Page 8 of Only Be Mine

“That’s a yes.”

I grabbed my keys and opened the door into the garage. The afternoon sun bounced off the hood of my old ’72 Ford - green, a little dented, with a white stripe and more sentimental value than common sense. It had been my dad’s. I wasn’t eager to let it go, even though it required more coddling than a toddler.

“Come on, girl,” I said, motioning for Baby to hop in.

Instead of jumping into the truck like the well-trained angel she usually pretended to be, she froze, locked onto something, then took off like a shot.

“Baby! HEY!”

She sprinted out of the garage and down the block, barking triumphantly as a cat bolted ahead of her.

You’ve GOT to be kidding me.

I dove into the truck and took off after her, leaning halfway out the window.

“Baby! Stop! BABY!”

She did not stop.

She rounded a corner, vaulted over a short chain-link fence like she’d been training for the Olympics, and disappeared.

I slammed the brakes, parked mostly on the sidewalk, and went after her on foot.

“Baby!”

I jumped one fence. Then another. Then a third fence I swear grew taller by the second.

My lungs burned. My legs cursed me for ever abandoning the gym.

I stopped in someone’s backyard, bent over and wheezing like I was ninety.

That’s when I heard it, a shriek… followed by a heavy thud.

My heart launched straight into my throat.

“Baby!”

I sprinted toward the sound.

She stood in the middle of the sidewalk, tail wagging like a propeller, licking the face of a fallen woman who was trying, and failing, to fend her off.

I jogged the last few feet, grabbed Baby’s collar, and pulled her back.

“Oh my God, I am so…”

And then I saw her face and the breath punched right out of me.

Cate.

Her hair was a little wild, her cheeks flushed from cold and shock, and when her eyes met mine, it felt like getting blindsided all over again - only this time, softer. Warmer. More dangerous.

A slow grin pulled across my mouth before I could stop it.

“Cate?” I asked, way too hopeful for someone who’d technically just tackled her with a dog.

She blinked up at me, recognition flaring.

For the smallest second, her lips curved too, and my day instantly got a hell of a lot better.