A big orange head and a smear of drool are at my front door.

“Sahara!” Ozzie yells. “You were supposed to stay in the truck!”

Jenny runs over and grabs Sammy, lifting him up high in her arms.

“Hey! Put me down, Momma! I wanna pway!” He strains toward the floor, but she holds him with an iron grip.

“What is that thing?” she asks, clearly terrified.

I walk over to the door and open it up. “That thing is Sahara, Felix’s new girlfriend.”

The giant dog walks casually into the studio, looking around until she spies Felix licking his privates in front of the meadow background I had up for the family who was just here getting portraits done. Sahara walks over and flops down on the sheet Felix is on, resting her head on her paws.

“Oh my goodness. That’s kind of cute, actually.” Jenny slowly slides Sammy down her leg. “Is it safe?” She looks at Ozzie. “Is it kid friendly?”

“It’s not an it, it’s a she,” I say. “And I would guess she is.” I look at Ozzie for confirmation.

He’s too busy frowning to confirm or deny. I get the impression he’d like to say she’s a child-eating monster, but Sahara would probably just fart and fall asleep in response and make him look silly, so he says nothing. Smart man.

He sighs in defeat. “Come on, Sahara—time to go.”

I grab my camera and walk over to where the dogs are. They’re too cute not to grab a couple shots of while I have the chance. Felix is turning circles in the spot just next to Sahara’s belly, trying to make the perfect doggie bed on the sheet. Once he’s settled, I start pushing the button, making the shutter go off several times.

“Want me to turn on the lights?” Jenny asks.

“Yes.” I’m moving to get a better angle. The expression on Sahara’s face is priceless. She’s in love.

“No. We have to go,” Ozzie says.

“It’ll just take a second,” Jenny says in a hushed tone. “Just wait and see. My sister’s a genius with the camera.”

My cheek and nose are pressed up to the back of my Canon. “I like how you qualified that with the word camera.” A snort escapes me.

“Well, you did pretty terrible in physics. I think to get a solid genius rating, you need to do better than that.”

“That was high school, and I got a C, not an F.” I pull the camera away and change over to another setting before putting the viewfinder to my eye again. “I got an A in college, so let it go already.” She’s never going to let me live down my one bad grade ever.

I look down at my screen and scroll through the last few shots I took. Wow. I could put these in a calendar. They’re definitely going on my website.

“You don’t mind if I use these for ad work, do you, Ozzie?”

He doesn’t answer, but I keep on shooting. The lights come on, and it’s even better. “Oh man. I’m in heaven right now.”

Suddenly a big black thing comes into the frame, and then my autofocus kicks in, and I realize it’s a butt. A very fine butt, actually. I take a couple shots just for the fun of it. Ozzie is bent over, trying to convince his dog it’s time to go.

“Up, Sahara, up.” He pulls on her collar, but she’s not budging.

“Turn around for a second, would you?”

Ozzie stands to argue, and I catch him in the perfect light and get a few shots off before he steps out of the frame.

I pull the camera from my face. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t come here to get photographed, I came here to give you your dog back and escort you home!”

The room goes silent.

“The reluctant knight in shining armor. I like it.” Jenny is grinning from ear to ear.

We both scowl at her. Me, because she’s making it look like I’ve got goo-goo eyes for him or something, and him, I don’t know. Maybe he’s angry he’s still stuck with me.

Jenny moves first. “Anyway, have fun, kids. I have to get Sammy some lunch before he goes all hypoglycemic on me.” She scoops him up—dress, heels, and all—and heads for the door. She grabs her purse on her way out.

“I thought we were having lunch together,” I yell as she exits.

“Better get your escort to take you. I have errands to run. Ciao!”

I’m about to open my mouth to respond to Ozzie’s obvious displeasure over having to rescue me again, but I snap it shut in a hurry when the smell hits me.

“Oh my god.” Grabbing a nearby shirt that Sammy got off the rack of clothing, I push it over my nose.

Ozzie’s nose scrunches up as he realizes what’s happened. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Sahara! What’s gotten into you?”

“If I were to guess, I’d say sausage.” I wink at Ozzie over the shirt.

He tries to stay mad, but he just can’t. His face flushes just the slightest bit, and his expression relaxes. “It’s impossible to stay cool when she does that.”

I punch him playfully in the arm. “Don’t worry about staying cool around me. It’ll take a lot more than a dog fart to scare me off.”

My entire body freezes up as I realize what I’ve just said. To Ozzie. With all his muscles. And his black shirt and tight jeans. Oh. My god.

It’s only when he tips his head back and lets out a huge laugh that I can finally breathe again.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

So this is your place.” Ozzie walks through the foyer just inside my townhouse’s front door and into the living room with an assessing eye. I can’t tell if he likes what he sees or not, his expression neutral. His offer to make sure things were copacetic at my place was too tempting to turn down. I’m going to pretend I said yes because I was worried about my home security and not because I wanted to see him stretch his T-shirt out some more with those muscles of his.

“Yep. Home sweet home.” I pass through the living room and go into the kitchen, pulling out the dog food from one of the upper cabinets and pouring two bowls full—one large and one tiny. Sahara wolfs her portion down in about five seconds and lets out a large burp after as she collapses to the floor. Felix takes a few kibbles, carries them across the kitchen, and eats them in the corner of the room before returning for more.

“What’s he doing?” Ozzie asks, staring at Felix with a bemused expression.

I watch with him, charmed by my baby’s idiosyncrasies. “We call it doggie takeout. Felix never eats at his bowl. He considers it crass.”

Sahara sits up on her haunches and watches Felix go back and forth, back and forth. It’s almost comical the way her head moves like she’s watching a tennis match in slow motion.

Ozzie scans the room behind him. “Anything look out of place?”

It takes a few seconds for his meaning to sink in. “What? Why would it be?” Where before I was entranced by our adorable dogs, now I’m afraid. The events of last night come rushing back to the front of my mind.

He shrugs. “You never know. Just being sure.”

I rest my hand on the counter to keep from falling over. I feel a little dizzy. “Are you suggesting that the person who tried to shoot me could have come here?”

Ozzie leaves the kitchen and moves toward the stairs. “I’m just going to look around if you don’t mind.”

“No, of course. Look all you want.” My mind is racing. I didn’t come home last night, so how would the shooter know where I live? He wouldn’t, right? I don’t have any advertising for my business on my car. I was going to put something on, but then I couldn’t bear to cover up the brilliant red paint. I figured when I got tired of the car a little, I’d put a sign on it. Now I’m glad I didn’t. Anonymity has its benefits, especially when outrunning murderers.

Footsteps sound above my head. “Is everything okay up there?” I yell.

“I guess. No strange men lurking around.”