with it, because he liked the idea of improving on the photos she’d provided. But he’d also just wanted to see her.
Maybe he’d hoped that she wouldn’t be as appealing today as she had been on Monday. Wrong. She fascinated him more than ever. He couldn’t figure out how she maintained her bright optimism given the realities of her job. How could she love these animals with all she had when she knew that loving them would also bring pain?
“Sorry.” She gave him an apologetic glance. “I’m wasting time gabbing about lunch instead of giving you the tour I promised. Do you have any questions so far?”
He had a million of them, all about her and how she had come to be the person she was. But that would invite questions about himself, and she would want him to reveal things he’d kept hidden for years. “No questions,” he said. Then he decided that sounded abrupt. “I take that back. What about the shape of these buildings? I’ve never seen an octagon used for an animal shelter before.”
She brightened. “Aren’t they amazing? We built the Doggie Digs first. We borrowed the octagon concept from a no-kill shelter in Utah called Best Friends Animal Society. I spent a week there and was so inspired. The design allows us to have a central area for organizing food and meds. The pie-shaped enclosures branch out from the center.”
Ben nodded. “Looks efficient.”
“It is. Once we saw how well it worked, we used the same design, slightly modified, for our Kitty Condo.” She walked toward the door leading into the cat building. A sign warned Caution, Loose Cats. She opened it a crack and warm air spilled out. “All clear?”
“All clear,” called a female voice from the other side of the door. “I’m cuddling Brutus, and he’s the only one out here right now.”
Tansy opened the door wider and stepped inside. “Good. I’ve brought the cameraman from KFOR.”
Ben followed her through the door and closed it again. The octagonal room was about the size of an average kitchen and resembled one, too, with its countertops, cabinets, refrigerator, washer and dryer. There was no stove, but he noticed a microwave and a toaster oven. Both the washer and dryer were running.
“Ben Rhodes, meet Cindy Stanton, one of our valuable weekend volunteers. Cindy’s a senior in high school, so her weekdays are full, but she comes over every Saturday and Sunday morning to help feed the cats and scoop the litter boxes, even when it’s cold and dark outside.”
“I want to be here, no matter what the weather is.” Cindy, a lanky teenager with a blond ponytail, was wearing a practical outfit of jeans and a long-sleeved rock band T-shirt. She sat on the floor cradling a small black cat with white tuxedo markings. She glanced up at Ben with interest. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Rhodes. Is it okay if I don’t move? Brutus finally settled down, and I—”
“Please don’t get up.” Ben crouched down, reached over and gently stroked a finger down Brutus’s soft fur. “He’s young.”
“He’s young and he’s a maniac. I’m working to socialize him so he won’t bite and scratch people.”
Ben looked closer and noticed small red welts on the backs of Cindy’s hands. “That’s dedication.”
“That’s love. I adore this little guy. My whole family’s allergic except me, or I’d take him home in a second.” She grinned. “Actually, I’d take a bunch of them home. When I get my own place, I’m so going to have lots of cats, and maybe foster, too.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Tansy said, a smile in her voice.
“No worries. I can hardly wait.” She glanced at Ben, who was still stroking the cat. “I’m so glad KFOR is helping us with this campaign and that they sent you to take some pictures. Nothing against you, Miss Dexter, but you really need better ones for the promo spots. What they used this week? Kinda lame.”
Tansy laughed as if she wasn’t the least bit insulted. “I know.”
Cindy returned her attention to Ben. “So where’s your camera?”
“I left it in the van. I wanted to get my bearings before I started shooting.”
She nodded. “Makes sense, but you might as well go back and get it before you head into one of the cat rooms.”
“Oh?” Ben continued to run a finger along Brutus’s silky fur. He’d forgotten the pleasure of such a simple caress. “Why is that?”
“Have you ever been in a roomful of cats, cats with toys and branches to climb on, not to mention tunnels, and shelves and all that stuff?”
“Can’t say that I have.” He was intrigued by the concept. “Don’t they fight?”
Cindy gave a shrug. “Not so much.”
“But they do fight sometimes,” Tansy said. “We watch for that and only allow the aggressive ones in for short visits until they settle down.”
“Even if they fight a little,” Cindy said, “it’s still so much better than cages.”
Ben levered himself to his feet. “Then I’d better go get my camera.”
“Good.” Cindy seemed pleased with that decision. “If you don’t, you’re gonna kick yourself, because you’ll get in there, and one of the cats, like Moppet or Nifty, will be doing something adorable, because they are constantly doing funny stuff, and you’ll miss it.”
Tansy unzipped her parka as if she meant to stay here while he retrieved his equipment. “I didn’t think to ask,” she said. “Are you going to take video or stills?”
“Both, but if I get something with the video camera, I’ll use a single frame, not a sequence. We’re only putting one shot up on the screen at a time.”
“Which is why they have to be really fantastic shots,” Cindy said.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” Tansy shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and smiled at him. “We need someone with a magic touch.”
Ben’s heart lurched. Unless his instincts were wrong, she was flirting with him. The invitation in her eyes was subtle, but his response wasn’t. He wanted to accept the invitation. Good thing Cindy was there, because he had no business accepting anything from Tansy.
But that didn’t stop his traitorous mind from imagining what it would be like to step closer and cradle her face in both hands. And then he’d kiss her, very gently, taking it slow at first. After that—
“Ben, do you want me to go with you? I think you can find your way easy enough. There’s a sidewalk that leads around the house to the parking lot.”
He snapped out of his dangerous daydream. “Not if you have something to do here.”
“There’s always something to do here. There are path lights, but if you want me to show you I’ll be happy to go along.”
“I’m sure I can find my way. It’s getting lighter every minute. I’ll get my equipment and be right back.” He slipped out the door, cursing himself for being a fool. Kissing Tansy would be a huge mistake, both personally and professionally.
He was a cameraman on a job, and that did not include getting cozy with the subject. He could get fired for that, and rightly so. But even without considering his job security, he couldn’t afford to get carried away.
Kissing her would open him up to God-knows-what. Yes, he was drawn to her and wanted to find out what made her tick. But then she would demand to know what made him tick, and he wasn’t about to let her or anyone get that close. If she tempted him, he’d just have to get over it.