They both hated him.

Harrison sat on the front lawn of the Vasquez sisters’ home, staring at a puppy that weighed about as much as a pineapple. Sophie had left the two of them alone with instructions for him to spend some quality time getting to know his new best friend.

How he was supposed to do that, she hadn’t said. She’d just unleashed the animal and promised to return to check on them in ten minutes.

She couldn’t get away from me fast enough, he thought grimly. And he had no one to blame for it but himself. As usual, he’d let his frustrations get the better of him, shown his true colors before he could realize the effect it might have on the innocent woman standing no more than a few feet away from him.

Frustration was, unfortunately, his nemesis. No matter how many times he tried to act like a normal person, he always got buried under his own tongue. He tried to control himself, he really did, but the second that mounting feeling of helplessness took over, all bets were off.

And so, it seemed, was Sophie.

“Okay, Bubbles,” he said, trying out the dog’s name. Those perky syllables felt strange on his tongue, but they were no stranger than the golden-haired puffball eyeing him with a mixture of interest and caution. “I understand you’ve got a nose like no other. Show me what you can do with it.”

Bubbles just blinked at him.

“Okay, I hear you. New experiences can be scary—so can new people.” He thumbed a finger back toward the house. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m just as terrified of Sophie as she is of me. Probably more.”

He took it as a good sign that Bubbles tilted her head at him in a look of inquiry. Maybe this puppy wasn’t such a bad choice after all. There was wisdom behind those raisin eyes.

“Oh, I know it’s ridiculous, believe me,” he said. “She doesn’t seem capable of squishing a gnat. That’s the problem. She…”

He frowned. He wasn’t sure what Sophie did, except make him feel like a large, ungainly lump. It wasn’t a new feeling for him, but this was the first time he wanted to be more approachable. Scaring pretty, defenseless women wasn’t a thing a man liked to boast of.

“And who can blame her? Have you ever met anyone as bad at this as me?” He rolled onto his stomach and put his head closer to the puppy. The puppy, seeming to agree with him, barked nervously and backed away.