Page 52 of The Billionaire and the Runaway

He laughs. “Ariana could do it too. She’s great. I’ve taught her how to do checkout and inventory. She’s a quick learner,” he says.

“So, then, there’s no guilty feelings, are there?” I point out.

He shrugs again. “I guess not. OK. I gotta run. I have to study for an exam tonight.”

“Good luck. I’ll see you when you get back,” I say.

He waves as he walks to his car, and I watch him drive down our new widened driveway. So much has changed in such a short amount of time.

I wrap up and bid goodnight to Earl and Buck and then Joy. I find Ariana still at her desk. Her fingers move rapidly on the keyboard making that clickity-clack sound. She rolls her head to one side and then the other.

I look around and notice Thor isn’t in his box. Frowning, I walk over to Ariana. I laugh when I see she’s wearing a hoodie backward and Thor is nestled down into the hood that’s on her front. He’s fast asleep, clearly the typing isn’t bothering him at all.

“He couldn’t stay in his box?” I ask.

“Nope. He was crying. So I swaddled him and then tucked him in here. I’ve seen some people online do it. And you know what? It works. The little guy passed right out. I think we should install a cat door for Pricilla. She keeps wanting out during the day,” Ariana says, her eyes still focused on her screen.

“I suppose I could do that. I used to have one for Barkley when he was younger,” I say as I look over at the door.

“Why’d you get rid of it?” she asks, stopping to look up at me.

“Barkley may have gotten out and then may have figured out how to unlatch Mooman’s door,” I explain.

She giggles. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. MoomanandSnuggles, both decided to eat all my good flowers. I wanted to murder all three of them. They’re lucky to still be alive after that. I didn’t have any flowers to sell for three weeks,” I state, my jaw clenching at how mad I was about it.

Ariana giggles as she pets Thor’s head. He leans against her hand. She’s a natural with the animals. They all seem to flock to her.

“How’s that voting thing going?” I ask as I lean against her desk, facing her and Thor.

“Oh, really good. We have…” She trails off as she clicks a few buttons on the keyboard. “Uh, three thousand and fifty-two entries.”

My eyes nearly pop from my skull. “I’m sorry, what?”

She smiles up at me. “That’s just the people that voted. Like ten thousand people saw that post.”

“How is that possible? We don’t even have three thousand people in Storyview Falls,” I state.

“Oh, they don’t have to be from here. They are from the city, and a few other small towns in the area, we had one from France and one from Brazil,” she says with a laugh.

“And what were the names again?” I inquire as I try to wrap my head around that many people caring what we name a lamb.

“Lamberta, Baa-berella, Sheepa Eastwood, Baabara Sheepsand, Lambagini, and April,” she says.

I chuckle. “Those were some great names,” I say. “Why’d we choose April?”

She gives me a pointed look. “Because she was born in April,” she says as if I’ve lost my mind.

“Oh, right. Dinner?” I add as I stand and stretch. She watches my abdomen as my shirt rises.

I lean down and press a kiss to her lips. Pulling back, I search her eyes. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind an appetizer,” I add with a smirk.

She groans and rolls her eyes. “I mean, if you’re hungry,” she says, winking as she sets Thor in his box. He’s already passed out and doesn’t move as she steps away and starts running down the hall. I chase after her while she’s laughing and trying to beat me to the bedroom.

I grab her from behind at my bedroom door and she squeals, but then the squeal turns to a moan as my right hand cups her between the legs.

“This is my favorite meal,” I whisper in her ear. And it’s the truth. I can’t get enough of this woman.

---