RainaI leaned up against my truck and waited, a little nervousness flooding around my system. I didn’t know how this was going to go, but I knew this was going to be a make-or-break date, and I wanted to do everything I could to ensure that it ran as smoothly as it possibly could.I hadn’t been sure about suggesting something like this to him. I had thought that he might shoot me down in favor of something more traditional. But he had agreed as soon as I had suggested it—as long as he could bring Winnie along with him, of course. I told him that the more hands we had on deck, the better, and I had been able to hear his smile even from the other end of the line.I was picking them up in my truck, and it looked a little out of place outside the nice house that they stayed in. The truck seriously needed an upgrade, though I was in no rush to get one. I had had her for years now, and it would have felt odd carrying out my job in anything else.I smiled and waved them down as soon as I sa
Raina“Does it hurt them?” Winnie asked curiously about me vaccinating the dogs.I shook my head. “Only for a second,” I replied. “And it makes sure that they can’t get sick from other illnesses, right? Those would hurt them so much more.”Marjorie had called in Harry’s muscles to help her with cleaning up around the shelter, and he had agreed at once. Honestly, it was such a relief to know that he wasn’t uptight about any of this.I had been ready to make excuses for him and his upbringing, in case he got all strange about the thought of taking care of animals like this, but he dove in like he had been doing this all his life.He came by every now and then to check on the two of us, and he seemed more and more tired every single time he did.“Marjorie doesn’t get volunteers around here very often,” I teased him. “Can you tell?”“Yeah, I think I figured it out,” he said, panting as he caught his breath. He had whipped off his jacket, and I could see some of his muscle glistening with
HarryAs soon as I got to work, I noticed something out of place on my desk, a giant envelope with a large gold trim around the edge, with my name written upon it in flashy text. I picked it up, flipped it over in my hands, and furrowed my brow as I tried to figure out what this was.Tearing it open, I grinned widely as soon as I saw what was on the inside. It was an invitation. An invitation to the biggest charity ball of the year, Portland’s most enormous bash for the rich and famous. And it looked like I had been invited.I scanned the thick parchment in front of me and couldn’t help but wonder just how much it had cost for them to put this amount of effort into something that was meant to be charitable, but I swiftly dismissed that. I was one of six local celebrities who had been asked to come along and feature, and I got to choose a local charity that the money would go toward.And I didn’t even have to think twice about where I wanted it to go.I headed through to the breakroom
Harry“A proposal?” she replied, and I realized how that must have sounded to her.“No, no, not that kind,” I assured her. “But I have an invitation to a big charity event. It’s in a few weeks’ time, and I’m going to need to come up with a date so I don’t look like a total lonely loser.”“Oh, you do flatter me,” she said with a laugh. “And let me guess. This is your way of asking that I come along as the date?”“If you’d be up for it,” I replied. “It might not be your thing, but they’re usually pretty fun. Good food, free drinks, and you get to laugh at all the snooty people pretending they actually give to charity.”“Yeah, sounds fun,” she agreed, but in truth, she sounded a little nervous.“And I want you to know that I’m requesting that a portion of the money raised goes to the shelter,” I assured her. I could almost hear her grin from the other end of the line when she heard that come out of my mouth.”“You mean that?” she asked.“I mean that,” I promised her. “I wouldn’t be bothe
RainaI scanned my gaze back and forth over the people in the crowd in front of me. Was she amongst them? I couldn’t tell. Harry had told me to look out for a pixie-cut blonde with green eyes, and I couldn’t see anyone fitting that description.Maybe I was just too nervous to take in what was in front of me in a serious way. I was so nervous about the thought of meeting the woman he classed as his best friend, so nervous that I was going to do or say something really stupid that would give my lack of class away to her.A hand landed on my shoulder, and I practically jumped out of my skin. I turned around, half-expecting to see a security guard who had noticed how strangely I had been acting and wanted to check just what I was doing around here. But instead, I found myself looking at the woman who just had to be Yara.“Hey,” Yara said with a smile. “Sorry to sneak up on you like that. You’re Raina, right?”“Yeah, that’s me,” I replied. “And you must be Yara?”“So I’m told,” she replied
RainaI chose some dresses that I was sure would look awesome on Yara’s willowy frame, and soon, the day turned into a genuinely fun shopping trip for the two of us. She seemed to loosen up as time went by, and I wondered if she had been as nervous as I was about doing this.I had been freaking out at the thought of hanging with Harry’s best friend. His niece was one thing, but Yara was a grown-ass adult, and if she took a dislike to me, then there wasn’t much I could do about that.But she had a light, easy way about her, a brightness that made everything run a little smoother, and her confidence and outgoing attitude made it easy for me to just tag along and go with what she knew.I was glad to have a guide through this side of the lifestyle because I didn’t want to make a fool of myself when I was out and about with Harry. I was sure it was going to happen, one way or another, but the least I could do was take steps to try and put it off as long as possible.Eventually, and in what
HarryI left work with Tink in the backseat and headed over to pick up Winnie from school. I had a lot to take care of today, and I wanted to make sure that I stayed on top of every moment of it.Winnie rolled into the backseat of the car, petted Tink hello, and then turned her attention to me.“Is it still okay for Julie to come around tonight?” she asked.I nodded at her at once. “Of course it is,” I promised her. “I just need to stop off and pick up some food first, okay? What time are her parents dropping her off?”“At five,” she replied, and she laid her head down next to Tink and nuzzled her nose against his. He snuffled at her happily, and I smiled at the two of them in the mirror. They were the perfect pair, the two of them, and I knew that getting him had been one of the best things I had ever done for Winnie.I dropped the two of them off at home, ordered a pizza, and headed out to pick it up. The pizza place was just around the corner so I wasn’t stressed about leaving them
Harry“I missed you,” she murmured, and she was still smiling when I pulled back.“I missed you too,” I agreed. “Did you have a good time with Yara?”“Yeah, I really did, actually,” she replied. “I was worried that she might be too... I don’t know, too cool for me or something, but she seems really nice.”“Oh, she can put on that front when she’s around clients, but I know that she’s a giant goof at heart,” I assured her. “You guys find a dress?”“Yeah, and I think you’re going to love it,” she told me with a flirtatious smile.I couldn’t wait to see her in it. I couldn’t wait to take her out of it, either.“I’m sure you’re going to look incredible,” I told her, and I kissed her again, just because I could.Her body sank against mine as though this was some sort of relief, and I wondered how much she had been thinking about me these last few days. And if it even came close to how much I had been thinking about her.Before long, Julie had arrived, and she and Winnie were clattering aro
HarryI hadn’t known until I’d met Raina how much I was hiding from, but now that I could see it, it made my heart ache to think about everything that I had been missing. I thought I had been protecting myself, but in reality, it had just been isolation.Yara had seen that. I was pretty sure, in fact, that she had seen that before I had. I had been ducking and diving from the truth, and she had seen through me, seen me for what I was, seen all the pain I had been carrying with me all this time. And that was why she had set me up on a date.It was crazy, really, thinking that all of this had started with something that I had been so averse to in the first place. I had pushed back against the very idea of going on that date, sure that it was just going to end with me making a fool of myself and looking like an idiot in the process.Of course, if I had known where all of this was going to lead me, I would have gone back in time and told myself to go with it, that it was going to be bette
Harry“All right, all right, if I could borrow your attention for a moment.” I stood up from the chair I had been sitting on and waved a hand in the air so that I could draw the attention of my staff and friends around me.Yara had done a hell of a job putting all of this together. It had only been a couple of weeks ago that I had brought up the idea of the party to her, and she had sprung into full-force action at once, running off this way and that to make sure everything got dealt with as best she could manage it.She told me she was just happy to finally have some kind of party she could organize—and said I could do with throwing a few more like it, actually, though I decided it was for the best that I ignored that little comment. I had been so busy these last few months, I couldn’t imagine finding any more time in my packed-out schedule for fun little gatherings like this.It had helped, of course, that George had been willing to put up his house and grounds to hold the party. We
RainaHe wrapped his arms around me and pushed into me deep, filling me all the way up to the hilt, taking me like there was nothing in the world he would rather have been doing in that moment. I sank my nails into his back and let my body sink into the sheets below me, the softness absorbing me, at odds with his hardness.He didn’t hold back. He didn’t seem to see a need to, and I was grateful for it. After everything that had been happening lately, I felt like I needed this connection with him to remind myself where this all came from.Not that he was so good in bed that I would have gone through anything for him—though, that was a part of it—but it was a raw thing that existed between just us. Nobody could take it away from us, no matter how much they might have wanted to. This was ours and only ours, and we had made it together, and that meant nothing could change it.I could already feel myself getting close. It was the feel of his breath on my neck that did it for me, his essent
RainaI had no idea why he was so eager for me to cancel on Reed that morning, but as soon as I had heard the tone in his voice, I’d known that it wasn’t up for debate. Harry had a damn good reason to want to see me, and I certainly wasn’t going to argue with it.As soon as he opened the door to his place, I knew what was running through his head. I grinned as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply, like he was making the very most of the fact that I was here.“Thanks for coming,” he murmured, and he pushed the door shut behind me.“You going to make it worth my while?” I replied playfully.He scooped me off the ground and into his arms. I burst out laughing and hung on to him as he carried me up the stairs and toward the bedroom.He tossed me down on the bed, and it didn’t take long before our clothes went flying. I was wearing the scrubs that I would have to take into the office soon enough, so hardly my sexiest look, but he didn’t seem to care much.He stripped me off like
Harry“I was thinking more along the lines of a party than a bonus,” I replied to Yara. “Dogs allowed, of course.”“Well, when you put it like that…” She laughed. “Where were you thinking?”I scanned my brain for a moment and then landed on the perfect place.“Let me get in touch with George,” I replied. “I bet he’d love to have an excuse to do up his mansion.”“You really think he’d be willing to hand all that over for a company party?” she asked.I nodded. “You’d be surprised at how mellow he can be,” I replied. “Besides, think of all the women he’ll get to flirt with. It’ll be a dream come true for him.”“I guess so,” she agreed, shaking her head fondly at the thought. “You give him a call, and I’ll see what else I can pull in, all right? But I’m sure everyone would appreciate the chance to have some fun. Especially if our dogs are allowed to be there too.”I texted George as soon as she was gone, and he replied with an almost instant affirmation that promised me use of the house w
HarryI reached under the table and patted Tink where he was asleep at my feet. He might not have known it, but he was the reason that all of this weekend had been such a huge success.Without him, I would never have come across the shelter, and without that, I wouldn’t have been able to put together the awesome event that we had thrown the day before. It had been hectic as hell, but totally worth it, and I was proud to say that we had helped find homes for more than seventy animals over the course of the day.By the time it was over, Winnie was dead asleep in the back of the car with Tink, and George had to be dragged away from Nico, who he just couldn’t get enough of. But the day had been a wild success, and I knew that it wouldn’t be the only one that we had with the shelter.But for now, I was back at work, and I had to focus on catching up on everything that I had missed the last few weeks. Fuck, it had been so busy, I had hardly had time to remember that I so much as had a job.
Raina“Thank you for getting all of this set up,” I told Harry. “You have no idea how much this is going to help get people to start taking notice of the shelter.”“Well, it’s what you deserve,” he replied. “You’ve worked so hard here for so long. I wanted to do what I could to make it easier on you.”I kissed him again. “You know, you’re way sweeter than you have any right to be,” I murmured.He grinned. “Is that an insult or a compliment? I can’t tell.”“You decide,” I replied, and it was right then that I saw Rita and her son coming through the door. She had promised to put in an appearance, and she beamed as soon as she saw me.“Oh, how’s my favorite baby?” I greeted him with a coo, and I came over to hold him in my arms for just a moment.Rita handed him over to me at once, apparently glad to have a chance to put him down, if only for a moment. “Oh my goodness, I think I’m in a lot of danger being here,” she remarked as Marjorie emerged from the back room with a couple of lively
Raina“All right, do you have all the forms ready?” I asked Marjorie as the two of us practically sprinted around the shelter, trying to get everything ready for the adopt-a-thon that was meant to be happening today.She nodded. “I think so,” she replied, but she was clearly nervous.I put my hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” I soothed her. “Everything’s going to be fine. Everyone who’s coming today has already been vetted, you remember? So anyone who goes home with a pet, they’re going to be a good home for them.”“I know that,” Marjorie said. “I’m just... I don’t know if I’m ready to say goodbye to all these little guys after all this time.”“Don’t get all misty on me now,” I warned her. “We have to make space for other animals, remember? I want to make sure that we get as many of these guys off to new homes as we can. Think how good it’ll be to have the space so that you don’t have to worry about turning down anyone who needs a home, right?”“Right,” she agreed, and she nodded and tappe
Harry“I had my lawyer draw up these agreements,” she explained.Michael lifted his head from the papers that he had been going over. He nodded, looking satisfied with what he had seen.“Everything seems like it’s in order to me,” he remarked. “Harry, if you want to take a little more time to go over these and think about the decision, we can hang on to them for you—”“No, I’m ready,” I replied. I was dead certain. Nothing was going to change my mind. Nothing at all. I was happier than I’d been in such a long time. We had the house, I had Raina, and now, it looked like I was going to have my precious, perfect son on top of all of it. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Not one little thing.“Thank you for this, Allison,” I said. “Thank you for trusting me with him.”“Thank you for letting us into your life after all this time,” she replied. “I know it’s more than I deserve. I know you’re being kinder than you should ever be with me—”“You never have to think like that,” I told he