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I wanted to brush off her question because it sounded like an interview, but she seemed genuinely interested. “Daisy. At this point, she might as well be my dog.”

Allie giggled. “Oh yeah? Big tough guy like you with such a tiny little thing?”

I shrugged. “It’s not all that weird. She and I have bonded more than I have with the other dogs. Sadly, the older she gets, the less likely she’ll be adopted. I couldn’t stand the idea of seeing her spend the rest of her days in these kennels.”

Was it just me, or was Allie moving closer? I didn’t mind, but she was so close that I could smell whatever product was in her hair. It was sweet, making me want to lean in and run my nose through it.

Against my better judgment, I grabbed her hand leading her back out to the front office. It wasn’t that I didn’t like being around the dogs. They were my entire world, but I wanted to be alone with Allie. I couldn’t do that with twenty sets of eyes watching us.

My heart beat wildly in my chest because for the first time in my adult life, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Even though I’d only spoken to Allie a few times, there was something magnetic about the woman. Every cell in my body craved her mouth against mine. To know what she felt like under my hands. My only fear was that I’d take things too fast, I’d scare her away.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

I let go of her hand and chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know if I want to say it out loud.”

Her smile was warm and gentle. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Truman. I’m not here to judge you.”

And maybe it was the stupidest thing I’d done in my entire life, but I couldn’t hold myself back any longer. Allie had been a temptation. I was the lost dog being drawn in by the person presenting me with a juicy piece of bacon, and I didn’t know if I could completely trust them yet.

My fingers threaded through the silky-smooth strands of her blonde hair as I pulled Allie in close. She gasped in surprise, but the sound was cut off the moment I pressed my lips to hers.

When she didn’t immediately respond, alarm bells went off in my head. I knew I was coming on too strong. She’d been sweet, but that didn’t mean she wanted to make out with me, or more than that. God, I wanted to do so much more. The fantasy from the other night came flooding to the surface no matter how much I wanted to shove it down.

When we broke apart, Allie’s eyes were wide.

Shit, I needed to fix this. I’d potentially just fucked up a good thing by reading all the signs wrong.

“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you with that—”

But I didn’t get to finish because Allie looped her arms around my neck pulling me back in for another kiss. Her soft pink lips were yielding this time, two perfect little pillows that parted for my tongue.

I swooped into her mouth as I grabbed hold of her hips. If I didn’t, I was bound to fall over. The girl had a way of knocking me off balance, the kiss was sending me spiraling in a way I couldn’t fathom. I was a planet knocked out of orbit.

When we pulled apart again, Allie’s eyes were closed, and lips parted as she panted softly.

“Wow,” was all she said.

It was hard not to laugh.

“Is that a good wow or a bad one?”

She laughed at the question. “Good. Very good.” The moment she leaned forward to kiss me again, as painful as it was, I backed away. If this were to go any further, we needed to talk things out.

“Allie?” I asked.

She nibbled at her bottom lip, that was now swollen from our kisses, and it was near impossible not to go right back to what we’d started.

“Yeah?”

I sighed, running my hand through the little bit of hair I had on the top of my head. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. Normally? I’m not a relationship guy.”

Something shuttered behind her eyes, but that was why we needed to talk this out. Allie needed to know what the expectation was. For the first time in my life, I wanted something a little more, but only if she was okay with it. “I’m not saying that’s what I want with you, a one and done night in bed...” God, this was so awkward to talk about with someone I barely knew. But I needed to say it. Allie seemed to relax the more I kept talking.

But before I could continue again, she held up her hand to stop me.

“Truman, I think I know what you’re trying to say, but I need you to know something about me. It’s ruined some relationships in the past.”

I couldn’t imagine anything being wrong with this gorgeous woman in front of me. In just our few interactions, she’d shown just how big of a heart she had. She’d proven that I could trust her by not taking pictures of the dogs today for her platform. It would have been all too easy for her to sneak some behind my back. Yet, I didn’t feel the need to check her phone. Her love for the dogs was so genuine.