New neighbors Andi and Hayden don't get off to the best start - and neither do their dogs. When the hostility between their pets, Bart and Rosie, leads to noisy barking, Andi and Hayden must solve their pet's tension or risk eviction from their apar...
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Tiny eyes burn into me—brownish-green ones, narrow and crowded with goop.
"Hayden." I shift on the couch. "She's doing it again."
Rosie stands on the opposite end of Hayden's sofa, growling. Her mouth is hitched, showcasing pointy, murderous teeth, and aggressive snarls slip through the cracks. Her eyes shoot directly at me like she's trying to light me on fire. Which, with the way her little flaming irises dig themselves into my soul, might actually happen.
"Rosie." Hayden sets down a fork to finish setting the table and steps toward the couch. "Be nice." He effortlessly hooks Rosie under his arm. Her legs dangle as Hayden moves her to the adjacent lounge chair for the second time since I arrived, which was only five minutes ago.
A bright window shines behind Rosie's new chair. It roars with streams of sunlight, gleaming across Hayden's tan living room carpet. Paige, Hayden's mom, whistles through the kitchen, pans and pots clinking together through the sizzle on the stove.
Paige has asked me to list all the foods I don't like, asked if I'd like the thermostat changed, and asked if I'd like some lemon water while she makes lunch. I like her. She's polite, driven, and welcoming.
Rosie, on the other hand, hasn't been welcoming. Even from her separate chair, she still stares like she's ready to attack at a moment's notice.
It takes everything in me not to glare back.
You're supposed to be easing the tension, Andi. Don't glare at her.
And you're an adult. You don't need beef with a dog.
I clear my throat, pulling myself together and swinging my eyes away.
"Hayden." I tap the spot beside me on the sofa, slanting my head toward it. "Why don't you sit." I widen my eyes and raise my brows, my silent message of get your ass over here and show your dog you like me reverberating between us.
I'm here for a productive use of the afternoon. As much as I don't like that this is the way, Priya said to show the dogs we get along.
Hayden smiles. "Alright." With a light chuckle, he steps to the couch and settles beside me. The couch dips to accommodate his strong body, crackling under the leather. The body heat scorches off him in blistering waves, the musky scent of wilderness right beside it. Our sweatpant-clad thighs touch, but just faintly, and he rests his arms on each muscular spread leg.
Pricks of fire ignite across my skin, just like they did back at my place when he planted his large hand over my shoulder. But it's not him that's causing it. That's impossible since he's not my type. It's just because it's been way too long since I've been touched by a man, and it shows. Internally, it does. Outwardly? I'm cool as a cucumber.
"Okay." Through a sharp clearance of my throat, I readjust. Still seated on the edge of the couch with my right leg over my left, I twist to sit face-to-face with Hayden.
