Page 53 of The Love Shack

Oh. She cleared her throat. “Yeah, the phone just startled me.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m here, but I can leave.”

“Here?”

“At your door. I walked over, saw the place was quiet and realized I’d missed you. I didn’t want to knock in case it got Hero and Cheese stirred up.”

As soon as he said it, Hero barked. She knew and understood the sounds her dog made, and that was not a grumbling bark of warning, but rather a happy and excited greeting. Clearly he knew it was Lawson who’d come to visit.

“Hang on.” She scrambled to her feet and started back through the house. Seconds later she found Hero standing at attention by the door, ears up, his entire body jiggling with the force of his wagging tail. Cheese sat atop the washer—on the clean and folded laundry she hadn’t yet put away, which would now be covered in cat fur. Oh well.

The cat watched with mild interest.

If only she could adopt Cheese’s aloof attitude, but unfortunately, Berkley was in the happy camp with Hero. Thankfully, she didn’t have a betraying tail to give her away.

She peeked past the curtain covering the little window on the door, just as an extra precaution, and tried to school her features at the sight of him standing there, backlit by the late-day sunshine, looking sexy as sin in a black T-shirt and well-worn jeans.

Grabbing Hero’s collar with one hand, she opened the door with the other.

Lawson, being awesomeness personified, quickly stepped in and immediately knelt to say hi to Hero. “Hey, buddy. How are you? You knew it was me, didn’t you? Such a smart guy.”

His silly voice made Hero ecstatic.

While they greeted each other, she secured the door and reset the alarm. When Lawson stood, it was to give a mock frown to Cheese, who stared back with a look of defiance. “Cheese, sweetheart, I don’t suppose you know anything about a missing hat of mine?”

The cat lifted a paw and began to groom herself.

Uh-oh. Berkley offered a shrug. “I haven’t seen a hat, sorry.”

“She’s taken to leaving my things in the woods. I’ve found socks there, a receipt I needed to return a faucet, and a promotional screen-cleaning cloth.”

Leaping off the washer, Cheese sauntered away, tail in the air and head held high, to return to the back of the couch. Hero gave a giant yawn, showing all his strong white teeth, then he headed to the couch also. Clearly, both animals were ready to rest.

“Now,” Lawson said, putting his hands to her shoulders and beginning one of those toe-curling, magical massages. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Out of habit, she replied, “Nothing.”

He continued to knead her muscles, working out the knots, but he didn’t say anything more. Once again, she’d brought tension into their conversation.

It struck her that shecouldtalk to him. Shewantedto talk to him.

Stepping away from his hands and the pleasure they gave, she turned to face him. “Actually, I’m hungry. Are you hungry? If you’re sure you want to know, I could tell you all about it while we eat.”

Surprising her, he cupped a hand around her neck and stroked his thumb along her jaw. “A great idea. I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out for pizza.”

Immediately, she shook her head. If Chad had found out where she was, he might be in Cemetery. Not likely, but still, she didn’t want to risk running into him. Not until she had a plan. “I have a frozen pizza.” She winced. What a lousy offer. “Or I could make grilled cheese.”

“You want to stay here?”

He asked that so simply, as if he knew that was the crux of her issue, so she nodded. “I do, yeah.”

“Frozen pizza works for me. Or...” He pulled out his phone to check the time. “We could order a pizza. Usually only takes thirty minutes or less.”

Berkley blew out a breath. He made this so, so easy. “Yeah, let’s do that.” She hadn’t realized that was an option. How little did she know about her town? “Is that from Saul’s restaurant?”

“No, a little place farther away from the lake. Pepperoni and sausage okay? Or are you an all-veggie pizza lover?” He frowned. “No anchovies, okay?”

How was it that a discussion about pizza could be so fun when it was with Lawson? “I’m fine with pepperoni and sausage, and if they have a salad, I’d enjoy that, too. If not, no biggie. I have colas here.” She shot him a teasing look. “Unlike someone I know, I keep plenty in the fridge.”

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