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one half of him was missing.
    If he was going to pursue her, then one day he’d have to tell her the truth about him being a shifter. Barney barked and almost caught up to him and nipped at his paws.
    Christopher ran faster, feeling the dog trailing behind, obviously enjoying being with a bear.
    He ran faster thinking about Lilly and seeing her again tomorrow.
    ****
    Christopher managed to clean Barney and brush his fur before Mrs. Nelson’s son arrived. Barney had concluded their run by going into the lake and then through some mud. He’d just turned off the hair dryer where he’d managed to fluff up Barney’s fur, and make him look half respectable again, when the doorbell rang.
    He’d been reluctant to look after Barney but now that he was about to leave, Christopher knew he was going to miss having the little guy around. He opened the door to see Mrs. Nelson’s son standing there with a small carrier for Barney.
    Christopher swallowed the lump in his throat. Maybe he’d let him visit Barney from time to time.
    “Hi, come in,” said Christopher.
    “Thank you. Hell o Barney. I hope you’ve been a good dog.”
    Barney barked.
    “He’s been no trouble and we went for a long run earlier today so he’ll probably just sleep now.”
    “Great and thanks so much. Now all I have to do is find him a permanent home.”
    Had Christopher heard correctly?
“A home? But I thought he’d live with you?”
    “No, I travel a lot for my business and it wouldn’t be fair to him to be left at the kennels all that time.”
    “I’ll take him.”
    Wow, that was me who said that ?
    “Are you sure?”
    “Positive. I like having him around and I work from home so he won’t be on his own that much.”
    “That’s wonderful. I know Mom would be happy to think he found a good home and just a few doors down from his old one.”
    “Glad I can do that for him.”
    “Well, you might as well have this carrier for him.”
    Christopher took it and Barney barked. “It’s okay little guy, you’re staying her permanently.”
    Barney jumped up in the air and spun around. Christopher hoped it was a sign he liked the news.
    “Well, I must be running along as I have Mom’s funeral to prepare for at the end of the week. I hope you’ll come along to the service.”
    Christopher hadn’t given it any thought. He didn’t know Mrs. Nelson that well, just to say hello to if they meet in the hallway.
    “Some of the other neighbors said they’d attend.”
    “Sure, let me know the time and place, and I’ll be there.”
    Not the sort of thing he liked to attend and especially on his own which made him think that maybe Lilly would accompany him.
    ****
     
    Lilly carried the vacuum, mop, and bucket with her supplies, out of the elevator. It had been nice of Christopher to offer her the chance to clean his condo. Her bank account was low this week so he didn’t know how much she appreciated it.
    The whole thing made her feel guiltier about the crappy way she’d treated him when he’d offered to buy the battery. She never used to be that sort of person. Guess now she was bitter about being bitter, if there was such a thing.
    She rang and doorbell and was surprised to hear Barney barking inside.
    Christopher opened the door and she immediately felt tongue-tied. He was even more gorgeous today. His sweatshirt pulled tightly over his chest muscles and biceps, and his jeans stretched across nicely defined thighs. Non-dating him was going to be tough, but she knew she couldn’t rush into anything after the whole fiasco with Matt.
    Barney pounded out of the condo and jumped up as high as her waist.
    “Hi Barney, what are you still doing here?”
    “You want to come in, and here, let me help you with the vacuum,” said Christopher.
    “That would be great.”
    Lilly walked in behind Christopher. “Barney is now officially my dog,” he said.
    “Really, how did that happen?”
    Christopher set the vacuum down in the living room where she now