RainaReed was family, and Lizzie was sure going to be soon enough, and the least I could do was make sure that they stayed a big part of my life. Even if I knew that they were going to be spending most of the time that I was there picking my brains about Harry and trying to squeeze out every last detail of what had been happening between us.“So good to see you!” Lizzie exclaimed as soon as she opened the door and saw me standing there. She leaned over the threshold and gave me a huge hug, and I couldn’t help but smile. She might have been way too effusive for me, but she had a good heart, and her warmth was as real as they came.“Good to see you too,” I agreed, and I headed into their lavish apartment and toward the dining table, which was already steaming with food.Where I might have opted for takeout, they had a chef who came around to prepare most of their meals for them, and I knew that this was going to be delicious.Reed was happy to see me and actually let the issue of seein
HarryI flopped down into the seat at my desk and looked over the ridiculously comprehensive range of ideas that all my employees had delivered to me since I had first brought up donating to the charity. The wad of paper that held all their plans was about an inch thick, and I was going to have a lot to get through for sure.But that was good. Because it meant that I had hit on something that they were all passionate about. It was so much easier to get people motivated when you were dealing with something that they actually wanted to get involved with, and I knew that the dog shelter had been the perfect choice in that regard.I had polled them all for ideas, and they had replied with so much that I hardly knew where to start—volunteering, expanding, helping with day-to-day admin work. In fact, people seemed to be tripping over themselves to help out, probably because this was the only charity they would get to work with through the company that allowed them to hang out with dogs all
Harry“I have this gala coming up, and I’ve picked a charity to donate to,” I explained to George. “The shelter that we got Tink from.”“Good idea,” he agreed. “Pet stuff always looks good. There’s nobody out there who’s going to get mad at the thought of a big chunk of cash going toward some needy dogs.”“And I really like the shelter,” I replied. “I think they do a lot of great work, but they’re really struggling to make ends meet, and—”“Good to hear you so committed to something like that,” he said. “Can’t remember the last time you were so passionate about something that wasn’t work-related.”I knew that he was hinting in the direction of Raina, but I wasn’t going to let him do anything more than hint because the last thing I needed was someone else sticking their nose into that and trying to figure out what they thought of the whole deal. I knew that I liked her, knew that I wanted to support her and the shelter no matter what, but I would need a hot second to get used to the t
Raina“So, you want me to go ahead and book you that appointment?” Yara asked, and I found myself hesitating. I knew that I should have come out and said yes. But in truth, I was having second thoughts.Yara was calling about getting me set up with a hair appointment so I could look my best for the gala, but I was freaking out about this whole thing. It was one thing to run around town and try on dresses, and it was quite another to actually figure out how I was going to look on the night.“They’re quick, and they do great work,” she explained to me gently.I chewed my lip. I wished I could just come out and tell her why I was so nervous, but I knew that she wasn’t going to take the truth for an answer. I couldn’t imagine Yara ever second-guessing herself, not as long as she had been alive, and she probably wouldn’t even know the meaning of the notion if I tried to explain it to her.“Yeah, sure, that sounds good,” I replied, trying to keep my voice light and bright and failing. “I’ll
RainaHarry answered the phone after a couple of rings, and I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I heard his voice. How was it that just hearing him speak could make everything instantly easier? There had to be some kind of trick to that. A trick that I needed to be able to take in hand for myself.“Hey, what’s up?”“I’m worried about the gala,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I knew that this was hardly the cool, calm, collected version of myself that I wanted to put across to him, but it was hard to care about that when I was freaking out about doing something seriously stupid and making a fool of myself at an event that actually mattered.“What are you worried about?” he asked, his voice instantly slipping into soothing mode.“I’m worried that I’m going to look like an idiot,” I admitted. “I’ve never—I’ve never done anything like this before. I don’t know that I have it in me. What if I...” I trailed off as I tried to search for all the ways that I could mess this up. I
HarryI made sure my tie was straight, pulled on my blazer, and looked at myself in the mirror. I had no idea how I looked. It had been so long since I had gone out to an event like this, I had basically all but forgotten exactly how I was meant to function.I glanced over at Winnie, who gave me the thumbs-up from her spot on the couch, and I had to go ahead and trust that it was all systems go.“You look nice,” she remarked with certainty.I grinned at her. “You sure I won’t get kicked out for looking too sloppy?”“Sure,” she replied, and she nodded as though she was decreeing it so.I was picking Raina up in twenty minutes, but I wanted to make sure that Winnie had been picked up by the friend’s mom she was staying with tonight. Normally, I would have given her to Yara, but Yara was going to be at this thing with her new man.Damn, why was I so nervous already?By the time that I handed Winnie off to the mom who was going to be taking care of her for the rest of the night, I honestl
HarryI spotted Yara at once, on the arm of the man who had to be her new boyfriend. I had to say, it was a little weird to actually see her with someone, given that I was more used to her playing the eternal bachelorette.But she was beaming up at him, laughing at something that he said, and I could tell that she was totally delighted to be there with him. As soon as she caught sight of me and Raina, she waved the two of us over at once, and we made our way toward her.“So good to see you!” Yara said, giving each of us a hug before she introduced us to her man. “This is Michael.”She gazed up at him with slightly flushed cheeks. I would have to tease her about how crazy she was over this guy later, but right now, I was too busy feeling a little hot and bothered about the woman on my arm.“Good to meet you,” Michael said, and I could tell that he was more than a little nervous. I could hardly blame him. After all, I was more than just the best friend. I was the boss, as well, so he ha
RainaAs soon as we had made it out of that gala, I knew just what was on Harry’s mind. Because it was the exact same thing that was on my mind, too.I was surprised we had managed to make it this long without giving in. The way he had looked at me when he had first seen me in this dress, it had been enough to make me want to pull him into my apartment and tell him to forget about anything else that he might have had planned for the evening.But we had gone to the gala, we had played nice, and he’d kept his hand on the small of my back, letting me know that he was eager to find out what I was hiding under there as soon as he got the chance.But as soon as he helped me out of the car outside his house, I knew that he wasn’t interested in holding back for another second. I grinned as he pulled me against him on the steps, running his hands down my body.“God, you look so fucking hot in this dress,” he murmured, and he lowered his mouth to my neck and made me practically swoon. It was ab
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