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She let out a relieved breath. “Good. I was afraid you’d say no.”

He laughed. “What kind of dog are we talking about?”

“Promise not to laugh?”

That only made him laugh harder.

“Hey! You promised!”

“I didn’t promise yet,” he teased, then cleared his throat. “Okay. Now I promise.”

She hesitated, then grinned. “I want a tiny dog. Like… really tiny. Small enough to carry around. Maybe even bring to the bookstore.”

Reece bit back the comment on the tip of his tongue. The image of her with a tiny dog tucked under her arm or in her purse was unexpectedly adorable.

“Well,” he said carefully, “I can’t say I’ve ever pictured myself with a tiny dog, but… I’m open to it.”

She clapped her hands, beaming. “Yay!”

They pulled up to the first house—a traditional two-story that neither of them felt strongly about. They toured it politely before moving on.

The second had potential, but the moment they stepped inside, Reece could tell it would need more work than it was worth.

Now, they stood in the third house—one Alesha had already seen.

A Craftsman.

Wide front porch. Beautiful stonework. Inside, the hardwood floors had been refinished, the kitchen was updated, and the wood-burning fireplace made the entire space feel warm and inviting.

With every room, it was obvious Alesha was falling hard for it.

“I know we’ve only seen a few places,” she said, glancing around, “but I really think this is it. I felt it the other day and thought maybe I was being impulsive, but the second I walked in again today, I felt it. This is my house.” She looked at him quickly. “What do you think? Do you like it? Am I rushing this? Should we keep looking?”

Harlow smiled. “When you know, you know.”

“Really?” Alesha asked, her excitement bubbling—until she looked back at Reece. “You haven’t said anything. And it’s okay if you don’t love it. We can keep looking.”

Reece met her gaze, and in that moment, he knew. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to make her happy. And if this was the house, then he was all in.

“I think it’s perfect,” he said.

She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I knew you’d see it! I knew you’d love it!”

He laughed, holding her close for a moment before setting her back on her feet.

“So… can we make an offer?” he asked Harlow.

But Alesha was already full of questions.

“How long does that take? When could we move in? Do you think they’d mind if I started measuring for furniture?”

Harlow laughed. “Okay, deep breaths. Let’s head back to my office and start the paperwork.”

Then she glanced at Reece. “I still have more homes I can show you if you want to keep looking.”

Reece took Alesha’s hand, giving it a light squeeze. “I don’t think that’s necessary. The house is in great shape and has everything we want. We can look at others, but I’m pretty sure we’ll come back to this one.”

“I just don’t want you to have any buyer’s remorse,” Harlow said. “I have all the reports, and it’s structurally sound. We’ll still do an inspection, of course, but given your background, you’ll want to inspect it too.”