He smiled at her, and Della’s stomach flipped over at this man who was kind and thoughtful and so damn swoon-worthy. “C’mon,” he said, breaking their eye contact. “She’s apparently housebroken, but we probably should take her out to do her business, then let her explore her new surroundings for a while.”

Betty gave a little bark and leaned in to give Tucker’s face a big lick. Della knew exactly how she felt.

They spent the next half hour not in the way Della thought they would when she’d obsessively imagined tonight. But it was fun watching Betty sniff out her new digs, poking her cute little nose into every crack and corner and barking happily as her paws sunk into grass when they took her outside. She ran excitedly around, sniffing at the ground, and took a particular interest in the gnomes that had been placed among the flower beds.

It may not have been hot and heavy, but it was one of the nicest half hours of Della’s life, which they followed up with another half hour of sitting on the couch, watching Betty run around and around the furniture like the Energizer Bunny. She’d stop every now and then, leaping up onto their laps for a quick lick and a pet before jumping down again for another mad circular dash.

Della laughed at Betty’s seemingly unflagging energy and reveled in Tucker’s gentleness and how tactile he was with the little canine bundle of energy. In fact, just sitting here with him tonight like this was so damn domesticated it started a yearning in her that almost rivaled the desire that had raged last night.

This was what she wanted. Despite what she’d told Tucker about wanting to play the field and never settle down, she did want to share her life with a man. Someone to laugh with and talk with and raise a pet with—maybe even raise kids with. Someone who didn’t have her constantly on edge, someone who respected her, someone with whom she felt safe. Yes, she wanted to travel and go to college and do a bunch of other things with her life, but if she could only have one thing, it would be this.

But it wasn’t an option for her. There were some things she just couldn’t shake from her past. Damage that might never be fixed. And she wasn’t going to burden anyone else with her baggage.

Eventually Betty started to flag, and, after a few minutes of quietly sitting in Della’s lap, she hopped off and headed straight for her basket. Stepping onto the fluffy cushion, she turned around three times, lay down, and promptly fell asleep.

“I think Betty may have a touch of narcolepsy,” Tucker said, his voice low.