Medium Rare: (Intermix) by Meg Benjamin Page B

use as a weapon. The darkness seemed to bear down on him, sucking him dry . . .
    He awoke with a start, clutching the pillow next to him, his heart hammering. For once he could remember almost every detail of the dream he’d just had without even bothering to write it down.
    All in all, he thought he preferred facing the wolf to facing Addison.

Chapter 9
    Rose awoke, smelling something unspeakable, with the sounds of a runaway locomotive filling the room. She opened her eyes to find Helen stretched on the bed beside her, snoring.
    Terrific.
The first time she’d shared a bed with anyone in months and it had to be a hellhound with halitosis.
    She pulled on some khaki shorts and a worn Reckless Kelly T-shirt, along with her flip-flops, and headed downstairs. She had a feeling Helen was going to need very regular feeding. Maybe there was a Web site to tell her how to take care of a hellhound. For all she knew, there might be a hellhound rescue group. She headed for the computer in the study.
    She’d just typed in “hellhound” when she heard a buzzing that seemed to issue from the depths of the house. The feeble front doorbell. Something else she should probably fix.
    “Just a minute,” she called, heading for the entrance hall. She paused for a moment at the front window, peeking out from behind the lace sheer.
    Crap.
Evan Delwin. Again
.
    He stood on the doorstep, his black hair shining with deep auburn highlights in the early afternoon sunshine. His blue chambray button-down was rolled back at the cuffs to reveal elegant wrists and long, blunt fingers. His jeans rode low on his hips.
    Briefly, she considered grabbing Grandma Caroline’s ratty raincoat from the hall closet to cover her shorts and T-shirt, but she rejected the idea. Sooner or later she’d have to take it off—might as well let him see her at her worst.
    Feeling unreasonably annoyed, she jerked open the dark wood front door. “Morning, Evan, what’s up?”
    One corner of his mouth rose in a dry smile that delved a dimple in his cheek. “And a gracious good morning to you, too, Ms. Ramos.”
    She shook her head. “Okay, sorry, I haven’t had my coffee yet. But what do you want?”
    “To come inside? Or do you always conduct business on the front porch.”
    She stepped back, feeling like an ill-tempered jerk.
    He started to follow her inside, then froze, staring at the point where the porch curved around the house.
    She followed his gaze. A spider’s web stretched almost all the way across the corner of the porch. “Must be a garden spider. I saw one there last week. One of those big, fat, yellow-and-black ones.”
    She could swear she saw him shudder, but then he turned back again, his mouth pinched in a grim smile. “After you, Ms. Ramos.”
    Rose headed for the door to the living room, as a series of thumps sounded from the direction of the stairs. Evan turned at the staircase and stared upward.
    Helen loped down the steps, eyes burning, massive paws thudding on the carpet runners.
    “Helen,” Rose called. “It’s okay! Slow down!”
    The dog ignored her until she was two feet away from Evan. Then she suddenly screeched to a halt. A low, questioning growl vibrated from her chest.
    “Nice doggy?” He extended a tentative hand in Helen’s direction.
    Rose held her breath. She had an awful feeling the hound might bite it off.
    Helen leaned forward, sniffing at his fingers suspiciously. She seemed to be making up her mind about how tasty he might be.
    “Follow me, Helen. Let’s get you some breakfast.” Rose turned hastily toward the dining room.
    Helen stayed rooted at Evan’s feet. After a moment she slumped to the floor and rolled ponderously to her back, all four feet extended in the air, tongue lolling.
    He dropped to one knee beside her, reaching a cautious hand to scratch her belly. Helen closed her eyes in ecstasy.
    “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Rose muttered. A hellhound who had apparently fallen passionately in love with