Spencer snorted. “No, he doesn’t. He thinks I’m a stick-in-the-mud who doesn’t know how to loosen up or have fun. He’s right, too—that’s the worst part. I might have a job and a house and a dog show to call my own, but people have always preferred his company to mine.”

“Not all people,” she corrected him.

With those three simple words, Spencer’s shoulders came down and all the tension seemed to leave him. He turned toward her with a soft, intimate smile that snagged on every heartstring she possessed.

“Thank you,” he said.

She rolled her shoulder in a half shrug, flustered at how easy he made that sound. Like the kiss he’d offered simply because she’d asked for it, his gratitude just was.

“And not just for saying that,” he added as she struggled to come up with a response. “But for listening. You have no idea how good it feels for someone else to know.”

Spencer’s dad waved in their general direction, his gesture indicating that it was Ruby’s turn to go inside and spend time with the puppies. She’d rather have stayed on this side of the window, but Spencer only nodded his encouragement.

That unsettled just as much as all the rest. She was enjoying her time with Spencer’s parents, yes, and it was nice to catch a glimpse of the place—and people—who had created such a worthwhile man, but this was a much more personal look at Spencer’s life than she’d been prepared for.

The truth was, Spencer Wilson was no longer just a brooding, annoying stranger who could command her impulses with a flutter of his eyelashes. He was a genuinely nice man who treated her like a human being, too.

And the biggest problem was that although Ruby was smart enough to realize how dangerous that was, she wasn’t nearly smart enough to do anything about it.

Chapter 13

“If you slide your hand a little further up my leg, you’ll find that I’m wearing a much more interesting pair of underwear today.”

Spencer, whose fingers had been negligently caressing the soft curve of Ruby’s calf, didn’t raise his head. “I can’t. It’s too much work. Why don’t you take them off and show them to me.”

Ruby gave a low chuckle, but that was the extent of her movement. “Are you kidding? If I bend that direction, I’m never getting up again.” She paused. “I could describe them to you, if it helps.”