Page 208 of Daddy's Naughty List

“Poor dog. He had to be so scared,” Zoey said, with tears in her eyes.

Melissa had already decided Zoey was one of the sweetest people in town. Now she knew Zoey was even more special. Very few people thought of the dog first, like Melissa had. She’d ignored the pain and blood to reassure her canine friend.

“He was. He’s better now. The housekeeper isn’t allowed to bring her son to work anymore. She couldn’t keep the little boy in sight all the time and get her work done.”

“I’m glad,” Zoey said with an authentic smile. “Tell me everything about you.”

“Well…” Melissa tried to figure out what to share. To her surprise, words tumbled out of her mouth. She and Zoey discovered they had a lot in common.

By the time their Daddies came in to check on them, the two Littles were great friends. Rwahr Rwahr was surrounded by a dozen stuffies who had wanted to come meet him. Zoey had invited her to the regular gatherings they had at their house for all the Littles in Dr. Richards’ care. Melissa couldn’t wait to go.

“I’m afraid we have to go home, Lissy,” Rocky told her.

“Really?” she answered, dejected.

“You can come back and play soon,” Dr. Richards promised.

“I’d like that,” Melissa shared.

“Me, too! Next time, we’ll play outside,” Zoey suggested.

“That sounds like fun. Can I take my pictures?” Melissa asked, hating to abandon them.

“Of course. Your Daddy wants them for the refrigerator,” Zoey declared.

“I definitely do. Thank you, Zoey,” Rocky said with a smile.

Chapter Ten

“That’s it,” Santiago declared.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Rocky said, shaking the man’s hand before turning to express his gratitude to everyone else.

Tim and his Daddies, Santiago and Clark, had appeared at the apartment complex as well as Tami and Archer to clear out Melissa’s possessions from her apartment. Melissa knew Rocky could have handled everything himself, but having the people she worked with support her meant the world.

Throwing away the possessions she’d worked so hard to buy was tough on Melissa. It had only taken her one look at the condition of the mattress after she hadn’t been there to keep the water bowls filled. Melissa agreed with Rocky’s assessment that she should just leave it in the dumpster. Insects had eaten their way into the padding, making her skin crawl.

Melissa didn’t know how she’d survived living like that. Her apartment had sheltered her from the weather, but not much more. Getting out of there and living with Rocky now made it seem a million times worse.

As they finished setting virtually everything at the dumpster, Melissa swept through the apartment, double-checking she hadn’t forgotten anything. In the kitchen, she picked up a small pile of papers. Rocky had found them shoved under her door when they’d opened it. The top two were from the neighborhood pizza place. He’d set them aside for her to look through. She scooped them up and headed for the outside trash bin.

Just in case there was something from her landlord, she looked over each item before throwing them in the metal container. Pizza. Pizza. Ooh. Chinese. That was new restaurant close by.

She froze, looking at the masculine scrawl of a handwritten note.

You think you can get away from me?

You’re wrong.

Looking up automatically, she saw a shadow in the window in the last apartment on her floor. He was watching her.

She flipped that page to the back of the stack and read the next. Her heart rate slowed a bit to see the official note from her landlord. That letter notified her she would have to be completely out of the apartment by the last day of the month. It also detailed what the landlord had seen as damage to the apartment. Not surprisingly, it totaled the same amount her deposit had been.

Wood damage to the kitchen cabinets.

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