If She Dares

“You seem preoccupied,” Wren noted. “We were having a good time, then I lost you somewhere. Are you worried about getting to class on time?”

“No, I still have a few minutes.” Riley used her straw to fish an ice cube from her empty drink. It felt too warm in the restaurant. “I was just realizing I haven’t told you about my new neighbor. Jack Reed.” There. No guilty secrets.

Leaning back, Wren raised an eyebrow. “You were staring into space and have flushed cheeks because you were thinking about a guy? He must be hot.”

Scorching. God, those mesmerizing eyes. “He’s attractive.”

“And is he single?”

“No idea.” That was a jarring thought. Truthfully, she didn’t know if he was seeing anyone. But the way he’d looked at Riley, the flirtatious drawl in his voice when he teased her, made her want to believe he was unattached. What if she was wrong?

She ground her teeth together. “You know what? I probably should get going, make sure I have enough time to change and stretch before class starts.” She was in the mood to knock a sparring partner to the ground.

“So I asked a couple of questions about the new guy in your building and suddenly you have to bail?”

Riley forced a chuckle as she slid the straps of her gym bag onto her shoulder. “I’ve been taking classes for months. There’s nothing sudden about this.”

“Uh-huh.”

Deciding to ignore Wren’s irritating smirk, Riley stood and thanked her sister again for the bracelet. It was a genuinely thoughtful gift.

“Dinner last week, lunch today,” Wren mused as Riley pulled out cash for the bill. “Nice change of pace. For a while, you were so—”

“Busy?” It sounded better than cowardly or closed off.

“Anyway, it’s great to see you more often.”

“What can I say? I missed my pain-in-the-ass kid sister.”

“Maybe we should make plans for the weekend, too. I could bring over takeout and we can stream a movie.” Her smile was sly. “Maybe I’ll even get to meet your new neighbor.”

“Did I already mention the part about you being a pain in the ass?”

Wren grinned. “At least say you’ll visit my new job and buy lots of stuff from me so I look good to my bosses.”

“Yes to the visit if it will keep you from stalking my building, but you’ll need to lower your expectations from lots.” With that, she waved and quickly departed before Wren talked her into spending hundreds of dollars on unnecessary lingerie purchases.

Riley could drive to her class, but the nearest public parking for the gym was a couple of blocks past it, not any closer than where she was already parked, so she looked at the walk as her warmup. Her small umbrella shielded her from the worst of the persistent rain. The weather was midway between drizzle and downpour, with lightning and high winds predicted for tonight. What were the chances of two power outages in one week? She’d put fresh batteries in both her flashlights and bought a set of candles, just in case. Would it be the neighborly thing to do to knock on Jack’s door and ask if he needed a couple?

Jack Reed by candlelight. Now there was a thought more sinful than the billion-calorie chocolate cake she and Wren had shared.

Considering that Riley barely knew him—and their longest conversation had taken place in the dark—it was astonishingly easy to picture him. Jack smiling down at her, the muted light flickering over those muscular arms...

The pulse of female appreciation that shot through her was a welcome surprise. While she had no intention of throwing herself at a near stranger, it was reassuring to know she could still experience a little harmless lust. Baby steps. Maybe someday she’d even go on a date again, like a regular person.

Though she was grateful that Jack inspired hope of eventually emerging from her self-imposed isolation cocoon, she’d already dwelled on him enough for one day. She was dangerously close to obsessing like a lovelorn teenager. Plus, if she was distracted, her sparring partner would kick her butt in hand-to-hand exercises. Banishing her hot new neighbor from her thoughts, Riley reached for the door to the studio.

Class went by quickly, and she relished the workout. After the long hours she spent staring at lines of code, it was invigorating to use an entirely different part of her brain, honing her instincts and reflexes. She did notice, however, that when the instructor asked for her help demonstrating a new move, Riley was more conscious of herself physically than she had been during last week’s session. She had a renewed awareness of her body, as if she were relearning how to be comfortable in her skin.

As she walked back to where she’d parked her car, she didn’t even use the umbrella. She just let the rain slide over her, recalling an afternoon in her teens when she’d twirled in circles across her driveway during a downpour while her boyfriend laughingly chided from the covered porch that she was nuts. The fact that it was currently daylight helped her enjoy the moment, but she still jumped when thunder shook the ground.

Another thunderclap followed a few minutes later, this time accompanied by a sharp, pitiful cry. She stopped in her tracks, glancing around, not even sure what exactly she was looking for. A baby? The sound came again, drawing her gaze downward. Huddled beneath a nearby public mailbox was a whimpering puppy. Obviously, Riley wasn’t the only one who’d been startled by the thunder.

Brushing damp bangs out of her eyes, she knelt to get a better look at the little guy. “Hey, there,” she said in a soft voice. She didn’t see a collar. The puppy was ridiculously adorable, if soggy. Its overall color was a creamy light tan, though its ears were darker. A patch of white was visible on its chest with a mask of matching white around the most soulful brown eyes Riley had ever seen. She’d be surprised if the ball of fur even weighed five pounds. Thunder rumbled once more and instead of retreating farther beneath its makeshift shelter, the dog scurried to her, as if seeking protection.

“It’s okay, buddy. I won’t let anything happen to you.” At the sound of her voice, the dog’s tail wagged, and Riley’s heart melted. She picked up the puppy and stood, glancing around. No one seemed to be calling for a lost dog. The nearest business on the street, a hair salon, had already closed for the day. Meanwhile, clouds that looked downright ominous were rolling in.

She tucked the shaking canine between her jacket and workout top, cradling it against her body heat. “Looks like you’re coming with me.”

What are you going to do with a puppy, genius? She didn’t know yet, but no way in hell was she leaving it here at a street intersection. She could always come back later and post flyers around the area.

Keeping up a soft, one-sided conversation meant to keep the puppy calm, she hastened to her car, glad for the remote control on her key ring that made it easy to unlock the door without a free hand. Once she had the passenger door open, she unzipped her gym bag and dumped her clothes on the floor. She needed the empty bag for a makeshift pet carrier. Hopefully, the mesh sides that would allow the puppy to see her would keep him from freaking out.

Him? Curious, she held up the puppy. “Ah, not a boy, then.” She scratched behind the dog’s ears. “Us girls have to stick together, right?” She set the gym bag on the seat and gently deposited her new friend inside. After zipping the bag, she put the seat belt through the bag’s straps to keep the puppy safely anchored in case Riley had to make any sudden stops.

By the time Riley got in on her side of the car, the puppy was whining and pawing at the side of the bag.

“Don’t worry.” Riley put her key in the ignition. “We’ll be home soon.” Home. Where no pets were allowed. Maybe I can change that if I get voted onto the tenant board.

Perhaps. But the election was a month away and the new board didn’t even take office until the first of January. No way she could sneak a puppy in and out of the building for regular walks from now until the new year without anyone noticing.

“Cute little thing like you probably has an owner, right?” The dog, though fretful, didn’t seem malnourished or filthy. “I just have to keep you out of the storm for tonight, then we’ll see about finding out if you belong to anyone.”

The puppy made another noise, but this one was more warble than whimper, as if she was just trying to keep up her end of the conversation.

As Riley backed out of her parking spot, she resisted the urge to think up names for the adorable canine. Stick to the plan. Put a roof over her head for tonight, then find her owner. Of course, even a single night was risky. If she got busted with a dog after the tenant board had specifically refused her pet request, there would be hell to pay.

An unexpected grin tugged at Riley’s lips. This was rebellious and utterly spontaneous, the most she’d felt like herself in months—not counting her teasing exchange with Jack in the elevator. You weren’t going to think about him anymore today.

Right. Good policy...even if it was proving difficult to maintain.

* * *

JACK LEANED BACK in the driver seat, glad to be home but so drained it took him a moment to summon the energy to climb out of his car. He’d worked several crime scenes today, but the last one had been emotionally grueling. The only witness to the shooting had been a neighborhood kid. Jack had tried to patiently coax details from the shaken child while mentally cursing the unfairness of life.

Childhood shouldn’t include murder. It should be all ice cream cones and...amusement parks or something. Granted, his own upbringing had included more criminal activity than family vacations. That kid today must have really got to him, because usually Jack was more of a realist. He knew he couldn’t magically make the world fair—but he could help take down the bastards who were messing it up for everyone else. Bolstered by the hope that his composites would generate hits and ultimately lead to stopping more bad guys, he opened his door.

A few spaces down, another car was pulling in, and he recognized it as the same blue compact Riley had driven away in on Saturday. His mood unexpectedly lightened. He should ask her if she’d taken any steps to challenging Mrs. Tyler’s Reign of Tenant Terror. He headed in Riley’s direction, ignoring the rain that pelted him. It had been raining all damn month—what were a few more drops at this point?

Before he reached her, Riley got out of her car, darted around to the passenger side and shrugged out of her jacket. Beneath it was an athletic top that momentarily stopped him in his tracks. He’d wondered previously if she wore dark clothes to avoid notice. The fitted racerback tank was black, with the exception of some turquoise piping, but with a silhouette like hers and beautifully sculpted shoulders, she might as well have been wearing neon. He drank in the sight of her.

Plenty of his art classes had included study of the human form—not to mention his ongoing, informal study of women in more intimate settings—so why did he feel poleaxed at the sight of Riley in an athletic top?

She was such a sexy combination of strength and delicate femininity. Strength she’s going to use to kick your ass if she catches you leering. He ducked his gaze, but she was too busy fidgeting with something to have noticed him yet. As he got closer, he realized she was positioning her jacket through the straps of a bag, draping it as if to protect the bag’s contents from the rain.

“Hey,” he greeted her. “Need help with something?”

She glanced up, looking momentarily startled by his presence, then breaking into a wide grin. “Nah, I think I got this. But—”