My phone buzzed in my tote I carried to the gym, and I dug around to find it as Rebel went to curl up on her bed. She didn’t like it when Enzo or I yelled, but she never made a move toward anything resembling violence. She’d growled at Patrick, sensing how unwelcome he was and trying to save me from the stress of it.
“Hello?” I asked, finally finding my phone and putting it to my ear.
“Sadie, this is the vet. Ashleigh?” she said, her tone friendly. I paused for a moment, moving to sit with Rebel in the corner and needing to feel her weight against my side for comfort.
“Hi,” I said.
“Rebel’s bloodwork came back clean. I’ve tracked down her owner’s son. Sadly, her previous owner passed in a car accident a few months ago. Rebel was in the vehicle with her and didn’t want to be separated from the woman. Emergency personnel scared her off, and the family never saw her again.”
“That’s terrible,” I said, staring down at my dog who’d survived so much.
“I explained to them that Sophie is now Rebel, and that she’s landed in a good home with a woman who loves her very much. They are supportive of Rebel remaining with you and just happy to know she landed some place safe.”
“Oh thank God,” I said, tucking my face into my knees. “Thank you.”
“Enjoy that sweet girl, Sadie. I’d like to see her in a few weeks to weigh her and see if we need to adjust her diet.”
“Thanks again,” I said, ending the call and turning my attention to where Enzo watched us. “Rebel’s owner died months ago. She’s mine, free and clear.” Shame filled me, fueled by my knowledge that Rebel’s owner died and all I could think of was how happy it made me to know she was mine.
Enzo moved to fill her food bowl as she pranced along through the house to go eat, seeming happy to be back in her own space where she felt most comfortable. Like she didn’t sleep in a soft bed no matter where she went.
For a stray dog, she'd adapted to being spoiled remarkably well. “I told you it would be fine,” he said, patting her head as I turned for the stairs. The bath called my name, needing the warm water before my muscles hurt so much I wanted to cry. Enzo headed me off, jerking his head toward the back of the house. "Let's go in the pool."
"It's like thirty degrees out, Enzo," I laughed. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like freezing my tits off."
"Heated pools are a thing, you know," he teased, reaching behind him to grab his shirt between his shoulder blades. He pulled it over his head, dropping it into a pile on the floor as his hands went to his belt. The sight of him working the clasp and his olive skin against the black leather only reminded me of what he'd done to me the day before, and my chest flushed with heat. It was almost enough to distract me from the shirt lying on the floor and the desire to pick it up and fold it.
Or put it in a hamper.
"It's killing you, isn't it?" he asked, bending down to pick it up and fold it with an indulgent smile. He set it on one of the stools at the kitchen island. There'd never been a day in my life where my obsessions weren't an annoyance to the few people who knew about them. There was a reason I'd started hiding them. The thought that maybe, just maybe, Enzo could handle them passed through my head. But the thought was fleeting, reality pounding at the door immediately after.
It was cute now, but even if his house was oddly clean, no man wanted to deal with a woman who needed everything just so. Convincing myself that Enzo would be different was just wishful thinking, and frankly giving him too much credit.
My mouth was probably next on his list of orifices to fuck, and he'd kiss ass long enough for that to happen.
Shrugging his jeans down his legs, he observed me as he went through the awkward motion of taking off his boots and pants without sitting down. With only dark grey boxer briefs to cover the anaconda swinging between his legs, he folded his pants and stretched out his hands and grabbed the hem of my shirt. I let him strip it off me without a fight. Even if he hadn't already seen everything I offered, I wouldn't have fought something as ridiculous as my nudity.
I knew some women hated their body, even if they were beautiful exactly the way they were. I was the opposite. Comfortable in my skin. It was what was inside my head that made me question my self-worth. It was only one of the reasons I took my fitness so seriously. My mind was beyond my control, but my body wasn’t.
His fingers worked open the button of my jeans, sliding down the zipper and tugging them over my hips. I hadn't felt like putting a fresh bra on after my shower at the gym, so cool air pebbled my nipples as he knelt at my feet and worked to take off my boots and jeans. Enzo licked his lips briefly as he stared up at me in nothing but a pair of hot pink panties, but when I suspected he would lunge the way he tended to do, he only stood and took my hand in his.
My callouses touched his, rubbing against the rough skin of his palm that felt so similar to mine. He led me to the sliding glass door at the back of the house, stepping out onto his immaculate patio around the in-ground pool with a cover. Releasing me long enough to press a button, he waited as the cover retracted beneath the patio itself and steam rose from
