had fallen asleep. She had loved those books. The sexy, confident heroines and the alpha, bad-boy, swoon-worthy heroes.
“What are you reading?” Allie asked while passing by.
“Oh, this book is one of my favorites,” Rayne smiled back at her. “I’ve probably read it a dozen times, but it’s still just as good. Have you read it?” She closed the book and handed it over so Allie could take a
Christine Warner
Abby Green
Amber Page
Melissa Nathan
Cynthia Luhrs
Vaughn Heppner
Belinda Murrell
Sheila Connolly
Agatha Christie
Jennie Jones