He lifted a hand toward her cheek, holding it just above her skin until she turned into it.

“And I still think you’re an evil dragon of a woman who trains sweet, innocent puppies to be her minions.”

She choked on a laugh. “Why not? There have been worse crimes committed in the name of love.”

His palm tensed on her cheek, his fingers pressing into her skin and pulling her close. It was impossible to wrap her arms around him and squeeze while he had Bubbles between them, so she did the next best thing and licked her lips. The edge of her tongue grazed the side of his thumb, drawing forth his deep groan.

“I do love you,” he said, his breath growing ragged. “More than I thought possible, more than I knew people could love.”

She smiled against the press of his thumb. “I always knew I could love you this much. I was just afraid you wouldn’t want me to.”

His deep chuckle was the only sound she needed for her heart to swell and her body to start throbbing with desire. Both of these sensations—of fullness and emptiness, of the entire world expanding within her—were nothing compared to the words that left his mouth next.

“Will you help me?” he asked, bringing his mouth down to hers. “When I stumble? If I fall?”

She accepted his kiss readily, prepared to stand on the gusty side of the highway with a puppy wedged between them forever if it meant she could always feel like this.

“Of course I will,” she said and laughed against his lips. “If I can train a broken, skittish puppy to love a grouch like you, how hard could it possibly be to train a man?”

Epilogue

“This one’s for you, and this one’s for you, and this one’s for you.” Harrison tossed the paper-wrapped bundles at the people standing nearest him in the backyard. The billowing smoke that surrounded them came from a summer barbecue rather than the forest fires that had kept him from home for the past two weeks, which made for a nice change.

It was also nice to see so many friendly, relaxed faces. The backyard was still a pit of half-finished projects and Sophie’s never-ending battle with the raccoon who refused to heed her eviction notice, but no one seemed to care. Sophie’s sisters were there, which was a large part of the carefree ambiance, but his parents were in attendance too.

Dawn accepted her bundle greedily and started tearing in right away. Lila was a little more restrained, but she still shrugged and daintily began undoing the tape around the edges. His mom, however, just stared at hers.