Arilyn decided it wasn’t a good time to list the few assets of her neighbor. “Well, they were the main reason nothing happened. We’re keeping the relationship hidden because of the anger management class.”

Her friends shared a pointed look. Kate gentled her voice. “Babe, you have to listen to us. Stone is not asshole Yoga Man. You can’t begin a relationship trying to hide things. Did you talk about what you both want?”

“Yes. He clearly said it will be an affair for however long we were both happy.”

Kennedy frowned. “Did he say he wanted to keep it private? Or is that your idea?”

“No, he said he wanted to date and take me out. I’m the one who doesn’t want my two other students from anger management to know. It would be awkward.”

Kate beamed. “Good, so he doesn’t want to sneak around. I want you to invite him to the wedding.”

Her mouth fell open. “What? No, that’s impossible; you already have the seating charts and food orders. Absolutely not.”

Kate stabbed a finger in the air. “I’m the bride, and I want him there. This will give us an opportunity to meet with him. I won’t let you go down that road again, A. No more secretive affairs that only end up hurting you. This guy is gonna have to deal with your friends or he’s toast.”

Kennedy jumped in. “Agreed. It’ll be a good test. A guy who goes to a friend’s wedding is brave. Confident. He’s not afraid because he has nothing to hide.”

A rush of emotions flooded her body. The idea of having a real date to accompany her in public thrilled her. She’d gotten so used to being alone while her friends brought their partners. How would it feel to finally belong? To be happy with the man by her side and show him off?

But they weren’t serious. Not like that. They’d have sex, and date, but when things got too complicated, he’d check out. Funny, she’d always believed Jacob was honest about his limitations and that made him a better person. Now she realized it was just a convenient excuse. How much better to claim she had been warned when he eventually hurt her?

Was Stone the same? Was his honesty and up-front deal to her all disguised to make his exit clean and stress free?

Maybe inviting him to the wedding would be a good test. If he declined, she’d know he’d never intended to be anything more than a roll in the hay. If he accepted?

Well, she didn’t know.

Arilyn pressed on the energy points on her wrist to open up the chakras. Stress was beginning to block up her channels, and that wouldn’t be a good start to her day. “I don’t know, Kate. Why is dating so damn confusing?”

“Because we’re dating men,” Kennedy offered. “Invite him. You’re at the bridal table anyway, we’ll all have dates, and there’s room to squeeze one more in.”

“But it’s in a few days!”

“Even better. Spring it on him before he has too much time to analyze.”

“Please, A,” Kate urged. “Just ask him.”

Arilyn nibbled on her lip. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“Good.” Kate jumped up from the chair. “I can’t believe on Saturday I’ll be married. You’re all set to take Robert Friday?”

Arilyn nodded. “I have the house all set up for him. Poppy’s going to walk him in the afternoon. I have the vet on call, and I promise to text you twice a day with updates. You just need to enjoy St. Lucia.”

Kate smiled. “Thanks. You guys are the best.” She began to tear up, and Kennedy groaned, tugging her hand toward the door.

“No more crying, I can’t take it anymore. We need to save ourselves for the ultimate breakdown on the wedding day or we’ll have nothing left.”

Kate sniffed. “You’re right. Thanks for being the bitch in the relationship, Ken.”

“Welcome.”

Arilyn laughed as her friends disappeared. Now all she had to do was take their advice and ask Stone Petty to the wedding.

Her heart beat so hard it almost exploded out of her chest. Half of her prayed he’d just beg off with a polite excuse and they’d never mention it again.

But it was the other half that hoped he’d say yes that disturbed her the most.

LATER THAT DAY, SHE was still trying to get the courage up to ask him after anger management class. Ugh. Like a prom date after the bell rang. She was humiliated.

She walked through Animals Alive and checked on her crew. They came to the shelter for a session once a week to walk and socialize the dogs. Luther and Eli seemed enthusiastic about returning, but Stone seemed stressed. She wondered if he was still leery about being around the dogs, even though he had done well with Pinky last week.

Anthony was giving them a lecture on the horses, so she decided to allow Stone to move to the carriage house. It was hard dealing with a dog bite from childhood and not fair for her to push him. She paused at the door and studied them. They worked hard, and she’d seen some huge leaps with Luther and Eli regarding their anger. With half the course behind them, the next three weeks would consist of drilling in the proper techniques they’d been learning.

Her gaze greedily took in Stone. The familiar Yankees cap was perched on his head. Today, his wardrobe consisted of a long-sleeved blue T-shirt proclaiming I GOT YOUR BACK. The kicker was the stick figure sketched out with no back. Total guy humor. His jeans were so tight and worn, Arilyn wondered if he’d had them for the past decade and refused to get rid of them. His five-o’clock shadow mixed with his goatee and added to that almost dangerous, criminal look he did so well.

Now she knew how his beard scratched against her skin. How soft his lips were, and how his experienced tongue drove into her mouth. She knew the hard strength of his thighs anchoring her to the wall, and the delicious grace of those fingers when he skimmed her bare skin. She knew that his ass, which was perfectly on display right now in those jeans, was as tight and firm as it looked.

She wanted to know so much more.

“Arilyn?”

She refocused. Her students were all gazing at her, waiting for an answer when she hadn’t heard Anthony’s question. “Sorry?”

Stone gave her a slow, smug smile, as if he knew she’d been caught staring at his ass. She fought a blush. “Everyone’s ready. Luther wants to go to the horse stalls today, so I’ll oversee him if you’d like.”

“Great. Stone, you can follow them. Eli, why don’t you go ahead and check which dogs need working.”

Anthony motioned Stone and Luther toward the door. “I’ll catch up with you two in a minute. Can I talk to you for a minute, A?”

“Sure.” She turned her back on Stone’s ferocious frown, wondering what had suddenly pissed him off, and grabbed some dog treats. “What’s up?”

“Pinky.”

Her stomach tightened. She’d been hoping the dog would be better, but it was a slow process. Her breakdowns around the other dogs in the kennel made it difficult to rehabilitate her, especially with so little space. Anthony pushed his fingers through his hair with frustration. “I gotta be honest. I have the word out to other shelters to take her in, but so far, no offers. I lost my behaviorist, and we’re looking to rehire. I can’t keep her too much longer. Can you foster her until things calm down?”

Arilyn bit her lip. “I can’t. I’m watching my friend’s dog for the next two weeks and my place is too small to keep them separated. What about the Trumans? Can they take her?”

Anthony shook his head. “Nope, they already took three in. My fosters are filled up, and I’m out of room. I can squeeze a few more days, but then I have to put her somewhere.”

She dug her fingers into her neck to try to ease away the muscle ache. What was she going to do? They couldn’t advertise too publicly because she’d literally stolen her. She racked her brain for candidates, but not one came up. “Let me work on this. Maybe I can find someone to get her off the grid for a while until we come up with a solution.”