Page 68 of Housebroke

“That’s part of it. The area has to have good sales statistics. And it has to be somewhere I actually want to work. Plus I need to be able to turn around the house in a reasonable amount of time, without draining a lot of money in the process or having to bring in a sizable crew to do the project.”

“That makes sense. Will you go to the houses to look at them?”

He nodded. “I have to do a walk-through to get a feel for each house. Then I’ll decide and buy the right one. At that point I’ll start ordering materials.”

“Makes sense. So when will you be finished here?”

He thought about it while also trying not to think about how soon he’d be leaving Hazel. “Maybe four weeks?”

Her brows lifted. “Wow. That soon.”

He thought he heard surprise—and maybe regret—in her voice. Or maybe that’s just what he wanted to hear.

“Yeah, things are moving smoothly here, so it won’t be much longer.”

“Okay, then. I’ll start making plans.”

He reached for her hand. “You don’t have to move out today, Hazel. We can enjoy the time we have together while we have it.”

“You’re right, of course. But at the same time I don’t want to be blindsided like the last time. I’ve already been looking for a place to live, but it’s good to have a timeline.”

His stomach tightened. He wasn’t looking forward to the day when he wouldn’t be able to see her beautiful face anymore. But what the hell could he do about that? Their lives didn’t mesh at all. He traveled around constantly, and she needed a place where she could put down roots and take care of the dogs. And that could never work. They could never work.

They were a perfect mismatch.

Didn’t that just suck.

“A job like yours keeps you from getting bored,” she said, her focus on the dogs as she said that. “You don’t stay in one place too long, and you get to start over again all the time. That must be really nice.”

“It’s pretty awesome, I have to admit,” he said as he leaned back on his hands. Mitzi came over and lay down between them. Hazel smoothed her hands over the pup. Then Lilith followed, climbing onto Linc’s lap. He caught Hazel’s approving smile. “But what about you and the dogs? Never a dull day with them around.”

“That’s for sure. They keep me entertained, and they’re alwaysa challenge. That’s what I love most about fostering them. I only wish I could do more.”

“You mean have more dogs.”

“Yes. But that’s a dream for far off in my future. Right now just finding a roof over our heads is paramount, and then a job for me so I can keep said roof. The job part is fairly easy because I can get one at a restaurant as a cook. And that’ll give me enough money so I can keep looking after the dogs. After that, it’ll be day-to-day. And someday.”

“Understood.” He’d love to be able to design a home for her that gave her everything she could ever want. God knew she deserved it after what she’d been through. But that wasn’t his plan, and he needed to stick to the plan, which was to finish this house and move on to the next one.

Then again, wasn’t he the one who’d told her they needed to enjoy each other while they had each other? So why wasn’t he taking his own advice?

He leaned over and pressed his lips to her shoulder, earning a growl from Mitzi.

“Oh, look at you,” Hazel said, sliding her hands under Mitzi to pick her up and cuddle her close. “Getting all comfortable and territorial already.”

“Yeah, but was she growling at me or at you?” he asked.

Hazel grinned. “I don’t know. But you should probably kiss me so we can find out.”

“I’ll gladly participate in that experiment.” He leaned over, slid his arm around her, and tugged her close. Temporarily forgetting all about the dog, he put his mouth on hers, letting his tonguetease the seam of her lips. She opened for him and he slid his tongue inside.

She moaned. He groaned.

Mitzi gave a low growl, then climbed over onto his lap.

He broke the kiss and looked down at the pup, then at Hazel.

“Apparently, she likes you the best,” Hazel said.

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