I decided to move my relaxation to the bed, so I got out.
With my phone in one hand, a towel around my body, and the lights off in the bedroom, I shuffled my way to the bed. I'd just tossed the towel at the corner when movement caught my eye outside the window. I spun, grabbing at the blankets to cover my nudity, and a little squeak may have slipped out - but there was nothing out there. Somewhere in that moment of panic, I'd tossed my phone at the bed, the glow from the screen the only light in the room, yet it was just enough to make it hard to see through the cracks in the not-completely-closed Venetian blinds.
But I could hear something. It sounded like heavy breathing. A little part of me wanted to climb in the bed and pull the covers over my head, but I was too nervous to move. The panting came closer, paused, then moved on. A moment later, I heard it at the back door. Then a thump. A second after that, I realized what the breathing was. Sniffing. Like from a dog.
Or a wolf.
Letting out a sigh of my own, I grabbed my robe, pulled it over my naked body, and headed into the hall. A wolf was a lot better than an intruder. It was probably just looking for food, and the animal had to be on my porch from the sound of it. Cautiously, I peeked through the window, but it heard me. I saw a flick of a tail as the thing hopped off the side, heading around the front.
Determined to know what it was, I changed direction, cutting through the kitchen to get to the dining room. Aiming for the windows on the side of the house next to Ian's place, I parted the blinds and finally saw it. The beast was massive, fluffy, and not at all feral-looking. White markings under its jaw and throat looked like a bib, and the fur was not grey like a wolf.
It was red.
I had no idea what kind of dog that was, but it didn't look like something that had been on any nature show I'd ever watched. The problem was that the thing wasn't on the right side of the fence. So, hurrying back to my room, I grabbed what clothes I could, pulled them on, and hurried after it.
"Red?" I asked when I was outside. "C'mere, boy!" It was hard to yell and whisper at the same time, but I was sure trying.
Mainly because it was late. The neighborhood was asleep. For all I knew, it had to be near midnight, but I hadn't exactly checked. I had on a pair of worn Crocs, which let the dew through to chill my toes, but I didn't want Seth's dog to get hit by a car or something. So I hurried, following the path the dog had taken.
Just as I came around the corner of my yard, into that secluded area between the houses, I noticed that my back gate was half-open. Then, something moved in my peripheral vision. Yeah, I jumped, but when I saw the silhouette of a man, it took everything I had not to scream.
"Elena..."
It was Lane. Pushing out a heavy sigh, I bent over to catch my breath.
"You scared me!"
"Sorry," he groaned, closing the distance between us. "I seem to be doing that a lot."
I just waved toward the street. "I think I saw your dog. Big red thing?"
"Yeah." He didn't seem worried about it at all. "Are you ok?"
His massive hands closed on my shoulders, and he eased me upright. That was when I realized he didn't have a shirt on - it was lying in the grass behind him - and his pants were partially open. My eyes guiltily jumped up to his face, and I could feel my cheeks getting red.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"For? I'm the one who keeps scaring you."
My eyes betrayed me, darting back down to the deep creases by his hips that disappeared into the loose and very low-slung jeans. "You were getting dressed?"
"Oh." He let me go and stepped back, turning to snag his shirt from the ground. "Yeah, um..." He glanced away. "I was trying to get the dog. Pulled on some pants, and..."
"Ran out," I finished, proving I understood. "Sorry."
For a moment, we both stood there in silence. Neither of us seemed to know what to say, except to keep apologizing a little more, yet