He ran his fingers through his hair. What the hell was going on with him? He liked living alone. He thrived on it. But now he was so aware of Sky next door that his house felt too empty.
He headed upstairs. What he needed was a cold damn shower.
CHAPTER17
Sky grabbed her keys and her bag and rushed out of the house.
She was running late to work again. Really late.
Not only had she forgotten to set her alarm, she’d spilled coffee on her shirt, realized she’d run out of bread for toast, and tried to put her jeans on backward.
A mess. She was amess.
Once she reached the car, she was tempted to put her foot to the floor. She didn’t. She hated people who sped. All that did was increase the chance of accidents.
This wasn’t the first time this week things like that had happened. She’d been out of sorts since that damn kiss three nights ago. Last night she’d forgotten about a quiche in the oven and set off the fire alarm. And the day before that, she’d left her phone at work and had to drive all the way back to get it.
How had one kiss upheaved her entire life? It hadn’t even been that good.
Okay, ithadbeen that good. And not just the kiss. The way he’d sandwiched her entire body between him and the wall, the way he’d touched her… Oh God, she was getting hot just thinking about it.
She hit the car’s Bluetooth and called the daycare.
“Good morning, Sky’s Doggy Daycare, Dolly speaking.”
“Dolly, hi, it’s Sky.”
“Sky, I was just about to call you. Rosemary Symes came in with Bella, but she seemed annoyed that you weren’t here. Said Bella needed a bath and you’re the only one who does it properly.”
Sky’s lips twitched. “I think Kristina forgot to use Bella’s own shampoo last time, and Pearl didn’t blow dry her fur.”
“Ugh, and now you’re the chosen one. Youarecoming in, aren’t you? I don’t want to have to tell that woman you didn’t bathe her dog. She kind of frightens me.”
“Dog owners can be scary. I’m coming in, driving now. I’m just running late. I forgot to set an alarm.”
“That’s not like you.”
“I know. It’s not my week.” She took a right turn.
“Mm, is a certain fire chief boyfriend keeping you up all night?”
She rolled her eyes. Hewaskeeping her up, but not in the way Dolly meant. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Oh, darling, you can hang up, but I’ll just pester you at work.”
Yeah, she knew that. “Bye.”
She hung up as she neared the bridge. The bridge was short and high, stretching over the Willow Creek Reservoir, which was beautiful but cold and deep. When she was a kid, she’d always wanted to play in it. She’d asked her mother so many times, but the answer had alternated between “no, you’ll freeze” and “no, you’ll drown.”
She accepted that now, but ten-year-old Sky had quite a hard time with it.
Suddenly, she noticed a white van speeding toward her.
Why were they driving so fast…?
She reached the bridge—and suddenly they swerved out of their lane and straight at her.
Sky screamed, instinctively turning her wheel, but there was nowhere to go except the bridge railing.
