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I’m wildly turned on.
He runs his tongue right across my mouth and for a moment, it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced…
And then I realize he has terrible breath.
I blink awake to find myself staring into a small whiskered face and soulful brown eyes.
I like dogs, but not when I’m woken up from a sexy dream by one staring at me two inches away from my face. Startled, I shriek.
That frightens the dog, who jerks back and half jumps, half falls off the little side table by the lounger. I sit up and that’s when I realize the poor thing only has three legs.
He scrambles to his three feet and looks at me reproachfully.
“Sorry, little guy. You surprised me,” I tell him. I reach out to let him sniff my hand, but for a second time, I’m startled, this time by a man’s voice.
“Are you okay?”
I look up to see Chief Wainwright hurrying toward me from the next-door house. He’s not wearing a shirt, and my God, that man’s muscles have muscles on top of them.
For a weird moment, I wonder if I’m still dreaming because, between the three-legged dog and the shirtless firefighter, this is all pretty surreal.
I blink hard, and nope. Not dreaming.
Chief Wainwright is beside me, scooping up the little dog. “I’m really sorry,” he says, and to his credit, he sounds sincerely apologetic. “I’d never have let him out on his own if I’d known you were scared of dogs.”
I’ve been woken up out of a nap, French-kissed by a Jack Russell terrier, and now my sworn enemy thinks I’m scared of a dog that could fit in my glove compartment.
Also, Chief Wainright is half naked, I’m mostly naked, I was totally right about the sex appeal of muscular men holding adorable animals, and I’m still a little hazy from the nap.
I may not be dreaming, but I’m definitely disoriented.
“What the ever-loving hell.” I surreptitiously rub my face with one hand in case I have drool, either my own or the dog’s, on my face.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” The Chief sounds genuinely concerned, which just pisses me off even more.
“No, he didn’t hurt me,” I snap. “And I’m not scared of him. He just… startled me.”
I don’t sound completely convincing.
“Are you sure?” He still looks worried, though I think there might be a hint of humor in his brown eyes. “Because people in North Falls probably heard that scream.”
I have a streak of claustrophobia, a healthy respect for spiders, and I think clowns are creepy AF, but I am not afraid of Jack Russell terriers. I gather what little dignity I have left and scramble gracelessly to my feet, praying that my bikini doesn’t slip in the process. For whatever reason, the Chief is wearing shoes and shorts but no shirt, and in my bare feet, I feel very short next to him.
And very, very aware of how much bare skin is showing between the two of us.
I plant my hands on my hips. “What on earth are you and your little dog doing in my backyard?”
He chuckles. “You sounded like the witch in The Wizard of Oz. ‘You and your little dog, too! Heh, heh, heh!’” He cackles like a witch.
Seriously, who needs drugs when you have a life like mine? I give him a hard stare in response.
He clears his throat self-consciously, but his eyes are definitely twinkling. “I guess it’s our yard now. I just moved in next door.”
It takes a moment for this to sink in. “Are you serious?”
“‘Fraid so,” he replies. “Are you the one who did the flower beds? They look great. I don’t mind mowing the lawn if—”
“Back up. When did you move in?” I would have noticed if there’d been a car in the driveway when I got home. “And why didn’t anyone tell me?”
