The first thing I saw when my eyes opened were the endless grey-black clouds rolling in from the Neuse River.

It was going to pour, I could feel it in my bones and in the onset of a migraine which was throbbing behind my eyes.

I turned my head and started, forgetting that Rocco had set up shop on the neighboring pillow, his huge jowls fluttering as he continued to sleep.

Ah!

I sat up and peered at the alarm clock, shaking my head as I tried to get my bearings.

It was after seven o’clock and I had slept in.

I hadn’t heard the alarm which meant I had forgotten to set it again.

It had been happening a lot lately.

Over the past few weeks, little things were going missing, misplaced and showing up in strange places.

I had found my wallet in the fridge and cell phone in the microwave.

My keys had been locked in my BMW three times in the last month, my house keys attached.

Still, I hadn’t learned to put my spare somewhere accessible.

I need a vacation, I told myself, slipping from the California king bed and padding across the hardwood floors to the ensuite bathroom.

My headache was getting worse and I needed to take something before it rendered me useless.

Like a mocking omen, thunder rumbled in the distance.

Under normal circumstances, I liked the rain but that day it only meant more problems.

It would take longer to get to work, my clothes would get soaked and I had a meeting with the Paris clients in the afternoon.

I tried to remember a time when I had been excited to start my day instead of trying to remember where I had put my towels.

No, seriously, where were all my towels?

The shower was running, and I was naked, pouring through the cupboards but they weren’t where they were supposed to be.

How is that possible? I asked myself furiously. Someone must be screwing with me.

Of course, I knew that unless Rocco had decided to reorganize the house while I was at work, I had somehow managed to sabotage myself again.

I finally found them in the bedroom closet, but I had no recollection of ever having put them there.

After this deal goes through, I am going on vacation. Three weeks. And definitely not to Paris, I vowed as I climbed into the steaming shower.

After the hell the Parisians were putting me through, I was done with all of France.

Well maybe not Nice…or the alps…

I scrubbed at myself quickly, knowing that I didn’t have time to indulge in much more than a rinse.

Traffic is going to be atrocious, I reminded myself, turning off the faucet and leaping out onto the bathmat.

Dripping, I haphazardly ran my fingers through an unruly mass of blonde curls and dried myself simultaneously.

It was at that moment that Rocco began to howl, barking in rapid succession.

I tensed, recognizing his growls as more than simple dog play.

Every sharp bark he made pierced into my unmedicated skull deeper, encouraging more pain from my brain.

“Okay, Rocco,” I said calmly, wrapping the towel around my slender hips and making my way into the bedroom but he wasn’t there.

Outside, the rain had begun, the drops hammering against the window panes relentlessly.

“Rocco?” I called as his anxiety mounted.

When I entered the hallway, I peered down the staircase, where the mastiff was pawing at the front door, breathing heavily.

He looked up at me in desperation and then I knew what was causing his stress.

The doorbell rang again.

Who the hell -?

I groaned loudly and ran down the steps, cursing myself.

The dog walker.

I had forgotten to cancel the dog walker.

There was no way that Rocco would step foot outside in that weather.

For a hundred and fifty-pound beast, he was terrified of loud noises.

I threw open the front door, an apology and an excuse ready to spring from my lips but they both died there as I stared at the drenched pixie on my porch.

Her auburn hair was matted against her tiny shoulders and her inquisitive willow eyes peered up at me.

I wouldn’t have guessed her to be more than five foot three but she carried herself taller somehow, despite her tiny stature.

“Hi,” she said, and I realized I had been staring at her silently for a while. “I’m Maya, the dog walker?”

Rocco howled in protest from behind me, but I watched as she dropped down to allow him to sniff her hand.

To my shock, my cowardly werewolf ventured into the rain to feel her out.

“Oh my God,” I mumbled, realizing that she was still being rained upon while I stood in a towel, gaping. “Come inside.”

I stepped aside to let her through and Rocco’s entire disposition changed, his tail wagging happily as she entered.

“I should have called to cancel you,” I told her, my face flushing as I tried to keep the towel from slipping off my hips. “I slept in because I forgot to set the alarm and then when I woke up, I couldn’t find the towels and then Rocco started barking…”

I was babbling, and I abruptly stopped talking, shaking my head as if hoping for some sense to enter.

Maya pet Rocco, nuzzling her nose to his ecstatic face but I could see her watching me through her peripheral vision.

“Let me get some clothes on,” I muttered, turning to the stairs. “And I’ll pay you for today, but Rocco won’t go out in the rain. I’ll be lucky to get him in the backyard.”

It was another stress to worry about; my poor dog holding his bladder all day while I was at work.

I hurried toward the staircase, my pulse quickening with each step.

She must be new to the company, I thought, licking my lips as I hastily dressed in my suit.

I didn’t even bother to brush my hair, not because I was late but because I wanted to get back downstairs to the redhead in my foyer.

But you do need to hurry and get to work, I reminded myself.

Yet somehow, it didn’t seem as urgent suddenly, as if Maya’s arrival had some strange calming effect on me.

I rushed back to join her, but she wasn’t where I left her.

Glancing around, she was not in any of the front rooms and I looked outside but neither her nor my dog was anywhere in sight.

A stranger in my home should have put me on edge and taking stock of the valuables laying in plain sight but it did not and eventually I found her at the back door, trying to coax Rocco into the yard.

I stood back, watching her work her magic as the beast slowly took a tentative step outside.

“Come on, big boy,” she cajoled. “You just need to do your business and then you can come right back inside for treats.”

Rocco’s head jerked up at the word and she nodded encouragingly at him.

“Yes, treats,” she said softly. “Do you like treats?”

Rocco barked once in affirmation and to my surprise bounded suddenly into the rain.

I was dumbfounded.

The word “treats” had never had such a profound effect on him before. I had tried dragging him into the rain, coaxing, begging, threatening.

I guess there are some things which only a beautiful woman can do.

“You certainly have a way with animals,” I commented, and she turned, seeming unperturbed by my arrival.

It was like she knew I was watching her.

“I can never get him outside,” I continued, looking around the kitchen for my wallet. “It’s not good for him to hold it,” Maya replied, one eye on the canine as he sought the perfect corner to relieve himself. “Dogs and people are very much alike in that manner.”

I cocked my head to the side, vaguely aware of the headache now.

“How’s that?” I asked, pulling two twenties from my wallet and sliding them across the glass tabletop for her to take.

“We should never internalize our discomfort. It manifests in terrible ways.”

My mouth parted, and I tried to weigh what she was telling me, but I really didn’t care about her philosophical take on mind, body and soul at that moment.

My headache wouldn’t permit such conversation anyway.

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing,” I told her, unsure of how else to respond. “But here is payment for today.”

She smiled at me and it was as if a warm blanket covered my body.

It was a gorgeous smile, one which took her from being entrancingly cute to stunningly beautiful.

“Take you for example,” she said, and my brow furrowed, uncomprehendingly. She ignored the bills and continued to stare into my face.

“I don’t understand,” I replied. “What about me?”

She stepped away from the glass door and approached me, her hand extended.

“May I?”

I watched uncertainly as she took my hand in hers and without warning began to knead at the spot between my palm and thumb.

A flash of pain jolted through me and my instinct was to pull away, but she held me firmly.

“You’re a bundle of stress,” she announced, nodding as if whatever she felt in my hand confirmed her suspicions. “You have a headache, don’t you?”

I stared at her, open-mouthed.

“How did you know that?” I demanded, wincing as she continued to massage my hand.

“It’s all over your face. I see people like you a lot in my work,” Maya informed me. “High powered jobs, improper outlets for all the tension.”

Slowly, I felt my body begin to relax and sure enough, my headache subsided.

Rocco barked from the back door, demanding to be let inside and Maya released my hand to attend to him.

“You do reflexology for your dog walking clients, do you?” I teased but I was only half-joking. “I don’t remember that being an option on the website.”

Maya grinned serenely, crouching to wipe Rocco’s oversized paws.

“Well you already paid for a service which you aren’t getting,” she replied sweetly. “I didn’t want to leave here having you feel ripped off.”

She straightened herself to her full, non-threatening height and turned to leave.

“Wait!” I heard myself cry after her and I instantly wondered where the note of desperation had come from.

She paused to glance over her shoulder.

“Yes?”

“You really know how to do reflexology? Because my headache is gone.”

Maya shrugged and shook her damp waves.

“I dabble in it but I’m not fluent enough to give you a full session. I have a friend I can recommend –”

“No! It has to be you!”

She seemed surprised by my outburst.

“Sorry,” she answered. “I have many talents but that is not one I can claim as my own.”

The innuendo was thinly veiled, and I felt a slight stirring in my crotch as she beamed impishly.

“Fine,” I relented quickly. “What about dinner then? Can I take you out for dinner?”

She paused and stared at me for a long moment.

For a terrifying second, I thought she was going to refuse.

She exhaled slowly and turned to face me fully.

“I will go to dinner with you,” she agreed. “But you should know something first.”

I waited expectantly, somehow not even remotely aware of how late I was becoming as I lost myself in her glittering emerald eyes.

It was like she had slipped me into some unshakable trance which I couldn’t escape. I would have stood in my kitchen, gawking at Maya all day if she would have allowed it.

“I don’t date,” she replied, and I felt the bubble of security surrounding me pop.

Disappointment welled up inside me and I tried desperately not to let it show on my face.

“Ah,” I replied, shifting my blue eyes downward. “You like women.”

Maya laughed, and it was a tinkling not unlike that of a gently stirred windchime in my ears.

“I like all people,” she replied when her giggles subsided. “But that is not what I meant.”

My head rose, and I peered at her in confusion.

I felt like she only spoke in riddles and while it should have annoyed me, I only felt more intrigued with the lovely girl standing before me.

“What do you mean?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

She opened her rosebud mouth and I could not help but wonder if she tasted like the succulence she seemed to emit.

“I don’t do relationships. I don’t date. I don’t believe in the confines of monogamy.”

I exhaled, relief flooding through me so heavily, I thought I might fall to my knees.

“Me neither!” I told her. “I’m not looking for anything serious.”

She continued to study my face and I found myself growing nervous under her scrutiny.

“Nothing will change my mind, Mr. Payne,” she said quietly, and I nodded eagerly.

“We are on the same page, Maya,” I assured her. “And please, call me Slade if we’re not going to date.”

Her face relaxed into another grin and I couldn’t remember a time when I had ever seen someone smile so much.

She located a piece of scrap paper by the landline and left her phone number on the table.

“Okay, Slade,” she replied. “I’ll be back in the morning for Rocco.”

I didn’t know who was more excited; me or the dog.