“You got it!” she chirps as she turns around to get to work on my order.
“You really should try the Sunrise Brioche to go with your latte,” a soft, masculine voice says from behind me, sending a thrill of goosebumps over my skin.That’s new.I quickly glance into the display case, scanning for the suggested item. Golden brioche buns shaped like a rising sun, with delicate rays scored into the edges, rest in a row. They’re beautiful, almost too beautiful to eat.
Turning to meet the owner of the voice, I come face-to-face with a large chest instead. Slowly lifting my head, the entire room freezes around me as the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life stands in front of me. He’s absolutely massive, at least six-four, maybe even six-five. I’m not considered short, and I have to crane my neck to see his face.
Dark auburn hair is slicked back out of his face, piercing emerald green eyes looking down at me with an intensity I’ve never seen before. It should make me cower, look away, or run.But I’m entranced, locked in place like I’ve lost control over my own body.
He has a full beard that covers his jaw, and combined with his size and muscles, it’s giving him a look that is all Viking or Wildling. He looks like he belongs on the set ofGame of ThronesorVikingsrather than a tiny hole-in-the-wall bakery in middle-of-nowhere, Washington State.
I swear all the air is sucked from the room as our eyes lock, the earth quaking below my feet, everything moving around us at warp speed, but the two of us are frozen in time like one of those slow-mo time lapses in romantic movies.
I don’t know what’s happening, but my heart gallops behind my ribcage, banging hard and relentlessly against my chest, as his gorgeous green eyes look down at me like he’s never seen someone so painfully beautiful, like I’m the most precious thing in the world. The emotion in his eyes swirls like he’s finally found what he’s been looking for. I have the strongest urge to whine or whimper, and I have to actively fight the pull to step into his space and be surrounded by his warmth.
I’ve never experienced anything like it. His lips part slightly, plush, pale pink, and barely visible behind the coarse hair of his mustache and beard, like he’s just as affected as I am. My hands itch to reach up and feel the hair between my fingers.
“Miss? Your order.” A faraway voice hits my ears, dumping a metaphorical bucket of ice water over my head and pulling me from this bizarre moment. I shake my head as if to get some sense back in there, hoping like hell my control slips back into place.
“Maybe next time I’ll try them,” I tell the handsome stranger, my words coming out as a breathy whisper. “I-I have to go—” Ifidget from foot to foot, pointing ridiculously behind him. “—next door, to the animal shelter.”
He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, hiding a slowly rising smirk as he gently nods.
“Have a good day.” His voice caresses me intimately, smooth like chocolate, and makes my knees weak. I’ve never responded to a voice like that before. Jesus Christ, I could listen to that sound all day.
“You, too,” I reply quickly as I turn away from him. With trembling hands, I pay for my order, taking it and stepping around the mountain of a man with my eyes averted. I swear I’m having heart palpitations. How is he so gorgeous? I’ve truly never seen such a beautiful man before. And his voice? A contradiction if I’ve ever heard one. Low and velvety like honey, there’s a warmth in it, the kind that seeps into you slowly, softening every edge it touches. He’s buttery warmth wrapped in a rugged exterior. Even though he only spoke a few words, they were enough to rattle me. A quiet sweetness that doesn’t belong to a man built like a storm. I could easily get lost in that.
Shaking my head free of him, I open the door to Daily Rise and step out into the cooling autumn air. The animal shelter is next door, so I take a quick moment to steady my breathing from that frazzling encounter and hurry inside, not wanting to be caught on the sidewalk to have another forced run-in with him.
“Dr. Owens!” the volunteer, Brittany, cheers as I enter the building. It’s fairly small for an animal shelter; at capacity, it could only hold roughly a dozen dogs and a few cats, if that.But it’s quaint, homey, and welcoming. The entire place hums with warmth and small-town charm.
The building itself is a converted storefront, its exposed red-brick walls softened by colorful Polaroid photos of happy families and their new pets. It’s charming and exactly what I would expect from a place in such a sweet small town.
“Hi, Brittany! How are you?” I ask excitedly. This is my happy place. I feel in my element around animals and humans who love animals the way I do.
“I’m so well! Excited to get some puppy snuggles eventually and equally eager to get a clean bill of health for all of them.”
“I agree. Mom was a stray?”
“That’s what I’ve been told. She snuck under someone’s porch and had her litter. They caught her coming and going on their door camera. Animal control came and picked them up, but they were only able to hold them for the week. Luckily, we have room, and one of our longtime volunteers went down to pick them up.” Brittany’s cheeks bloom crimson as she averts her eyes, clearly imagining the volunteer. I chuckle under my breath.
“That sounds great. If you don’t mind, I’m going to head into the back and get set up and ready for them. Just come get me when they arrive.”
“Sure thing!” she says in a cheery voice that echoes behind me. I easily navigate to the single exam room, having been here once before and remembering the layout, to get everything ready for the sweet momma and her babies. It’s not long before Brittany is back, popping her head into the room, her blonde, shoulder-length hair bobbing around her face.
“Dr. Owens, our volunteer is here with the mom and her puppies. He’s bringing them in now.” A rush of excitement flows through me as I follow her toward the back of the building to a separate entrance. Brittany hands me a chart that must have been given to her by the volunteer to hand over from the previous shelter.
I scan the documents as I wait in the hallway by the back door. “Let’s get them right into the transition room, Britt—” I call out as I lift my head from the clipboard. My mouth falls open as the man from Daily Rise steps directly in front of me, easily setting the extra-large crate down onto the linoleum floor at my feet and then standing to his full height. He crosses his arms at his chest, the large muscles pulling the fabric of his T-shirt taut. Jesus Christ, he must live at the gym.
His arms are covered in tattoos, a snake curling around his veiny forearms. Holy fuck, those veins. Is vein porn a thing? It has to be a thing. I gape at him like I’ve never seen a man before, as if I’m parched and he’s my water source. It would probably be frowned upon if I licked him, but god that’s what I want to do. Where’s Kira when I need her to hold me back? Screw that thought, actually, she’d be the one telling me to go for it and asking about his taste after I was done.
“Rhys.” His soft baritone breaks through my haze as he sticks his hand in my direction. Rhys. I repeat the name in my head over and over like a mantra. God, it fits him so well. I bet he spells it the sexy way, too. With an h and a y instead of two e’s.
Shaking my head slightly, I look up, meeting his piercing green eyes, looking at me with the same intensity as twenty minutes ago. My breath quickens, my heart flipping behind my ribs before banging against my chest like it’s trying to claw its wayout. And the warmth pooling between my legs? That’s for sure not supposed to be happening.
Finally crashing back down to earth, I pull myself together enough to place my hand in his, where thick, warm fingers close delicately around mine. “Bristol.” The air around us immediately changes, as if every charged particle in the room is suddenly holding its breath.
Something stirs just beneath the surface, a current flowing between each of us through the point of our connection, the kind that lights up all the hidden wiring of my body and makes my heartbeat bang loudly between my ears. It expands, curling softly around my ribs, reaching outward until I’m completely consumed. The urge to gasp for air is strong, but I’m transfixed. Frozen. What is it about this man that overrides all rational thought and feelings?
I meet Rhys’ sparkling emerald eyes, and it’s as if my entire world flickers through them. This isn’t energy passing through us; it’s recognition, awareness. Like something deep inside me has been awakened, and its counterpart is standing right in front of me.
