“She weighs three pounds,” he said as Cuddles began to roll on the grass. “How much trouble can she really get into given a little freedom?”

Heather knew far too well the price of freedom. Not just for dogs who felt lost and afraid in a boundaryless world, but for women who fell for charming men like Zach Sullivan. Men who wanted what they wanted, when they wanted it, without any regard for anyone else—and got it.

“Freedom is overrated,” she told him in a hard voice. When he raised an eyebrow at her tone, she moderated it before saying, “Don’t forget, she’s recently been taken away from her mother and littermates and she has no clue whatsoever how to navigate our world. Just like this morning at your garage, anything could happen to her. It’s your job to watch over her, and to teach her how to stay safe.”

“This isn’t just a business for you,” he noted. “You really care about dogs, don’t you?”

Surprised that he had any insight whatsoever into her, she put her hand on Atlas’s back and said, “Someone has to.”

Zach looked down at her big dog. “What happened to him?”

Atlas’s ears perked up when he realized they were talking about him.

Once more, she was stunned by how closely Zach was paying attention to her subtle cues, rather than being too busy admiring his reflection in her window to notice the world around him.

“I found Atlas at a puppy mill.”

“A puppy mill?”

“It’s where unscrupulous breeders crank out as many pedigreed dogs as they can sell for big bucks. His left ear flopped to the side just enough that no one wanted to buy him. Once they realized that, they stopped feeding him or letting him out of his crate.”

Zach got down on the grass. “Rough start, huh?” Atlas not only let the big man rub his ears, but he practically started purring. “Lucky you, getting to go home with Heather.”

She rolled her eyes, positively thrilled that Zach had capped off his too-sweet reaction to Atlas’s story with a blatantly sexual quip. She could tell that he genuinely liked her dog, and she would have been more afraid of it getting to her if he hadn’t been so busy trolling out the overused—and underwhelming—pickup lines.

“Okay, let’s get started. I’ll show both you and Cuddles the end goal with Atlas, and then we’ll begin the process of teaching her how to obey your commands. Sound good?”

He stood back up and nodded. “Sure. I’m great at giving commands.”

Intent on ignoring the sensual undertones he seemed to slide beneath practically every word out of his mouth, she said, “There are five basic commands we’ll want Cuddles to understand. Come, sit, stay, down, and heel. But for the first day, the most important is come.”

Thankfully he didn’t jump on any double entendres with that command as she picked up a dog toy and threw it across the lawn. “Atlas, fetch.”

Her dog loped off with the puppy hot on its heels, almost as if they didn’t want to be separated for even a second. When he was halfway to the toy, she called out, “Atlas, come!”

He skidded on his huge paws and did a quick about-face, all but hurling himself toward her, the toy instantly forgotten. Still, he was careful not to step on the puppy.

“Good boy.”

As she gave him the signal to sit and then held out a treat, Cuddles finally reached the toy, falling onto it and causing a faint squeak. Atlas’s ears went up, but he didn’t move from where he was sitting in front of her.

“Your turn,” she said to Zach, knowing just how badly this was going to go with such a rambunctious puppy and a temporary owner whom she very much doubted was taking any of this seriously. She handed him a tiny doggie treat. “If she comes, give her this.”

He raised his eyebrows at her use of the word if. Without her telling him what to do, he knelt on the grass, held his arms out wide and said in a firm voice, “Cuddles, come!”

The rambunctious puppy looked up from the oversized plastic toy she’d been trying to gnaw on. As if she’d been merely trying to find a way to kill time before Zach needed her to come be with him, she flew across the grass.

“Good girl,” he said as he stroked her fur and fed her the small dog treat. He looked up at Heather. “How was that?”

Grudgingly, she admitted, “Good.”

Really good.

And the worst part of it all was that she knew exactly why the puppy had come running. Zach wasn’t just a magnet for women.

It seemed he was able to exert a near gravitational pull over all living things.

She refused to let herself be charmed, though. Especially when every second around Zach forced her to grab on tighter to her self-control to keep from smiling at one of his lines...or being overly impressed at how good he was with both his puppy and Atlas.

“Walk with me to the other side of the grass and we’ll do it again.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Zach Sullivan demonstrated a surprising affinity for commanding the attention of the puppy. She knew she should be happy about the fact that he was a natural, rather than letting it grate on her. And yet, instead of praising Zach, she gathered up the puppy and kissed its soft nose.

“Great work, Cuddles. Did you have fun in class today?”

The dog licked her, then wriggled until she let her back down to continue tormenting a happily bothered Atlas.

“We’re done already?” Zach sounded disappointed.

“Puppies tire easily.” When he pointedly looked down at Cuddles, who was now trying to dig a hole to China in the grass, she clarified, “What I mean is that they don’t have very long attention spans. Fifteen minutes is long enough for them to learn a little more each day without either of you getting frustrated. In any case, today was a great start. And hopefully, if she does manage to run off again, now you’ll be able to get her to come back on your own.”

“We’re both really glad you were there to find her in the bushes this morning.” He looked down at Heather’s legs and she almost shivered as she remembered the feel of his big, warm hands on her skin. “How are your knees?”

“They’re fine,” she said briskly, wanting to turn his attention back to his dog...not the fact that she was way too aware of how good he smelled, or that even as she worked to keep her gaze from straying to his big, strong hands, she was getting lost in his far-too-mesmerizing eyes. “Tonight is going to be really important. You should set up a small room or section of a room to be hers for the two weeks. Put paper on the floor and her food, water bowls, and bed in one corner. Put her toys throughout the area. And whatever you do, unless she’s sleeping, I don’t recommend leaving her alone outside of the gated area for more than fifteen minutes.”