The air seemed especially bright and crisp.

Maybe the wind blew in the perfect direction so that the city stench was swept away, or maybe the slow electrification of vehicles had made a difference in the smog levels.

More likely, it was entirely in my mind, a result of the resounding feeling of rightness that filled me.

I’d decided. I would accept the offer and stay in New York. All I had to do was sign the paperwork. It was time for me to move on, and I couldn’t be beholden to the past any longer.

It definitely wasn’t because I wanted to stay near the spirited woman who’d shown me how much fun I’d been missing out on.

My agent had been trying to get me to sign the offer for weeks, but I kept wavering, unable to commit. When I called for a last-minute meeting, he’d sensed something in my voice and told me to come in right away.

This will be good, I thought. This is the right choice. Once I sign the contract, I’ll be able to… Is that Madison?

She walked down the sidewalk toward me alongside another woman. Both were in semi-formal office wear and carrying bags, Madison’s tight black pants and tailored top showing her curves to advantage.

“Look who it is,” I called. “Aren’t chance meetings like this supposed to be impossible in a city this big?”

Madison’s head jerked up. Her eyes were wide and red. “Carter? What the hell are you doing here?”

I’d expected a warmer welcome, but no one was ever at their best when surprised.

“I’m on my way to see my agent.”

“Oh,” she said. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect to see you today. I…” Madison trailed off and looked at the woman beside her, who shifted from side to side.

“It’s late enough that I’m going to call it a day and head home,” the woman said. “I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, but you can call me when you’re free later and we can talk over what happened today or meet up if you need to.”

Madison nodded. “Thank you, Clara. For everything. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. He’s—” Clara glanced at me, then shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later.”

She took off, leaving Madison and me alone on the sidewalk.

“So,” I said. “We aren’t supposed to see each other. Does that mean this counts as our final date?”

A shadow crossed her face before Madison shook her head. “No, of course not. Seeing each other on the street isn’t a date.”

“Good,” I said. Closing the small distance between us, I put a hand on her side and the other on her neck as I bent to kiss her.

It differed from the passionate kisses of our previous date. Madison’s lips were always soft, but this time, she was tentative in a way I’d never felt. When I pulled back, her eyes shone in the sunlight as she looked up at me.

“You’re breaking the rules,” she said. Her voice was soft and small, not the sassy jibe I expected from her.

The witty repartee we shared was the thing I enjoyed most about flirting with Madison, and I had a line already prepared to fire back. Her muted response to my kiss caught me off guard.

“It’s more of a bending of the rules,” I said. “I can’t just pretend I haven’t seen you.”

She wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here.”

Madison was acting oddly. This wasn’t the fiery and feisty woman I knew. This version of her roused my protective instincts, made me want to shield her from harm.

“Is something wrong, Madison?”

Her arms held me tighter. “I just need to get my mind off some things. A distraction. Are you busy right now?”

“I have a meeting,” I reminded her.

“Oh, right. That’s fine, I’ll just go crash at home.”

“Wait.” It was almost time for the meeting. The office was only a half-block away, and it shouldn’t take too long, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be with Madison. “I’ll reschedule the meeting. Although I thought this breaks your rules?”

She looked up at me with wide eyes like a doe cornered by a predator. “I promise this doesn’t count as a date. Please?”

It was impossible to turn her down, especially with that vulnerable expression on her face. She had more devastating puppy dog eyes than Rex.

Speaking of Rex…

“Just give me a second to send a message to my agent, then we can do whatever you want. Would playing with Rex make you feel better?”

A tremulous smile blossomed onto Madison’s face. “Puppies always make me feel better. That’s a great idea.”

I turned back to face the direction I came and offered my arm to her. “My place isn’t far away.”

Keeping in mind how shaken Madison was when I first saw her, I kept the conversation light and away from her day, telling her about Rex’s latest adventures. The first laugh was hard to tease out of her, but once that wall was breached, her mood lightened and she seemed more cheerful. Even still, she wasn’t quite back to her normal self.

Even with her muted responses, walking beside her was more pleasant than should be possible. That we were heading to my apartment only made it more exciting.

“Please excuse the mess,” I said. “I wasn’t planning on having you over. Not today, at least.”

I had actually just cleaned the apartment the day before, but it was a standard disclaimer whenever anyone came to visit. After spending so many years without entertaining visitors except for Logan, it was hard to remember whether anything was out of place. It was easier to beg forgiveness before anything became an issue.

As soon as the door swung open, Rex barked from the living room and scrabbled against his crate. By the time I got to him, he was spinning in circles, chasing his tail and yipping madly.

“Easy, Rex,” I said, even though I knew it would be meaningless. The puppy’s energy was irrepressible. “I brought a friend to come see you. Do you remember Madison?”

When I unlatched the crate, he pushed the door open and bolted straight toward her, jumping into her arms as she knelt down to greet him.

“Oh! You’re such a good boy, aren’t you, Rex? Yes, you are.” Madison rubbed behind his ears and patted his sides. “I swear you’ve grown just in the past week, but you’re still adorable.”

I leaned against the wall and watched them together. If I was a little more insecure, I might have been overcome by jealousy over the entire situation. Watching Rex completely ignore me and lose his mind over Madison was bad enough, but then Madison fawned over the puppy as if he was her favorite thing in the world.

Luckily, I could observe those thoughts in my mind and chuckle at how ridiculous they were.

“He’s getting bigger by the day, I swear,” I said as I sat on the ground beside them and reached out to pat Rex’s belly as he rolled on the ground. “One of these days, I'll wake up to find a fully-grown dog has taken his place.”

With my other hand, I put an arm around Madison, and she leaned back into me as she continued to play with Rex.

“He will be a gorgeous dog,” Madison said. “You’ll make quite the dashing pair.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I could use all the help I can get.”

Madison laughed and turned to plant a quick kiss on my lips. “Keep fishing for compliments and I’ll stop giving you any at all.”

There’s the Madison I know. It was just a glimmer, but it was there. I snorted at her comment. “You say that now, but you don’t know how good of a fisherman I am.”

“And you don’t know what kind of a lake you’re dealing with. Might be some things you don’t want to catch.”

“I doubt that.”

As I’d predicted, puppy therapy worked wonders on Madison’s mood. We sprawled on the living room floor playing with Rex until the puppy tired out and fell asleep snuggled up against Madison.

“This is nice,” I said. Madison’s arm pressed into mine and she’d put her head on my shoulder.

“Yeah.” she sighed. “Thank you for this, Carter. I really needed it.”

I didn’t want to probe too hard, but my curiosity had grown so loud inside my skull that I couldn’t think of anything else. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Madison scratched Rex’s ears, and the puppy let out a sleepy growl. “I don’t think so. I guess I owe you an explanation for what happened. I ran into my ex earlier today. He’s the reason I have my rules. I gave him my heart, and he abused me and ripped it to shreds. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since then, and he’s just as big of an asshole as he ever was.”

I’d seen how serious Madison got when she spoke about her dating rules, but she had hidden the abuse the last time we’d talked about it. The pain in her voice proved just how terrible it had been.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said. Even though there wasn’t anything I could do to her ex, my fist curled. I wanted to protect Madison against anything that would hurt her, but I had no ability to change the past.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” she said. “You’re helping more than you can know.”

I put my arm around her and held her close, giving what comfort I could.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.

She stared at the stand underneath the television, and it took me a moment to realize what she’d spotted.

“Might be,” I said. “Do you want to play?”

“Do I want to… Are you even listening to yourself right now?”

She hadn’t overstated her enthusiasm for Mario Kart, or maybe it was just another distraction from what bothered her. Either way, I wouldn’t deny her. I fetched the controllers, and we squared off.

“I have to warn you,” I said. “I’m pretty good.”

“Save your breath,” Madison said. “You’ll need it for when I’m blowing my exhaust down your throat.”

I glanced at her out of the side of my eye, and she bared her teeth. The competitiveness was far better than the morose mood she’d wallowed in earlier.

“Oh, it’s on.”

It had been a long time since I’d played with anyone other than Logan, and even that was infrequent. I regularly destroyed my brother, so I expected to have to disguise my skills to keep things enjoyable for Madison.

I shouldn’t have been worried.

“Ha, take that!” Madison crowed as she hit me with yet another shell when she lapped me. “You’ll finish last at this rate. You’d better hurry.”

“I’m trying,” I said. “But someone is making that difficult.”

She crossed the finish line and kissed me on the cheek as I fought to get ahead of at least one of the computer players. “Do you want me to take it easy on you?”

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

“No, I’m just rusty. I should play better than this.”

“Just let me know if you change your mind,” Madison said. “I am as merciful as I am powerful.”

The next three races went much the same way, but the gap between us narrowed. Twenty minutes later, every race was a hard-fought battle where we messed with each other so much that neither of us won most of the time.

“Final race?” I asked. “I’m about ready to do something else.”

“You’re on,” she said. “But watch out, because this time, it’s for keeps.”

“Should we bet something on it?”

“I like that.” Madison drummed her fingertips on my chest as she hummed. “I know! How about the loser has to get tied down at some point on our next date? And the winner can do whatever he or she wants to them?”

So far, I’d deliberately avoided the topic of sex, not wanting to take advantage of Madison’s vulnerability and unsure of what that might mean in terms of her rules. Her sudden leap into the subject was enough to send a rush of blood pumping through me as I pictured her proposal.

To have her perfect body tied to my bed, helpless to resist my teasing, open for my every desire was one of the hottest things I’d ever imagined. Even the reverse case, where I lost and she had her way with me, was still winning.

“You’re on. I can’t wait to have you at my mercy.”

“Bring it, Carter. You don’t have what it takes.”

“You’ll be singing a different tune when you’re helpless on my bed.”