No matter how much I’ve tried to talk Lottie out of following me backto the house, she doesn’t listen. She made some kind of huff sound, then kept shuffling over the bridge with her body brushing against my knees.
“At one point,” I say to her. “You’ll need to learn how to listen to your elders. You’re lucky I don’t care much about discipline otherwise?—”
My feet jolt to a stop.
On the stairs of my balcony, Dean sits with a tablet smaller than his hands. His elbows rest on his knees, and his eyes are squinting with ease.
Seeing him in sweats and a hoodie will never cease to surprise me.
I’m debating on interrupting to get to my room or picturing fan edits of him right now.
Lottie decides for me and wobbles over to Dean.
He doesn’t jump or look taken aback, instead he looks at Lottie with hard eyes before softening. Running a vine-filled hand down her strong back.
I cough softly. “Someone needs to teach her about stranger danger.” The lump buries itself deeper in my throat.
His heavy-set gaze lands on me. Unnerving me from toe to heart. “Good morning, Nova.”
If his voice recorded audiobooks, I could read again.
“Morning, you’re good with her.” I walk towards them, using Lottie to keep me a safe distance away from him. “How are you up early?”
“Habit,” he replies quickly then adds, “I used to work on a ranch.”
It takes me a second to understand.
Nova, you idiot.
I chew on my bottom lip, swaying side by side. “Did you miss the ranch when you were inpris?—”
“How’d you meet her?” He refers to Lottie with a tilt to his head.
Avoids talking about his past? Check.
“She met me, actually. I was in the garden, looking at the plants when she came to me.”
“She’s a beauty.” Dean shuffles over, “Do you want to sit?”
I shouldn’t.
Yet, I still find my way crouching in the tight space next to him.
His thick thighs brush against mine. Warmth warps around us in a thick blanket.
“Is that an E-Reader?” I point to the tablet.
He nods, “It is.”
“What are you reading?” I turn my body to face his. “Don’t tell me it’s a self-help book?”
“Some would call it that,” he hands the E-Reader to me, then uses both hands to pet Lottie. She looks content as she is.
I do a double take at the cover.
A romance. Not just that, it’s a Rom-Com with a cartoon cover.
I know this book. I was obsessed with the cover when it first came out. The pink, the pastel yellow, a man and a woman facing opposite to each other connected by the line of… well, a phone. A radio-show host and a single-mom. I haven’t read it but it’s been on myReadGoodsTBR for a while.
