I lose my grip on Bryce the moment we enter the crowd.

“Autumn!” a reporter yells to my left.

“Ms. Hart!” another one shouts in front of me.

Each way I turn, there’s a wall of people screaming for my attention. I shut my eyes as they converge on me, struggling for air as my thoughts begin to race.

“I’m right here…” Soft lips press against my ear, calming and exciting me simultaneously. I open my eyes to find two serious brown eyes staring back at me. Bryce’s rough cheek grazes mine as he leans forward. “Take my hand and don’t let go.”

His hand captures mine, and then we’re moving.

“Stand back,” he yells, throwing out his other hand. His hulking form forces people out of our path as he drags us through the crowd. Bryce glances over his shoulder at me as we near the edge. His eyes are hard, mouth drawn, jaw clenched.

Our hands press together as our footsteps pound against the pavement. I force my legs to keep up with him, but my lungs scream for air.

“Stop,” I pant. “I can’t!”

Bryce’s eyes lose their hard edge as they meet mine. He pauses, scanning the road. “This way, there’s an alley.”

I’m about to collapse when he pulls us around the corner and stops. The running, the crushing crowd, the adrenaline coursing through my veins catches up with me all at once.

“Autumn!”

Bryce grabs me by the waist as I slump forward. A sob escapes from my lips, and I let him gather me into his arms, his fingers threading though my hair until my head is safely nestled in his palm.

“You’re fine, you’re safe,” he says in a tight voice.

I try to speak but it comes out as a strangled laugh, foreign and strange to my ears.

Bryce pulls back and peers into my face. “Are you alright?”

I nod, then shake my head. Tears begin to well up in the corners of my eyes. “I don’t—” I stop with a gasp, finally noticing the leash dangling free in Bryce’s hand. All the pent-up fear and helplessness I’d shoved away comes roaring back in full force.

“Dolly!” I push away from Bryce and start running toward the street, my steps frantic and stilted in my panic. “Oh God, she’s lost.”

“Autumn, wait!”

The concrete rushes up to meet me as my foot snags on a broken piece of stone. “Bryce!”

The air leaves my lungs as I’m yanked back and off my feet. The surface I’m pressed against is hard yet warm, and rises and falls in quick bursts. I close my eyes and melt into it, breathing deeply, and instead of the pungent smell of alleyway, the woody, smoky scent of pine trees fills my nostrils. It’s intoxicating. Everything about it makes my head swim, my limbs weak, my heart race. And I never want it to stop.

A deep rumbling erupts beneath my cheek. It takes a moment for the words to reach me, but when they do, I realize I’m being held in someone’s arms. And that someone is Bryce.

My eyes fly open and meet a wall of black. My cheek grazes Bryce’s cotton shirt as I tilt my face up toward his. His mouth is moving, but words aren’t coming out. “What?”

“I said she’s fine,” Bryce says calmly. “I let her go so she could run free, but she’ll come when I call.” My breath lodges in my throat when his gaze roams over my face. “To do that, I’ll have to put you down. Are you okay to stand?”

I twist my fingers in his shirt and give a reluctant nod. My eyes stay on his handsome face, hard and serious, as I’m set on my feet. Then Bryce raises his fingers to his mouth and lets out a piercing whistle.

“Don’t worry,” he says with a confidence that I wish I shared, “she’ll come.”

I wrench my eyes from his face and try to still my shaking hands. “She’s not the best at obeying.”

Bryce smiles. “That’s before she met me.”

“What do you mean?”

Before he can answer, there’s movement in the street. A moment later Dolly comes bounding around the corner, happy and jolly as ever. I fall to my knees and throw my arms wide as she runs to me.

“How did you do this?” I gush through a shower of puppy-dog kisses.

“I’ve been working with her on our morning walks.” Bryce reaches into his pocket and pulls out something small and round. Dolly looks up expectantly as Bryce tosses it toward her. She snaps it out of the air before it hits the ground. Bryce shrugs under my shocked look. “Peanut butter biscuits. She’ll do anything for them.”

I jump to my feet and throw my arms around his neck, standing on my tippy toes to do it. I bury my face in his soft cotton shirt and give him a huge hug. After a tense moment, Bryce relaxes enough to wrap his arms around me. I feel so safe, so warm, as he holds me in the protective circle of his strong arms. We stand there, entwined, until he breaks the silence.

“I’m sorry.”

I tilt my face toward his and stifle a gasp. We’re so close. If I rocked up a little higher, my lips could reach his.

“I shouldn’t have put us in that situation,” he continues in a strained voice. “There’s no excuse.”

“Don’t be.” I glide my tongue over my lips as my eyes dip to his mouth. Bryce tenses under me, and I relish the feeling of his rigid muscles beneath my chest. “Don’t say anything.”

Bryce’s breath is soft and hot on my face as he gazes down at me. “Autumn,” he begins, but doesn’t finish. Our bodies press against each other as our faces draw in close. A low groan of pleasure rumbles from his chest as he pulls me even tighter against him. How long have I dreamed of Bryce touching me like this? As if I was the most irresistible, precious thing in his world? As if he’d never let anything hurt me?

Instead of trying to fight it or reminding myself of the pain I felt for so many years, I do what comes naturally to my aching heart. I lean in, part my lips, and slowly close my eyes.

When Bryce pulls back before our lips meet, I nearly groan with disappointment. “Sorry,” he says in a gruff voice.

“For what?”

He lets me go and stands back, fighting to get control of the emotions flitting across his face. “We should get back.”

“Bryce—”

His eyes flick to mine. My breath catches as something flashes behind those eyes, something secret and raw and too risky to name. “It’s getting late, and you have a long day tomorrow,” he tells me in a voice that could’ve cut through steel. He starts backing away from me when I reach for him. “No. Don’t.”

“Wait,” I beg, but I’m talking to a back that’s walking away. Had I imaged the longing in his eyes just moments ago when he looked at me? Or had I simply wanted to feel those sparks so badly that I imagined a connection that was never there? That may never be there?

A grunt and a sigh pull my attention down to the pup sitting at my side. Dolly’s brown eyes are filled with sadness as they follow the retreating form of her favorite human ever. She looks up at me as Bryce takes up a position at the mouth of the alleyway. Squared shoulders, taught back, clenched fists. He’s back in bodyguard mode.

Is he ever coming back? I can hear Dolly asking me. It's what I'm thinking, too--except I mean the Bryce I used to know. The Bryce I just caught a glimpse of a few moments ago.

Oh God, when Bryce was gazing at me, those heavy eyes full of enough sensual intent to take my breath away, it was all I could do to not run after him and find out what could have happened if we let our lips meet.

“I don’t know, girl.” I raise my hand and drag my fingers over my lips, letting my mind go wild with possibilities. “I don’t know.”