Daisy called me in the middle of the night, her voice shaking with fear, sending daggers of anxiety straight through my heart. I’d thought for sure something terrible had happened.

I never in a million years thought she’d agree to move in and work for me.

Now, we were loading her surprisingly few belongings into the biggest of the spare bedrooms at the back of the house, and suddenly I felt a little shy about the whole thing.

I’d never lived with a woman outside of my mother and that was a lifetime ago and didn’t really count, now did it?

Not that this counted, either.

It was merely a business agreement, right? Sure, we’d kissed, and sure, it felt amazing, and sure, I was very keen on doing it again, but that didn’t mean we were moving in together, not in a romantic sense. And now that she’d agreed, I wasn’t even sure where that left us.

She might back track, decide kissing me was a mistake now that she was here.

I was prepared to accept that completely, should she go that way, but I was hoping like hell she didn’t. For now, we kept passing each other in the hall and exchanging smiles. Once we’d finished bringing everything in, we stood in the hallway staring at each other awkwardly.

Alex had fallen asleep in the truck so he was happily snoring away in his seat in the living room. Chester was running around our legs and sniffing every box we brought in.

Staring into Daisy’s eyes, my heart swelled knowing that I’d now get to see her every day.

“So, what now?” I asked.

“Maybe I should unpack?”

“Sure, sure. Are you hungry? I could make us lunch.”

“More potato salad?”

“Not today,” I said, smiling at her. “Listen, Daisy, I want you to completely make yourself at home. Like I said before, I won’t be here too much during the day and some nights I even stay at the hospital or go to the clubhouse on the weekends.”

“I’ll be fine alone, Jason. Thank you so much,” she said, smiling up at me. “I’m really happy to be here, even though I’ll miss the ladies at the shelter.”

“Last night really shook you up, didn’t it?”

“I’ve always felt safe there,” she shrugged. “Maybe I wasn't as safe as I thought I was.”

“Well, no matter what, I’m glad you’re here. Both of you.”

“You’re a great guy, Jason,” she said.

“You’re pretty great, too,” I replied, my stomach flipping. I reached out, pulling her into my arms and bending my head to kiss her. She leaned in at first, but then she stiffened and pulled away, sending a dagger of disappointment right into my heart.

“I’m sorry, Jason, I just don’t think…now that I'm working for you…”

“I completely understand,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m so sorry.”

I was more than sorry, I was mortified. Of course she wouldn’t want to be kissed, her entire life had been upended. What kind of imbecile was I?

“No, don’t be sorry,” she whispered, her eyes staring at me, so wide and sweet. “It’s okay. I just don't know the right way to go about this.”

“How about we just take it slow for now? We can figure it out as we go along. To be honest, I’ve never lived with a woman in my life, so I’m not sure how to do this, either. Not that we’re living together, I mean.” I said, hurriedly.

She smiled again, the sweetest, most trusting smile I’d ever seen.

“One day at a time sounds good to me,” she whispered.

I nodded, peering into her pretty eyes.

“Let me show you around a little more,” I said, leading her through the house. I showed her how to turn all the lights on and off and gave her a quick tour of the kitchen. She’d seen the entire house last time, so giving her a real tour seemed repetitive.

Finally, I opened the garage door and we stepped into the garage. It was way too big, but it had come with the house. I had my two trucks, a Honda and my bike in there, and there was still enough room to ride a skateboard, if you wanted.

“So this is your bike, huh?” She said, walking around it, her eyes raking over it. Chester’s sidecar was attached, so I knew it was anything but cool, not in the traditional sense, at least.

“Chester doesn’t like to be left at home,” I said, shrugging.

“It’s nice,” she nodded. “Very pretty.”

She reached down and lifted up the cut that was slung across the seat, inspecting it, reading the patches.

“So, you really are a biker…”

“Yep. Totally patched in,” I said, my chin lifting proudly.

“You ever do anything illegal?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and staring over at me.

I shook my head, thinking back over the past few years.

“Nothing I’m ashamed of,” I said.

She nodded and smiled a quiet little smile as she put the cut back on the seat, smoothing it out. A knot formed in my throat as I watched her fingers slide over the worn leather.

“I’ll take you for a ride sometime,” I said, my voice gruff and scratchy. “If you want…”

“That sounds like fun,” she nodded.

“Good,” I replied, trying to catch my breath. Watching her walk around, so graceful and quiet, was hypnotizing, to say the least. I tore my eyes from her face, willing myself to snap out of it. I wasn’t a goddamned inexperienced teenage boy, but sometimes she made me feel that way.

I willed myself to look anywhere else but at her and my gaze landed on the sedan in the corner. I dug in my pocket and fished out the keys I’d searched for earlier.

“You can borrow my car,” I said, handing her the keys. “Anytime you want.”

She shook her head, looking at me with confusion and then looking down at the keys.

“Really? Thank you, that’s very nice of you. But I don’t know how to drive,” she said, smiling again. She gave me the keys back and turned away, but not before I saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

“I’m just going to check on Alex,” she said, tossing me a glance over her shoulder. I nodded, silently watching as she walked out of the garage and disappeared back into the house.

I took a deep breath, doing my best to get a handle on my emotions. I’d never felt like this before. My interactions with women had always been of the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am variety and this had quickly become something else entirely.

Hell, I’d not even had time to check in with the Gods. They were going to fall down in shock when I told them I’d moved a woman into my home. I walked over to my bike, running a hand over the glistening black tank and then up to the shining chrome handlebars.

I’d paid a pretty penny for this baby, indulging myself with a brand-new bike. My old man’s old bike had been parked on a pedestal and displayed inside the new clubhouse, a memorial of sorts for him. Even if I kept it here, I knew I wouldn’t drive it. It just didn’t seem right.

I walked back inside the house and found Daisy and Chester in the living room. She sat on the couch and he was beside her, already bonding with her, or at least learning to manipulate her for some later opportunity for forbidden treats.

“So, if I’m going to be taking care of this guy,” she said, petting his belly as he rolled over. “I’ll need to know how to feed him and where his leash is and all that.”

“He’s easy. He’ll eat anything in sight, so watch your dinner. Other than that, he responds to commands perfectly. He even knows how to roll over and play dead. He has to warm up to you a little before he’ll do that. He hates being in the house all day, I’ll tell you that. I take him out to the clubhouse as much as possible, because he gets to run loose and chase squirrels.”

“Okay, good. What else can I do to earn my keep, Jason? Clean house?” She asked.

“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve got a wonderful woman who does that, the laundry too. She’s a control freak, so don’t even try to clean something on your own because you’ll never hear the end of it. I’ve got a pool boy who comes in once a week and a gardener to take care of the lawn.”

“So, you didn’t really need me, is that what you’re telling me?”

“Absolutely not!” I replied, pointing at Chester, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. “Look at this guy. He’ll demand all your attention, really. Before you know it, he’ll be begging you to take him on vacation to Paris or something.”

“Paris, huh?” She asked, laughing, which made my heart swell with joy.

“Yep. I should tell you right now, in case he brings it up, I always make him fly coach. No first class for him!”

She laughed again, the tinkling sound of joy rippling through the house like fireflies. Her eyes lit up and I felt a small thrill knowing I’d put that sparkle there, just by joking around.

“I’ll make sure to take good care of him,” she said, standing up and facing me. Once again, I found myself gazing into her eyes silently. I reached out and grabbed her hand, so small and warm inside my own.

“I’m glad you’re here, Daisy,” I whispered, my voice husky with emotion.

“Me, too.”

We stood there like that for a while, the moon setting in the horizon, the orange and purple sunset bathing us in a warm glow that only made her more beautiful.

Right there in that perfect moment, Daisy’s beautiful face shining back at me in the stillness of my kitchen, I knew that something big was happening.

I didn’t know what.

I didn’t know how.

But whatever it was, my life was forever going to be changed by this beauty.