JT sat next to Emma in the living room and waited. As she started talking, Bo sat on the floor next to her.

“So, you know Mark and I were engaged shortly after you left.”

“I’d heard.”

“It was all a sham. We were to remain engaged through the release date. Then, after the movie was released, we could break things off. Quietly.”

“But?” he asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. His eyes scanned her face for any sign of emotion. He expected a woman who’d broken things off with her fiancé to show hurt or anger. Instead, there was only weariness.

“We went to a party, separately, and Mark was either drunk or high, whatever.” She rubbed her forehead in frustration. “He was usually either or both lately. Anyway, he tried to convince me to take him back and I brushed him off. Then later in the evening he didn’t like it when I talked to someone at the bar. He caused quite the scene.”

“He hit you?” JT asked, already knowing the answer. He hadn’t seen the video yet, but by the look in her eyes, he knew.

“Yes. I had never expected anything like that. Especially in public.”

Behind her eyes, he noticed the emotions appear. Leaning closer, he reached out and touched her hand as it rested on Bo’s head, which was leaning on her knee as she talked.

“He hurt you.” It was a statement and when their eyes locked, he watched her relax slightly.

“Physically. Emotionally, no.”

“Being embarrassed in public is hurtful.” He moved closer as their hands locked. “What did you do?”

“Do?” Her eyes were locked on their hands.

“Tell me he spent the night in a cell.” He said.

“No.” She shook her head. “I… left the party and went home. I haven’t taken his calls since.”

“That’s it?” He stood up and began to pace in front of the fireplace.

“What did you expect? I’d call the police and have him locked up? He’s Mark Rayes. He’d be out before the ink on his fingers dried.”

“So, you just left and no one called the cops?”

She shrugged and looked down at Bo. His dog watched her as if he understood everything that was going on.

“I woke to a phone call from my agent. He told me there was a video of what Mark had done to me that night. By the time I saw it, there had been close to three million views.” She closed her eyes and he could tell she was embarrassed.

“So you decided to come here?”

She looked up at him and nodded briefly. He could see there was something she wasn’t telling him, but decided not to push her further when he saw the weariness in her eyes.

“Why don’t you head up and get some rest. I’ve got some more writing to get done tonight.” He tucked his hands into his jeans, wishing he could kiss her again.

She stood, suddenly, and Bo jumped up and followed her towards him. She laid her hand gently on his face.

“I’m not sorry I kissed you.” Her chin moved higher. “I’ve thought about it and you for over a year.” Her tongue darted out as she licked her bottom lip. “I came to you because I knew I’d be safe here, away from the limelight.”

“And you are,” he promised.

Her hand dropped and she turned around to go.

“Emma.” She stopped a few feet away and looked back at him. “I’ve thought about you, kissing you, since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

Her smile lit the entire room and made his heart flutter like a damned schoolgirl.

“Goodnight.” She turned and he watched her walk up the stairs with Bo trailing behind her.

“Traitor,” he whispered to his dog’s back. He couldn’t blame the beast. He’d rather be snuggling with Emma then walking through the dark to his office on the far side of the island.

When he opened the back door, the sound of far-off thunder greeted him and he groaned.

“I should have converted the attic into an office,” he mumbled as he made his way in the dark.

The way he figured it, he had about five hours of work to catch up on. There were edits for one of his work-in-progress titles, summaries to write for another book, and he was close to five thousand words in on his new WIP. Everything seemed to be past due.

He’d put a lot of work off to spend time with Emma, but she was worth every minute of lost sleep.

He spent the next three hours trying to stay focused on his work. By the middle of the fourth hour, he gave up and made his way back to the house in the rain.

When the house came into view, he noticed the light was still on in his room. Was Emma still awake?

As he moved closer, his heartbeat stopped completely when a man’s shadow crossed the bedroom window. Someone was in the house with Emma. His entire body went on guard.

He took off at sprint. He hit the pathway and slipped on the slick bricks. His hands took the brunt of the fall as the skin on them ripped open. Still, he was up and running once more with only Emma’s safety in his mind.

When he opened the back door, he started calling out to Emma as he raced through the house.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he barged into the room, just as Emma was dropping the towel that had been wrapped around her.

Emma screamed, then gasped and covered herself quickly. Her hair was soaking wet and he could tell that she’d just come from a shower.

“Are you okay?” he barked out as Emma secured the towel around her body.

“What? Why wouldn’t I be?”

JT scanned the room quickly, then he rushed into his massive walk-in closet and checked every corner. When he came up empty, he went room to room.

“Where’s Bo?” he asked when he made it back to the master bedroom. Emma had pulled on one of his thick robes and was sitting on the edge of the bed, her face a little pale. Her eyes were huge as he stopped directly in front of her.

“I… let him out. He woke me up. I had fallen asleep reading and he was barking. So, I let him out and decided to take a warm shower while I waited for him to do his business. I was just about to let him back in. What’s going on?”

“Did you lock the door after?” he asked.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I was just going to be a minute. Then, I… forgot...”

“Someone was in here,” he said, his eyes still scanning the room for anything out of place.

“What?” Panicked she looked around and then nodded to the pillow as she closed her eyes.

He moved over and with shaking hands, picked up the note.

“GET OUT” was written in large block letters in red ink.

“Someone doesn’t want me here,” she said softly.

* * *

Emma tried to get some rest, but knowing Bo was out in the storm somewhere, alone, bothered her.

JT had left to look for him and had come back empty-handed.

He’d assured her that Bo knew how to take care of himself, but the fact that he hadn’t come running when they had called him told her he was either hurt, drugged, or dead.

Tears ran down her face as she thought of the sweet dog hurt and alone. The room lit up with a flash of lightning, and she jumped and closed her eyes tighter.

She wanted to bury her head under the blankets, but all those old horror movies kept playing over in her head. If she buried her head, she wouldn’t be able to see the man standing over her bed with the big knife as it was ready to plunge down into her.

She opened her eyes and scanned the empty room for the hundredth time since JT had left her to get some sleep.

Sitting up, she crossed her arms over her knees and bit her bottom lip. There was no way she was going to get any sleep.

Taking the thick green robe from the edge of the bed, she wrapped it around herself and tiptoed across the room.

She stood just outside the door and whispered for JT. He had decided to sleep in the room just down the hallway, even though it meant he had to sleep on an air mattress.

“JT?” she called a little louder this time. Silence. The entire house was quiet. She could only hear the sound of rain on the roof and thunder in the distance.

Tiptoeing down the hall, she pushed open the door to his room.

“JT?”

“Hmm?” he finally replied, causing her to relax slightly.

“I can’t sleep. Can I come in here with you?” she asked. “I’m worried about Bo,” she added as if the dog was the only reason she couldn’t sleep.

“He’ll be fine.” He was silent for a moment. “This air mattress isn’t big enough for the two of us.”

The room lit up with lighting, and she jumped when the loud thunder sounded almost immediately.

“I’ll come in with you,” JT said, rolling off the mattress and standing quickly.

He moved slowly towards her. He was wearing only a black pair of boxer briefs, which clung to him. Her eyes moved directly to the bulge. It was too dark in the room to see everything, but she took her time appreciating the view of his tan skin as he walked across the room.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked softly.

“I’m not sleeping alone. Not when I know someone was in there earlier.” She shivered visibly as she thought about it.

JT’s hands moved up to her shoulders. The move was meant to soothe, but she felt her skin heat. Their eyes locked and she moved without thinking. Her mouth was on his, her hands on his shoulders, enjoying the feel of his skin under her fingers.

He pushed her against the doorframe and held her body against the wall with his own.

Her breathing was labored as he ran his mouth down her neck, his hands roaming over her body.

The cream-colored silk top and shorts she’d worn to bed were suddenly too much as her skin heated. She felt his erection press against her and moaned as his hands moved under her top and found her. He dipped his head further. When his mouth found her nipple, she cried out with pleasure as he pushed her shorts off her hips. He dipped a finger into her as his mouth covered the other nipple and he used his tongue to suck the tip.

She rolled her head back and bit her bottom lip as he used his fingers and mouth to please her.

“My god,” he said as he moved lower. When he laid his tongue on her, she cried out again and her fingers gripped his hair. Her hips jerked along with his movements.

He hoisted her left leg over his shoulder, opening her, exposing her further.

Her back rested on the wall as his mouth and fingers sent her over the edge so fast, she didn’t have time to brace herself.

“My god,” he said again softly. He’d moved up and buried his face in her hair. His body pinned hers to the wall, stopping her from sliding to the floor.

“I…” She shook her head and took a deep breath.

Just then, they both heard a bark. Her eyes met his. She yanked her shorts up, and they both rushed down the stairs together.

When JT opened the back door, Bo rushed in and gave his thick fur a quick shake, sending rainwater over the both of them.

She laughed as she knelt down and hugged the wet dog.

“He’s okay.” She closed her eyes and hugged the dog, who was trying to French kiss her back.

Suddenly, the room was flooded with light as JT turned on the kitchen light.

“He looks that way.” JT ran his hands over his dog. “We’ll go in and get him checked out tomorrow after Brock swings by to pick up the note, just in case. I’d hate to think he’d been poisoned again. Here.” JT got up and grabbed a large brown towel from the laundry room. “Let’s dry him off, then maybe you can get some sleep.”

She helped JT dry the dog off and knew instantly what he’d been talking about with Bo’s wet dog smell.

“How can a dog smell this bad after spending hours in the rain?” She tossed a wet towel into the washing machine.

“It’s his gift.” JT chuckled. “I’ve used every known shampoo, nothing seems to work.”

“Have you thought of giving him a haircut?” She ran her hands over Bo’s thick fur.

“Labs don’t need haircuts.”

“Some do. It might help.”

“I’m willing to give it a try. When we take him in tomorrow, I’ll have them groom him.”

They followed Bo back upstairs. He jumped up on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

“Looks like your protector is back,” JT said, nodding into the room. “Think you can get a few hours of sleep now?”

She nodded, holding in the sigh of frustration that Bo would by lying next to her instead of JT.

“Night.” JT moved away.

“JT?” She didn’t know what caused her to call after him, only that she didn’t want him to leave just yet. He looked at her and their eyes locked, but she couldn’t think of anything to say to keep him there. Or, better yet, get him into her bed. Finally, she gave up. “Goodnight.”

JT nodded quickly, then disappeared into his room.

Emma closed the door behind her and crawled into bed next to Bo. Bo glanced up at her as she reached for the light and turned it off.

“You had better have a good reason for leaving us scared all night.” She snuggled next to the dog. The wet smell was almost completely gone now.

Bo rolled over so she could pet his stomach. She obliged and fell asleep holding him in her arms.