In Your Arms: A Small Town Love Story (Safe Haven Book 1) by Erin Sloane Page B

at your service.”
    They hadn’t been working for long before they had to finish. Justice tired quickly. He was still a long way off building any mental or physical stamina. The mental work they were asking of him burned him out way quicker than a session with a ball or a tug-toy. They returned to the office to watch the footage on the computer. In the large enclosure Marlo lay on the ground, completely still with her arms outstretched. She held pieces of cooked chicken in her hand. Although she was careful not to make any eye contact or movement if Justice looked like approaching, he would creep up only to scatter when he got within a few feet of her. At one time he was merely inches from her hand, then her shirt flapped in the breeze and Justice turned tail and hurried to the far corner of the yard.
    Marlo stopped the video. “Even when I impersonate a corpse he’s spooked.”
    “And such a good-looking corpse, too,” Adam joked. “Do you think there might be some clues in some of the other Justice videos you have? What I’m thinking is that we might see a situation where you’ve had a breakthrough. If we understand why something works we can repeat it.”
    “Let me get the discs.”
    Marlo put the first DVD into her computer. “This is unedited, I’m afraid, but I should be able to whiz through the irrelevant stuff.” On the screen Justice lay flattened on the ground. “Oh, well, at least he doesn’t behave like a pancake so much now?”
    Adam agreed. “Even though you feel a bit stuck at the moment, I think you’re going to be surprised by the progress you’ve made.”
    They kept working their way through the DVDs. “I’m not seeing much here. The only thing I’m getting is sympathy for the people who are landed with the task of viewing all those hours of security footage after a crime. My vision’s starting to blur; shall we continue this another time?”
    Adam shook his head. “Wait. I think I’m starting to see something. Put in the next disc.”
    Marlo inserted the next disc into the computer. It must have been a hot day because in the video, she wore a short pair of cut-offs and a bikini top. Grabbing the mouse, she paused the video. “Whoa-ho, not this one.”
    Just as quickly, Adam leaned across her and hit enter on the computer keyboard to restart the video. “Not so fast, young lady.”
    Marlo knocked his arm aside and once again got to the pause button. “No, stop.”
    “Why? Marlo, you’re blushing.”
    She narrowed her eyes at him. “There’s a wardrobe malfunction a couple of minutes in. I asked Lulah to cut it, but it doesn’t look as though she has.”

    A dam grinned . “It sounds like my sort of video,” he teased. He hit the enter key and in one swift move trapped Marlo’s wrists to stop her from pausing the video again. In doing so, he saw her eyes spark with fear. His stomach knotted. Oh, shit. This isn’t some game, she’s actually scared.
    He released her and immediately stepped away as she stopped the video. He noticed her hand shake as she removed the disc. Placing it inside the case, she gathered up the rest of the discs and returned them to the cabinet. “I think we’ve seen enough.” Her voice was brittle. At the sink she poured herself a glass of water, took a sip then placed it on the bench.
    Adam gave her a moment to settle before he went to her. When he gently placed his hands on her shoulders she stiffened beneath his grasp. “Marlo, I’m so sorry. I was kidding around and I’ve frightened you.”
    “I’m okay.” She tried to shrug from his grasp.
    “You’re not. Your hands are shaking, and you’re so tense you could shatter. You have no idea how sorry I am. I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you or frighten you.” He started to rub her shoulders gently. “Relax,” he whispered into her hair. Her back was to him and as his fingers clasped her he worked his thumbs in small, firm circles until some of the tension gave way. He