Page 48 of Lee

He wasn’t sure if she was interested in him or not, but his own attraction to her was growing with each interaction. He’d be at a crossroads soon, where he’d have to decide whether he wanted to put distance between them or take a cautious step toward finding out if there was a mutual attraction.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Rori blinked in the darkness, trying to figure out what had woken her. When her phone rang, she stared at it for a moment before reaching out to grab it from the floor.

Lee

Clearing her throat, she tapped the screen to answer the call, hoping that she didn’t sound too hoarse from sleep. Although surely Lee would realize he’d woken her since it was just after midnight.

“They think the dog’s in labor,” Lee said when she answered. “You still up to going?”

“Yep. I am.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Rori tossed back her blanket. “I’ll be ready.”

As soon as she hung up, Rori quickly changed out of her pajamas into a pair of jeans and a vet clinic T-shirt, just so she looked like she belonged there. After splashing a bit of water on her face to help her wake up, she redid her ponytail, which had come loose in the couple of hours she’d been asleep.

She was waiting inside the entrance of the apartment building when she got a text from Lee that he was there. The low rumble of a car engine greeted Rori as she stepped out the front door. Turning, she spotted the headlights and headed in that direction.

By the time she reached the car, Lee was standing beside the open passenger door. He smiled at her. “Good evening. Or is it good morning?”

“It feels like morning.” She stifled a yawn. “A very early morning.”

“If they offer coffee, I’m going to be taking it.”

“Yep. Me, too.”

Once they were both in the car, Lee pulled away from the curb.

“It’s like there’s no one else up,” Rori said as he drove through the quiet streets of Serenity.

“Yeah. Probably the only people awake are at the bars.”

Rori looked at the houses as they passed them. Most of the windows were dark. Streetlights cast pools of light on the sidewalks, but there was no one walking on them.

“Did you bring your smelling salts?” Lee asked.

Rori gave him a grin. “I did. It took a little searching, but I found some.”

She’d found them online and placed a small order. When they’d come earlier that day, she’d gone ahead and tucked a packet into her purse, knowing that she might have to leave quickly. Which was what had happened.

“I don’t think you’ll need them.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I have confidence in you.”

Rori could count on one hand the number of times someone had said that to her. Because of that, she really hoped she didn’t let him down. So far, she hadn’t been faced with anything she couldn’t handle. However, she had no idea if she was going to hit her squeamish point that night.

Soon, they left Serenity behind, and Lee guided the car along darkened roads. Rori leaned her head against the glass of the window and stared up at the night sky.

“It’s almost a full moon,” she said. “I hadn’t noticed that.”

“Our long hours of sunlight during the summer mean we often don’t realize where we are in the moon cycle.”

That was very true. She didn’t necessarily want to test how safe Serenity was after dark, so she was always home by the time the sun set. She also didn’t have a great view of the sky from her basement apartment.

---