Page 80 of Rosie and the Beast Next Door

“That’s a cat?”

“A hairless one.”

Mom’s brows rose as if trying to make sense of it.

There was no making sense of it.

“I never knew you were a cat person.” Mom watched me stroke Lizzy’s soft ears. She wasn’t completely hairless. She had fine, downy hairs all along her that I’d never noticed before.

“I’m not.”

Mom gave a skeptical look at my hand resting on Lizzy’s back to give her more warmth. Fine. I didn’t even believe myself anymore.

Rosie came downstairs pink-cheeked, her wet hair curling around her shoulders. I missed seeing her in my clothes.

“Bathroom’s open,” she said.

I set Lizzy on the floor and took my dishes to the sink. When I turned to head upstairs, the back of my hand lightly grazed the back of Rosie’s as I passed her. My heart rate kicked up a notch as she pressed her shoulder into me and gave me a smile.

“I saw you holding Lizzy,” she whispered.

“Hm? What? You must be dreaming,” I teased, then jumped out of the way as she went to poke me in the side. I went up the stairs with a goofy grin I was glad no one could see.

Chapter 31

Rosie

I sat in Dylan’sseat at the kitchen table, with Lizzy tucked snuggly against me while Mrs. Savage got me some lunch. With the first bite, I felt warmed from the inside out. Ever since I’d woken up this morning, I’d been freezing cold.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

I’d been plenty warm in Dylan’s embrace. I needed to stop thinking about it—his smooth skin, his firm grip on my hip, my mouth pressed to his neck. But, the fact was, it hadn’t been a terrible way to wake up.

Nope.

It had been an amazing way to wake up. Perhaps I should send that info to the family group chat. Keep them up to date since they were so curious about my life.

“You know,” Mrs. Savage said, “I didn’t expect this. But I should have.”

“What?” I asked. I nibbled off a piece of biscuit and went straight to heaven.

“For you and Dylan to fall in love.”

That perfect bite of biscuit flew across the table as I sputtered. “Excuse me?”

Mrs. Savage’s eyes twinkled, but she didn’t repeat herself as she used a napkin to clean up my mess. The silence was communication enough.

“We’re not in love,” I insisted.

“Okay,” she said.

The back door opened before I could argue further, and Sheriff Savage stepped into the house, whistling a tune I didn’t recognize.

“Smells good in here. Is that Rosie’s truck parked out front?” he asked as he came around the corner. He paused when he saw me at the table. “Heard about the shop,” he said. “Stopped by earlier, but no one was there.”

“We were probably here,” I said.

“We?” He shrugged off his uniform jacket and set it on the back of his chair, then went to the stove to check out what was cooking. “Have you eaten yet, hon?”

---