“Good. My employees are on edge because the office gossip mill is buzzing with the rumor that I’m selling. Then there is Kia, who isn’t helping. She’s already acting like the outgoing CEO of the foundation.”

Before Ajay could respond, a woman wearing a lanyard and a utility belt, and holding dog leashes, stepped out of the puppy room. Her eyes lit up when she saw Raj.

“Why, hello there, stranger!” she said with her arms stretched wide.

Raj wrapped her arms around Jill for a fierce hug. Jill was one of the few women she really enjoying being around. She had dedicated her life to working in animal shelters across New York and was a genuinely warm and caring human. In Raj’s eyes, that classified Jill as a modern-day saint.

“I got your message about coming after the fifteenth,” Raj said. “I’m here and I brought my . . . friend. This is Ajay Singh.”

Ajay held out a hand for Jill to shake. His gaze turned razor sharp. “It’s boyfriend, but the word is still hard for Raj to say since she’s in the process of finalizing her divorce. She’s getting used to it.”

“What happened to discrete?” Raj said in Punjabi.

Ajay shrugged, doing a poor job at hiding his smile.

“Oh god, Raj,” Jill said, her hand covering her mouth. “I figured when your assistant called me and said that you were seriously interested in coming in to see the dog I thought was for you, it was because your husband was going to take allergy shots or something, not because you’re getting a divorce.”

“It’s fine,” Raj replied. She shot Ajay a dirty look. “It was time. And I’m glad, honestly, that it worked out the way it did, because you seemed pretty confident this puppy was for me.”

Jill nodded, and motioned for them to come with her. “I know that we’ve always been on the lookout, uh, former husband’s allergies aside, but nothing really fit in terms of what you were looking for despite the thousands of dogs that have come through since you started working with us. I can see now that it wasn’t meant to be. The timing wasn’t right. The stars may have aligned finally.”

“What makes you think so?” Raj said. Her heart began pounding. She’d wanted this for so long that she’d hate it if Jill was wrong about this dog.

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” Jill said. “I have instincts.”

“Then I trust them completely.”

Ajay chuckled behind her.

“What?” she asked before entering the puppy room. “What’s so funny?”

He grinned at her, his broad shoulders shrugging. “I just wonder what your employees and colleagues would say if they saw you like this.”

“They’d think I’m about to get a puppy,” she responded.

“No, they’d think you’re soft. And sweet.”