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She jumped when she heard the doorbell ring, and her dog whined.

Darn it.

She’d left Xena all snuggled up in her safety bed and here she was nosing her way into the bathroom.

“Xena, it’s going to be okay.”

Dagnabbit!

She should have told Matt to knock on the door, quietly. Anytime she called for maintenance to come to her house, she coaxed Xena into her closet and had her lie down in the comfy bed Lainey had bought for her. There was water and food and chew toys. She was debating whether to put a TV in there, but maintenance didn’t come over there all that often.

Lainey crouched down and cupped the black and white border collie’s muzzle and petted her head. Xena relaxed into her touch and some of her trembling stopped. Lainey prayed Matt wouldn’t ring the bell again. She prayed he was patient.

“Everything’s good.” She stroked the silky hair of her friend’s back, then Lainey stood up. “Follow me, okay?”

Xena had no problem walking as she followed Lainey down the hallway to her bedroom. She’d been surprised that having three legs wasn’t a problem for the little girl, when she’d put a leash around her and took her from the kill shelter to her car.

The doorbell rang again after Lainey got Xena settled. She gave her the little Elsa doll that was her favorite chew toy and got up to answer the door. On the way, she stopped and looked in the bathroom mirror.

“Drat.” She still hadn’t put on her earrings. And they were pretty. Maybe he could have a cookie while she put in her earrings and put on her lip gloss.

Yay. A plan.

She scooped up her garnet earrings and hustled out of the bathroom and down the hall, through her living room to the door. She stopped before unlocking the door and took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

There. She was ready. She smiled, then opened the door.

Oh no.

He was wearing a white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and some kind of slacks, but who cared? The white against his bronze throat was…

Lainey looked up and up and took in his square jaw and pronounced cheekbones and then was caught up in dark brown amused eyes.

Holy heck, had he realized I was staring?

Say something.

“You look beautiful.”

Lainey slapped her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d said that. He grinned at her. She needed to invite him in, but her hand was still over her mouth.

I’m such an idiot.

“Come on inside,” she mumbled as she took her hand away from her mouth and opened the door wider. She glanced up at him through her lashes and saw his mouth was fighting a smile.

“I think you’re the beautiful one,” he whispered.

She tried not to frown, but as she assessed his face, she saw nothing but truth, so she smiled back at him, relieved.

“Do we have time for you to have a cookie while I put on my earrings?” she asked. Good, she sounded like an adult.

“Yeah, we have time, but I don’t need a cookie,” he chuckled.

Lainey blushed. She totally sounded like she was offering a five-year-old a cookie. She looked toward the kitchen where his treats were waiting.

“You don’t understand. I promised to bake you cookies. So, I’ve got a container of alfajores for you to take home and I just thought⁠—”

“Alfajores?”