Clearing her throat, she cast a look at Harrison’s bare feet and officially started the day. “If you want to hand her over, I’ll set up the morning training while you get dressed,” she said. “Did you two eat?”

He blinked at the sudden shift in the conversation but accepted it with a shrug. “Only half of us. Bubbles has been fed, but I didn’t have time, not with the fire situation.”

“Then I suggest you do that first.”

“Thanks, but I’m fine.” His stance indicated that the topic wasn’t open to negotiation.

And so it begins.

“I have no doubt that you are, but you need to make sure your blood sugar level is as normal as possible before we get started,” she said, her voice clipped. “We have to establish a consistent and stable baseline, or she’ll get confused later on.”

“But I—” he began before stopping himself with a nod. “Okay. You’re the expert. You’re in charge.”

Sophie was so startled by that—me, the expert; me, in charge—that she almost dropped the puppy being placed in her arms. She might have done it too, but Harrison handed over his precious burden with so much trust that she didn’t dare let go. Now that she’d accepted the challenge he’d offered, she was beginning to realize the enormity of it.

He hadn’t just given her his puppy to hold; he’d given her his entire life. His career, his future, his happiness—all of it now depended on her.

She gulped as she watched him turn on his heel and trot easily down the stairs. He paused just long enough to cast a glance over his shoulder, a slightly mocking lift to one of his heavy brows.

“You coming?” he asked.

She nodded, unwilling—and unable—to commit the folly of speech. She was on her way, all right. She was in this now.

She had to push. She had to fight.

But most important, she had to win.

Chapter 6

“I need you to tell me everything you know about driving a man crazy.”

Sophie slid into the vinyl booth of her favorite diner, pleased but not surprised to find a generous slice of cherry pie with a scoop of ice cream melting into an ocean around it. If she knew her sisters, they’d already asked the waitress to bring her a Cobb salad afterward. For now, dessert came first.

Childhood habits were hard to break that way. When every day’s survival was questionable, eating pie before vegetables was just common sense.

“Why, Sophie, you beautiful little hussy. I thought you’d never ask.” Dawn swiped a bite of pie and licked her fork clean. “Step one is all about the wardrobe. What you want to do in the early days is expose just one body part at a time. Pick something that’s normally innocent, say, a shoulder—”