She didn’t have to finish the question, as Harrison was already scooping up his puppy with a water bottle in one hand. He poured a cascade in front of the animal’s mouth, allowing her to lap greedily until the initial pangs of her thirst wore away.

“You are never going to do that to me again, do you understand, young lady? I’ve been out of my mind since I woke up this morning.” He glanced anxiously over at Sophie. “She’s okay. Is she okay? She looks okay.”

“Everything looks intact, anyway,” she replied. When that answer won her nothing but a sharp look of rebuke, she added, “I’m not a vet, Harrison. I’m just a dog trainer. And a pretty good one, if I do say so myself.”

“The devil you are.” Harrison’s oath carried zero malice—a thing that was obvious while he continued to allow Bubbles to wriggle and lick rapturously at his face. “You trained this animal to believe I can’t live without you. I always knew there was something wrong with the way you conducted your business.”

“I beg your pardon. Puppy Promise is a one-of-a-kind organization that you were lucky to find. You think we find last-minute placements and training programs for just anyone?”

He took a step closer. “Oscar made you do it.”

She took a step closer too. “No way. Oscar might be the boss of you, but he isn’t in charge of me. No one is.”

“Well, obviously. I’ve known that since day one. The only thing I can’t understand is why you let anyone tell you otherwise.” He drew a long breath. “I’m really sorry, Sophie—for what I said the other day about you not being strong, about you not knowing what it’s like to struggle. I was… Well, shit. I was hurting, and I was scared of losing you. I still am, to be honest. I can’t think of anything worse.”

A sob caught in her throat, preventing her from speech.

“I know why the people in your life are overprotective, and it’s not because they think you’re weak.” He lifted a hand toward her, but when she still couldn’t move to return the gesture, he dropped it. “It’s because they can’t imagine a world without you in it.”

“Oh, Harrison,” she said feebly. It was everything and nothing—and for some reason, her inability to put her feelings into words only caused Harrison to open up even more.

“You saved this dog today,” he said. “You saved me. You called on the power of every godforsaken person under the sun and made them come to my aid. Believe me when I say that they wouldn’t have bothered for anyone else.”

That got Sophie to set her jaw. “Bullshit.”