Emily, well versed in his tactics, giggled obligingly. The sound was followed by a low, throaty chuckle that almost caused him to drop the phone.

That laugh, composed of equal parts phone-sex operator and chain-smoking screen goddess, was the final seal in a devastating turn of events.

This whole thing should have been a gift from heaven—in fact, it was a gift from heaven—this opportunity to match Emily with a service dog hand-selected and trained specifically for her. Pendred syndrome, the inner-ear disorder she’d been born with, not only impacted her balance and thyroid, but it also placed her in the moderate-to-severe hearing loss range. Cochlear implants helped quite a bit, as did lip reading and the occasional use of sign language, but there was a limit to what science could do for her.

Ford had done his best to teach his daughter to navigate a world where sound wasn’t always a reliable source of information, but his best had a tendency to fall short of its goal. Emily was bright, hilarious, and everything he had in this world. She was also terrified of anything even a little bit outside her comfort zone.

So, yes. A service dog was the ideal next step in helping her build her confidence. That was why he’d been prepared for six weeks of hard work. He was ready for the late nights of puppy training and cleanup. He’d even been willing to don a suit and tie and smile at the appropriate benefactors who made all this possible.

But no one had told him about Lila Vasquez.

Not about how gracefully she moved or how perfectly she’d be able to match his steps in the waltz. Not that she was a woman of perfect proportions, the slender line of her waist leading to enticing curves above and below. Definitely not that the sound of her laughter would cause him to wish, for the first time in his life, that he had more to offer a woman than a charming smile and the ability to braid the shit out of a little girl’s hair.

His equilibrium was offset enough that he committed to the lie, taking his fake phone call into the next room. He paused at the threshold to what looked like a bathroom, waiting to see what Lila would do next.

“Where are the puppies?” Emily asked.

“In the kennel attached to the back of the house. Do you want to meet them?”

Even though his back was to the pair, he could practically feel Emily’s jaw drop. “All of them?”

“You can meet all of them, but you can’t take all of them home. Other people need them, too, which means you can only choose one.”