Page 17 of Finding Noah
He had a growing business, and I was happy to be a part of his team. Stocking proved pretty easy and, with my math skills, running the till wasn’t hard. Everything was so fancy these days. Of course, I didn’t have many clear memories of theold days—what with being Gen Z and all that. I still had nostalgia, however, for a simpler time. Probably the reason I bought paperback books.
In fact, I’d run over to the library during my break to snag a couple. I planned to sit on the veranda, with Stormy at my side and my feet elevated while reading a book and maybe sipping tea.
I’d closed the gate after driving through it, so I wasn’t worried about Stormy escaping when she barreled from the house to greet me. “Were you a good girl?”
She plopped onto her butt. Apparently, to her, those words were interpreted assitandtreat.
I pulled a little treat from my pocket and held it out to her.
Precisely zero hesitation as she lapped it off my hand.
I petted her head, making certain to scratch her ears. “You’re the best. Did you have a good day?”
“She did.”
Glancing up, I caught sight of Noah lazily walking down the couple of steps from the house and then sauntering over to us. He looked positively yummy in a tight T-shirt and jeans that hugged his frame. “Glad to hear it.”
He stopped about a foot away from me. “How’d you manage?”
“First time I ever did manual labor.” I grinned. “I loved it. Am exhausted and want a shower, but…yeah, feeling really good.”
“Why don’t you soak in the tub? I made a grilled chicken salad for tonight. The day’s been warm, and I didn’t want anything heavy.” He eyed me. “Obviously you’ve just burned a ton of calories and need a real—”
“Chicken salad is a real meal, and it’s one of my favorites. Thank you.” I had the absurd desire to kiss him as thanks, but that would’ve been just weird.
Right?
Right. “Thank you for your consideration.” Because that didn’t sound all kinds of weird.
“I needed to eat as well. We have the vanilla ice cream we bought along with some strawberries and the pastries to make strawberry shortcakes.”
I grinned. “My favorite.”
“Yeah, I remember. You look tired.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“Then shower or take a bath or whatever, and I’ll have the food ready.”
“Okay.” I started toward the house.
Stormy was hard on my heels.
I pivoted to turn back to Noah. “Is this okay?”
“She missed you today, and no amount of me telling her that you were coming back would persuade her not to be sad.”
I knelt. “You were sad? You barely know me.”
Stormy licked my cheek.
“You might just wind up being her person.” Noah grinned. “Which just means I’ll have to rescue my own dog.”
“You’re going to recreate your menagerie.”
His face darkened. “I never should have moved in with Leroy. What a disaster that proved to be.” He’d had to re-home a cat to move in with the cheating creepoid. It had broken Noah’s heart, but Fluffy—the name she’d come with—had wound up in a home with three other cats where she’d quickly taken the reins and had decided she needed to be top cat.
No one—not human or feline—had argued. Yeah, she’d landed well.
