“I’m not sure if we can determine a clear winner from that,” Spencer said in a voice that was a little too neutral to be believable. “I didn’t get even remotely close to one hundred and forty, but you broke just about every rule we had to make sure of it.”

She laughed and reached for her shirt—not because she was feeling particularly modest but because she needed to get herself under wraps before she forced him over the line again. “Maybe you should ask the dogs what they think.” She nodded toward the sliding glass door, where two pairs of expectant eyes were watching them. Neither Caesar nor Wheezy looked particularly impressed. “They witnessed the whole thing.”

Spencer laughed—a deep, rumbling sound that made her glad her shirt was on and her jeans buttoned back up.

“What?” she asked. “Why is that so funny?”

“We’re not in a seedy motel, but I think that counts as exhibitionism, don’t you? This was my very first porcupine.”

Ruby’s mouth fell open. He was doing it. He was saying the word.

“Say that again.”

“What?” He quirked a smile. “Porcupine?”

She leaped to her feet and drew closer. For reasons she didn’t entirely understand, she was careful not to step over the line that separated the two sides of the room. “One more time.”

He shook his head—and, for the first time since he’d walked into the house, appeared slightly abashed. “I don’t think I can right now.”

“Right now?” she echoed. That phrase implied that he could another time—that this experience between them was the start of something more. What that something might be, she had no idea, but her every limb quaked at the thought. “Does that mean you want me to be on call for the next time you say it?”

Both his smile and his sheepishness deepened. Ruby was having a difficult time telling which of those two responses was affecting her more, but she was leaning toward the sheepishness. It was such a charming, natural, human response to what they’d just shared.

“That won’t be anything new for you, will it?” he asked.

She halted, suddenly unsure what he was getting at—or, worse, exactly aware of what he was getting at—when he clarified with one disastrous sentence.

“I always thought that being on call was tough for a veterinarian, but it’s probably nothing on what you have to put up with.”