Page 66 of Beware of Dog

Eighteen

While she was drying her hair the next morning, Cass was struck by the unsettling sense that yesterday had been one long dream. That once she stepped out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for her day, school bag on her shoulder, once they crossed the flat’s threshold and locked the door behind them, some spell would be broken, and she could never again return to the panting and the laughing and the quiet whispering of the clean white sheets they’d shared yesterday.

But then she stepped into the living room, and Shep was standing there, waiting for her, in his jacket and cut, Twix bar held out in offering and a rather goofy look on his face. “We overslept, so we don’t have time for breakfast. Here. A nutritious start to your day.”

She thought her own face did something equally goofy, and was relieved to realize her hair-drying fears had been unfounded. They were still going to bethem, in or out of bed.

“Where are you off to today?” she asked, when they were in the hall and he was locking up. “Dog duties?”

“Yeah. I’ve got some things Mav wants me to check on, and then I’m gonna hit the gym.” He pocketed his keys, and they fell into step toward the elevator. “What time do you get out of class?”

Her heart gave another of those swoops like it had over and over yesterday; it could turn into a cardiac problem, she thought. Did this mean he wanted to see her after class? That he might even swing by and pick her up from class?

“I mean,” he continued, voice touched with a faint brush of nerves, “I don’t like the idea of you staying in your dorm right now, and I figure you don’t either.”

“No, I don’t.” And that wasn’t just about spending time with him. Aside from gathering her things, she didn’t care if she ever saw the inside of that dorm again. “My portfolio’s there, but I’ll get it on my way to class.”

He nodded as they reached the elevator and he pressed the button. “Call me if anyone gives you hassle.”

“What will you do? Punch girls for saying mean things to me?”

“No, but I can give ‘emthe look.” He demonstrated, and she burst out laughing.The lookwent wry. “Shit. I’m losing my touch.”

“No,” she assured, and stroked a hand down his chest. His gaze flicked down to follow the motion, and his mouth twitched in an interested way. “But I’m afraid I’m immune. My favorite brother istheCharlie Fox after all.”

“Jesus.” He gave a theatric shudder. “Don’t remind me.”

The elevator arrived, and they stepped on with a harried woman juggling a toddler and a briefcase.

“Hello, Landon,” Cass greeted. She spent so much time in the building she’d begun to learn the tenants’ names and occupations, something Shep staunchly refused to do. “Hello, Mary, can I hold him for you while you fix that?” The briefcase was open and threatening to spill its contents to the elevator floor.

“God, yes, thank you.” Mary handed over the baby, and Cass caught a glimpse of Shep over in the far corner, eyeing her in an odd way.

Cass made chitchat with Mary, who was smiling and more relaxed-looking by the time they reached the ground floor and exited the elevator. “Thank you, Cassandra, I owe you.”

“No trouble!”

Out on the sidewalk, where the day was shaping up to be cold, gray, and speckled with mist, Shep sent her anotherof those odd looks, halfway between a smile and a smirk. “You actuallylikekids, don’t you?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with them?”

“Uh,lots.”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,darling, but there’s lots wrong with you, too.” Belatedly, she realized she’d saiddarling, and her face heated.

He didn’t seem to notice, stepping up to the curb, glancing down the busy street and lifting his arm. “Yeah, but I know it, and I admit to it. Kids just think they’re hot shit.”

“What are you doing?”

His brows lifted. “What’s it look like I’m doing?”

“Why on earth would you hail a cab?”

His gaze dropped to her waist.Lower. “Don’t be a hero, sweetheart,” he said, “you can’t get on the bike today.”

Would a real old lady get into a cab? No. And neither would she.

She folded her arms.

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