Unguarded

Running from a cheating ex in Boston, the narrator has only three hundred dollars and a tube of lip gloss to show for it. The unplanned stop is Burlington, Vermont, where a chilly morning leaves them stranded with no plan at all. By mid-afternoon they have landed a temporary job at a local veterinary and grooming clinic, despite knowing almost nothing about animals or grooming.

The narrator quickly develops a crush on Emmett, the distracted and attractive veterinarian they work for. Emmett is not out, and he is busy juggling a struggling business and raising his son, a家庭 life the narrator never expected to want. Their own life is a mess, and another relationship is the last thing they need, yet Emmett's faith in them starts to nudge them toward believing in themselves. Despite their differences, they wonder whether they could be exactly what each other needs.