“Because he knew an intruder was inside,” I said pointedly. “He was guarding his property. Doing his job.” A bit of a stretch, considering the little minx had been consorting perfectly happily with said intruder under his bedcovers.
The man’s raised eyebrows conveyed the same argument, but thankfully, he let it go. “As I said—” He was clearly choosing his words carefully. “—Ziggy’sscratching and barking woke me up. I was hoping to be gone by daylight, in which case you would never have found me, and I am sorry about that. In the same vein, I didn’t want Ziggy attracting attention to my... predicament.” He gave a wry smile that wasn’t at all charmingoradorable. “I brought him inside simply to keep him quiet while I got dressed, but I got distracted and started patting him, and the next thing I know, you’re calling for him and it’s too late.” He opened his hands. “That’s it.” He stood and pulled his trousers over a pair of black briefs, offering a teasing glimpse of lean hips and a dark happy trail, not that I was paying attention.
When I finally dragged my gaze back up, he was staring at me, his expression unreadable. Busted.Shit.
I cleared my throat and said, “That doesn’t explain why you were in my shed in the first place.”
He gave me a long look, then finished zipping his trousers. “You do remember the storm last night?”
I counted to five. “Don’t get smart with me.”
He sighed and looked up. “I’m not—” He hesitated, then continued. “Look, I got caught up in it, all right? And when I saw the shed, I came inside so that I wouldn’t die of fucking pneumonia.” He glanced down and grimaced at his suit pants. “Christ, these are still soaking wet.”
I followed his gaze and winced. “Are you telling me you were walking through the forest in the middle of all that? There were a million lightning strikes, for fuck’s sake. What is wrong with you?”
I caught a flash of raw emotions in those leonine eyes. Anger, sadness, and something like grief. “It’s a long boring story,” he confessed in a much quieter tone. “Basically, I was looking for aplace to park and wait for the storm to pass over, but it didn’t quite work out that way.”
“Park?” I narrowed my gaze. “So, you drove up here?”
He nodded.
“Then why were you walking in the forest?” I made no attempt to hide my incredulity. “And why this road?”
He seemed to be considering his answer. “The storm caught me on the highway, and the map indicated a car park not far up this road. I suppose I got lost.”
I shook my head. “The car park is about three kilometres back down.”
He shot me a level look. “Yeah, thanks for alerting me to the fact I missed it,” he muttered. “I would never have guessed.”
I bit back a smile, but it was too late.
His eyes narrowed. “Glad you find my problems so amusing.”
I shrugged. “It’s one road with no side roads. The car park is kind of hard to miss.”
“Says you.” His gaze slid off mine, and he added, “Okay, so I may have been deep in the middle of an emotional crisis at the time, which may or may not have clouded my judgement.”
I didn’t even try to hide my smile that time. “Emotional crisis, huh?” I set Ziggy on the floor, and he immediately made a beeline for the stranger, begging to be picked up.
The man caught my eye. “Can I?”
I waved my hand, indicating that it was fine, and Ziggy all but jumped into the guy’s arms. “I believe you were telling me about your emotional crisis.”
He rolled his eyes. “No, I wasn’t. Not really. Telling you I was in one is not the same as telling you what it was about. And are you going to repeat everything I say?”
“And are you going to give me the whole story before or after I call the police?” I countered, watching those gorgeous eyes widen.
“Why the hell would you call the police?” He looked genuinely perplexed.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I countered. “You’re trespassing on my property. You could have been about to kidnap my dog?—”
“Kidnap?” He barked out a laugh and tilted his head to the side as Ziggy licked his neck. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
That dog and I were going to have words later. I caught the man’s gaze and held it. “So, how did you end up in the forest? Where’s your car?”
Ziggy took that as his cue to leave and wriggled to be let down. He raced outside, and a succession of angry squawks pierced the shed wall.
The stranger’s gaze shot sideways. “Are they okay?”
