Page 7 of Sheltered By Love

But the thought that dominated me most was wondering when Zane Reid was going to leave.

Nicki left, and his brother left soon after her, but Zane stayed put.

Even weirder than my landlord staying overnight in the house next door, was that it made me feel the tiniest bit better knowing he was there.

With an internal eye roll at myself, I blink away the sleep from my eyes, throw the covers back, and stagger toward the bathroom.

As usual, the shower takes a long time to warm up, old houses equal old plumbing, so I utilize the time by brushing my teeth and making my bed.

With a yawn, I grab clean underwear and stumble back into the bathroom.

I shower quickly, washing away the dreams I had in the night, and hope Zane isn’t going to come to inspect the rest of the house.

Thatwill be a significant problem.

I fling on my jeans and check upstairs is tidy before heading downstairs to a bowl of my homemade muesli and my latest favorite caffeine infusion.

A ball of fluff greets me as I enter the kitchen, ears, and nose twitching as he rouses himself from his bed of straw.

I pick him up, and give him a snuggle, making sure I support his hind legs as I hold him close.

“You’re going to have to stay in here today, and I might need to put you in the pantry,” I say to him.

When he starts to purr and wriggle a little, I put him back in his play area, pour my muesli, then boil water, and let the Earl Grey tea leaves steep in the pot before pouring it into my delicate cup and matching saucer.

I take a seat at my tiny kitchen table, the sun coming in as it always does, and sigh as I take a sip of my aromatic tea.

As I’m eating, I glance at the clock on the wall and groan. I don’t want to give him a reason to do an inspection, so I decide I have enough time to at least try to mow the lawns.

As usual, the backdoor sticks, so I have to jiggle it several times before I can exit.

I stumble outside, brightness stinging my eyes as I wander towards the shed, picking up any stray bits of evidence that might incriminate me as I go.

After tidying away the small pen I’ve made, wrestling the mower out of the shed, and pushing it through thick clumps of grass, I manage to get it to the front yard so if he sees me, I can at least look like I’m trying.

As I’m messing with my own mower, wondering how I got it working the last time, the one I assumed was across the street, gets louder.

My eyes drift to my right, and I jerk upright when I see it’s Zane pushing a mower.

Shirtless!

I swallow hard, trying my best not to stare at his defined torso as he pushes the mower through the grass.

Legs suddenly rooted to the ground, I can’t seem to pull my eyes away as he turns and looks over the fence.

The mower stops, and I raise my hand in the lamest greeting imaginable. “Lovely day,” I call.

He barely acknowledges me, just walks toward the fence, grabs the shirt that was hanging on it, and tugs it on.

When he’s covered up, he scowls at the mower I’m tinkering with. “A hand mower’s never going to cut through that.”

Without another word, he stalks to the gate in the fence between the two houses and starts to push his mower through.

He gestures for me to move out of the way before picking up my mower and dumping it beside the front door.

I barely have a second before he starts his mower up and starts cutting through months of growth.

I should be feeling a little put out by his lack of manners, but I’m too pleased he’s taking care of a job I’ve been putting off to complain about his overstepping boundaries.

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