“You took a tumble saving my dog,” he reminded me as he gently led me across the street, checking at his side to make sure Shadow was following. “How does that make you a klutz?”

It wasn’t what was making me a klutz. It was his intensity and open attraction to me.

An attraction I reluctantly returned.

“You can let go of my arm,” I said, giving it a gentle pull.

His fingers flexed for a second before he released me. Shadow squeezed between our legs and started to trot in front of us. “Stay close,” Roane said, and Shadow’s ears twitched at the command.

“I don’t normally throw myself out in front of cars to save dogs,” I confessed, not wanting some idea that I was a champion of animals to give this guy the wrong impression of me. If he was feeling misguided hero worship, I wanted to nip it in the bud so I could go back to swearing off men. “Shadow is the spitting image of my dog Duke. I had him until he was nine years old and he . . . well, he came into my life as a puppy, just when I needed him. I was fifteen when he died.” That tight ache in my chest flared anytime I thought of Duke. I cleared my throat. “I saw Shadow shoot right past me, and for a second I could have sworn . . .”

“It was Duke,” Roane concluded, his deep voice gentle.

Avoiding his gaze, which I somehow knew would be just as soft as his tone, I nodded. “I’ve never had a dog since. Great Danes take up a lot of room, cost a lot to house and feed, and my mom didn’t want another one, especially with me going off to college. Then I moved to the city and I didn’t feel it was right to keep a dog when I worked all the time.” Why was I telling a stranger all of this?

“But you miss the company?” Roane asked.

Pulling the key to the store out of my pocket, I nodded. “I guess.”

We came to a stop outside the bookshop.

“Shadow, heel,” Roane called to the dog. Thankfully, Shadow heeded him this time and trotted back to sit at his side.

I reached out to pet him. “He’s so gorgeous,” I said, smiling as Shadow bussed into my touch. Thankfully, like Duke, his ears hadn’t been cropped and were floppy and silky and beautiful.

“Lucky bastard,” Roane muttered.

Surprised, I glanced up to see he was staring at Shadow with genuine envy.

I dropped my hand and stepped toward the store. “Well, thank you for seeing me to the store . . .”