Neighbor Dearest by Penelope Ward Page B

thankfully, I’ve moved on.”
    “Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Sadly, I wanted to ask her how she’d managed to get over him—if she were even telling the truth. Ironically, the only thing that’d helped me get over Elec somewhat had been Damien.
    “Do you have any questions about the dogs?”
    “No. He briefed me on their routine.”
    “Okay…well, here’s my number if you need to reach me.” She placed a small piece of paper on the counter.
    “Thanks.”
    After the door shut behind Jenna, I let out a long sigh and looked over at the Double Ds. They were still trying to catch their breaths as they stared at me excitedly with their long tongues hanging out. They were truly beautiful dogs with smooth black hair and copper fur accenting their paws and faces.
    “Your mama is either very bitter or very smart. I haven’t figured out which yet.” I made my way to the cabinet where Damien stored the dog food. “Are you guys hungry?” When they started to jump up and down around me, I joked, “No bacon, though, okay?”
    Big mistake.
    At the mere mention of it, they started to flip out.
    Shit.
    The B word had to be banned altogether.
     
    ***
     
    By the second day, it was clear that there was only one way I was going to catch up on sleep after the dogs’ breakfast. I picked up my phone and sent a text to Damien.
     
    Hey. Would it be okay if I napped over at your apartment in the mornings? It’s the only way the dogs will stop barking.
     
    Damien: You shouldn’t even have to ask. Make yourself at home.
     
    Chelsea: Thanks. I really appreciate it.
     
    Damien: Thank you again for looking after them. Is everything going okay?
     
    Chelsea: Yes. Perfect.
     
    Damien: Cool.
     
    It wasn’t necessary to divulge that I’d nearly lost my grip on them during our first morning walk or that it took me five minutes to calm them down after that first and last mention of bacon. Overall, though, it was going pretty well.
    As expected, the barking ceased once I made my way into Damien’s apartment and then to his bedroom. I didn’t, however, expect the dogs to climb into bed with me.
    Thankfully, Dudley and Drewfus were clean animals. Jenna must have washed them often because they never smelled bad even when they were sweaty.
    Sandwiched between them, I closed my eyes and relished Damien’s smell, which saturated the sheets. Sinking my nails into the goose down pillow, I took a deep breath in and imagined for a moment that it was him.
    My heart started to beat faster. That made me realize how badly I’d been craving being close to him, even though I’d been trying to suppress my feelings to avoid getting hurt. He wasn’t even with us, but here in this bed, in his most intimate place, I could feel his presence strongly
    Allowing myself to release all of the pent up desire, I tightened my grip on the pillow and grinded my body into the mattress, imagining that it was Damien’s hard body under me. It was a dance of arousal and frustration enhanced by burying my face in his intoxicating smell.
    When I eventually opened my eyes, Dudley was staring at me funny, and it brought me back to reality.
    I finally dozed off.
     
    ***
     
    By the end of the week, I was getting used to sleeping with the dogs. Dare I say, I was starting to enjoy napping while sandwiched between them.
    Things were pretty uneventful until Thursday. That was when Drewfus thought it would be funny to squeeze himself under Damien’s bed. The Double Ds were due to go for their walk before I had to go to work. We were running late, and I couldn’t get him to come out.
    There was a flat, black shoebox underneath that I needed to move out of the way in order to get to him.
    After I finally got Drewfus to come out from under, my hand stilled as I went to slide the box back under the bed. Written on the lid in silver Sharpie were the words, Pandora’s Box.
    So incredibly tempted to open it, I quickly shoved it under the bed and forced myself not to