Was it crazy for me to be here with my next-door neighbor? Totally. But was I doing it anyway? You fucking bet.

The animal shelter was just outside of Stoneport off the freeway and was more of a haven than a shelter. There were pets up for adoption of almost every kind, each cuter than the last. Hamsters, rodents, cats, dogs, bunny rabbits—the choices were endless.

When Mason had originally suggested this, my heart had skipped about twenty beats. Sure, I kind of took offense to the fact he thought I couldn’t look after myself without a guard dog, but at the same time, I’d always wanted a pet.

Kieran had insisted he was allergic to cats, dogs, bunnies, even fucking fish. Adopting an animal would be good for me. A good and final “fuck you” to my past.

I knelt down in front of one of the enclosures and eyed the Labrador puppies gamboling around inside. There were three of them, all housed together with water and kibble, and plenty of grass to roam around on.

“You know, a golden lab isn’t going to be the best guard dog. They’re too friendly,” Mason said, beside me.

I stiffened and glared up at him. “So what? I didn’t come here for a guard dog. I came here for a puppy.”

He blinked at me, expressionless now. “What about a rottweiler? A pitbull?”

Slowly, I rose from my crouch and faced him. Thankfully, he had a shirt on—he’d been forced to clothe himself when we’d left my front yard—which made it about fifty percent easier to focus on my irritation rather than how badly I wanted to take it out on him in totally inappropriate ways. “Mason, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I’m really happy to be here, but I’ll make this choice all on my own. Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything but stood there, eyes narrowed, staring at me as if that would make me change my mind. It wouldn’t, obviously. “I’m trying to help you out here, Becca.”

“You’ve helped me more than enough.”

Mason ground his teeth, but the approach of one of the owners of the shelter, an elderly woman with gray hair knotted atop her head in a bun, kept him from biting words out. Good thing too, because the last thing we needed was for this tension to spill over here of all places.

“Have you decided on anything, dear?” the woman asked. She wore a nametag that read Kathy and a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “The sooner you make a decision, the sooner we can come out and check your home.”

“Check her home?” Mason grunted.

“Why, yes, Doctor Dunn,” Kathy said and turned a cool gaze on him. “We follow the rules around here, see? I’m sure you can understand that. Or maybe you can’t.” She muttered the last sentence.

Is it just me or is this lady pissed about something?

“That’s fine,” I said. “I think I have made a decision.” I opened the tiny gate that led into the enclosure and ducked inside. Two of the puppies rushed toward me, barking and wagging their tails. The third sat down, his head cocked to one side and one ear flopping up, golden and soft. I walked over to him and swept him up into my arms.

His warm, little tongue lapped at the underside of my chin, and I let out a giggle, for a second forgetting everything. The pressure of the move and the fire, the past, and the fact that Mason was still out there, waiting for me. That I wanted him, even though it didn’t make any sense. That I was angry about it, even though he’d been nothing but kind to me.

I exited the little enclosure and halted beside Kathy and Mason.

“—understand why you’d need to do that,” Mason said. “This is a small town, and I can vouch for Miss Starr. She lives next door to me.”

“Next door to you?” Kathy asked. “How convenient for you.”

“I think so,” Mason replied, his tone cold as fucking ice, his stare so hard it could crack skulls.

Kathy balked, visibly. She cleared her throat and switched her focus to me. “Ah, you’re interested in little Ty, I see.”

“I am,” I replied. “And I’m totally OK with a home check. I’ve got a lovely fenced-in yard.” Though the fence definitely needed repairs. “I’m also happy to keep him inside the house during the first few days and—”

“You’ll have to complete a questionnaire, dear, before you pay the adoption fees and vet fees for his shots,” Kathy said. “We’re very strict about the caliber of people we allow to adopt our animals. We want them going to the best homes.”

“I assure you, I can provide him with a lovely home.” Ty licked my chin again and I smiled. It had to paint a touching picture, but Kathy was definitely unmoved, and Mason’s expression was still granite on ice. “I’m happy to open it up to inspection.”

“Good,” Kathy said. “Very good. At least some of the people in this town know what it means to obey the rules.” She took Ty from me and gave him a pat on the head, but the puppy didn’t seem as enthusiastic about being held by her. “You can come through to the office and fill out a form, and we’ll arrange a time to come see your home. It all really hinges on hours you keep,” she said and sniffed. “If you’re away at work a lot, for instance.”

“I’m currently out of work,” I put in, “but I’m planning on getting a job in the food industry. A local diner or restaurant. I’ve got some interviews coming up this week.” Ones I was nervous for, even though I was more than qualified for them.

My therapist had prepared me for being back in a professional kitchen, but what if I had another episode? What if it all came rushing back and I was paralyzed again, standing there, staring. What if—?

“Rebecca?” Mason’s voice cut through all of the fear.

“Hey, sorry. Yes, I’ll come fill out the form,” I said.

Twenty minutes later we were back in Mason’s truck and driving toward the house. We were silent, the heat growing between us all over again, but it was a different kind this time.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

“What?” He didn’t take his eyes off the road. It was afternoon, now, and the sun had just reached its zenith in the sky.

“Stick up for me with Kathy,” I replied. “I’m good, Mason. I get you’re trying to be neighborly, but you don’t need to take it that far.”

“That’s what you think?” He grunted a laugh, and it was bitter. “I’m not trying to be neighborly.”

“Oh yeah?” I turned toward him in the front cab, tugging on my seatbelt to give myself leverage. “Then what are you trying to do? Because I don’t get it.”

“Forget it,” he said and pulled up outside my house. The sun beat down on the black hood of the truck, and I looked up at the house—the thick front door, his ladder tucked against the wooden side panels of the home, the columns that held vague memories from my childhood.

“Fine,” I said. “I will forget it. And look, I appreciate everything, I’ve told you that, but I think it would be better if I just handled all of this myself from now on.”

“You think I’m too intrusive,” he said.

I didn’t reply but did meet his gaze. Green eyes, deep as the friggin’ ocean. Oh man, what fresh hell was this? Why was my heart going crazy for some guy I barely knew? He was hot, but I could easily take care of all my…urges by myself. It couldn’t just be that.

There was something more there.

Something in the way he looked at me. Like he knew me, like he saw me, when we’d barely talked about anything.

“You think I’m intrusive,” he repeated. It wasn’t a question, but he seemed to expect an answer.

“Yeah, maybe,” I said. “I don’t know. It’s weird. There’s something—shoot, I—never mind. It’s fine. I have interviews all week, I have a house to deal with. I’m sure you have stuff to deal with too, not that you’ve told me anything about it. Not that you have to. I just need to—I don’t know.”

“You’re babbling.” He didn’t grin, yet mirth twisted his tone.

“I have plans. I have goals. I have a past to move on from. I don’t have time to mess around or worry about… I don’t have time to be thinking about some guy I barely know—”

“You think about me,” he said and unhooked his seatbelt. The air conditioning was still on, pumping the cab full of cool air, but I blushed hot from head to toe.

Great. Me and my big mouth.

“How much do you think about me?” Mason asked. “It’s been two days since we met. How much?”

“Whatever,” I replied. “You were the one who was hard as rock that first day. When we fell on the ground? I know you felt what I felt.”

“How much, Becca?”

I lost my breath. Shook my head. Ridiculous. I placed my hand on the door handle.

“Don’t you fucking move,” Mason growled.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t you fucking move,” he repeated. “You won’t tell me how much you’ve thought about me, fine, but you’ll hear what I have to say.”

“And what’s that?” I lifted my head, feigning defiance. I’d been through worse than a hot stare from a man who looked like Chris Hemsworth’s and Adonis’s lovechild.

“I want you,” he growled. “I’ve been thinking about it since you fell into my arms for the first time. And I’ll be damned if I let you leave this truck without knowing it.”

“Y-you want me,” I said and silently cursed that stammer. “How bad?”

Mason reached over and unclipped my seatbelt. He took my hand and shifted it to the front of his jeans, placed it against the thick shaft pressing against the fabric. So fat, so thick. I bit my lip to keep from moaning.

“Does that answer your question?”

I nodded.

“Do you have any more questions?”

I shook my head.

“Good. Let’s go.”