Although she hadn’t planned on it, she’d ended up sleeping over last night. It hadn’t made sense to head back to her aunt’s at midnight, then turn around and drive back to the shelter this morning. Gabe had done nothing but welcome this next step, especially when she made it a point to let Samson in the room after they’d exhausted themselves with a few rounds of intercourse that topped out as their best yet. “I don’t mind cuddling with you so Samson can have his usual spot,” she’d said, sliding under the sheets next to him after coming out of the bathroom.

After enjoying bachelor life so long, he was surprised by how easy it was to welcome in this new phase. It was too early to say it aloud, but as far as Gabe was concerned, she could sleep over indefinitely. In addition to getting to lose himself inside her as the first rays of sunlight filtered through the blinds in the east window, there’d been the intimacy of showering together, then scrounging through his picked-over pantry contents to assemble a breakfast of the last of the oatmeal, some stale Honey Nut Cheerios, and a smoothie made from a very ripe banana and a bag of blueberries she’d found in the bottom of the freezer. Tomorrow, he had every intention of doing some serious restocking.

When he’d left for his office at a quarter to eight, she’d headed out to the park with Samson. Her shift at the shelter hadn’t started till ten o’clock, and she’d be here through three today.

He’d gotten a glimpse of her taking out one of the dogs awhile ago but had stuck to the business at hand. In addition to the new cat and her kittens, he’d done physicals on the six new dogs that had come in this week. Now that he’d finished up for the day, he figured he wouldn’t be skirting any duties by hanging out with her for a while. With no animals in critical condition staying overnight, he didn’t need to head back to the office today.

After a quick scope of the kennel area without finding her, Gabe headed through the back door and outside under the mostly sunny midday skies. He spotted her long, red hair right away. Her back was to him, and she was a few hundred feet away in the new training pen behind the play area. Tess was out back as well, supervising two Labs in the nearby play area.

Even from where he stood, he could tell the Labs had some energy to dispense. They were chasing each other with enough exuberance that he heard the impact when they crashed.