Free Loco by Cheyenne Meadows

complete man. She looked at him with wonder and, more importantly, trust. If she could overcome her issues to be with him, he could do no less.
    He would do this for her. And, somewhere deep down, where no one would know, he could admit he also wanted to do it for himself. Maybe not a shrink, not just yet. But, there was someone else…
    Letting himself in his side of the condo, Tanner shut the door and sat down at the kitchen table. He pulled out his phone along with a slip of paper. After staring at the number for a long moment, he bit the bullet and punched in the numbers. "It's Tanner Owens. Can we talk?"

    * * * *

    Oakley ushered Hercules back into the house, somewhat surprised when she didn't see Tanner waiting for them. Curiosity got the better of her as she headed to his front door. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the door opened.
    "Oh." She recovered quickly. "I wondered where you wandered off to."
    He smiled down at her. "Missing me already. That's a good sign."
    She rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. So, what are your plans?"
    "I've got to meet someone in a few minutes. Not sure when I'll be back, but hopefully sometime this evening."
    Disappointment surged through her, but she beat it back down. The man earned some free time, and she couldn't expect him to spend every free minute entertaining her. Besides, he probably had errands and chores to complete before his next mission pulled him away for who knew how long. "That's okay. I need to do some computer work. Finals are next week and I need to be caught up so I can post grades quickly for the students." That certainly was the truth. If she didn't spend time now catching up on her work, she would be up late again, diligently answering emails, checking to make sure assignments were complete and turned in, and preparing the students for their test.
    Tanner leaned down and tipped her chin up for a kiss. "Don't work too hard. I would hate for you to be too fatigued to enjoy my seduction."
    Heat flashed across her face even as she shook her head. "You're incorrigible."
    "Yep."
    With that said, he lumbered off to his SUV.

Chapter 13

    Oakley woke up with Hercules lying across her, pinning her to the bed even as he snored loudly in her ear. "Good grief." The huge dog simply couldn't understand why he couldn't be a lap dog or use people for his personal pillow. It only worsened during winter, when he demanded his own blankets and plastered himself against her body in an obvious attempt to share body heat. His mattress resided in the living room floor, a twin size to encompass those super long legs, but he rarely slept on it at night, preferring instead to climb into bed and squish her. She normally didn't mind his choice of sleeping arrangements, except this morning her bladder tingled with an overflow warning.
    Giving a hard shove, she managed to budge Hercules enough to drag her legs out from under his immense body. Finally free, she quickly headed to the bathroom, shaking her head at the canine still sawing logs.
    Once finished, she noticed the time. Seven am. For the first time, she realized Tanner hadn't returned last evening or, if he had, he didn't let her know. She shrugged it off while running a brush through her tangled waist-length hair. He probably got busy or came in too late and didn't want to wake her. Or, he found other entertainment for the night. Oakley frowned at that thought. Surely not. Especially when just yesterday they agreed to give their budding relationship a chance. Nah. He wouldn't do that to her. In all reality, he simply got tied up and when he did return home, wanted some time to himself. Every one needed alone time now and again.
    At least she finished the final exam, lined up grades, and answered all emails in preparation for the last test of the semester. It took most of the evening, but she managed to get everything done. Now, she had a couple of days to just take it easy, checking online every so often for any last minute questions, then