“Take it easy.” He smiled down at me with a grin turbocharged with his special brand of charm, but his voice had a softness in it that tried to buckle my knees. “I’m just yankin’ your chain. Honestly, I didn’t want to risk upsetting her. So, I’m all yours for today.”
He stepped up close—almost close enough for me to feel the breeze from his lashes. “So, what are the ground rules?” His voice was a low rumble that did strange things to my insides.
“Rules?”
“Yeah, you know, do we hold hands?” He moved in closer still. “Do we sit close? Do we—”
“No. Whatever you were about to ask, no, we don’t do that. We’re just fake dating. That’s all. Don’t do anything in front of my grandmother that you wouldn’t do in front of your own.”
“So, keep it PG rated.”
“No, keep it G rated—or whatever the rating is for no kissing.”
“Kissing?” He ran his tongue so slowly across his bottom lip that I couldn’t help but watch. “Is that what’s been on your mind?”
“It was on your mind before I put an end to your questions about the rules.”
“I hadn’t thought about it even once today… well, okay, maybe I thought about itonetime, but I wasn’t thinking about making a rule about it. That was all you, Willow.”
There he went, saying my name in that special way of his, again. I still couldn’t figure out what was different about the way he said it. It just was. And what was worse, I was starting to like it.
My insides were all kinds of discombobulated. This was the guy I didn’t even want to let free me from my cactus earlier. Now, I was hoping he’d say my name one more time.
It must have been all the stress. Stress-related delirium. That was a thing, right?
“I’ve got the meal covered,” Cash said. “I’ll head back to my place and get it ready.”
Moose pranced into the kitchen. Cash patted his broad head. “See you in a bit, boy.”
I grabbed Cash’s solid arm, stopping him in his tracks for the second time. “Whoa! No way are you leaving that moose here. Take him home and keep him there.”
“Well, that’s the thing, you see, Granny thinks thisishis home.”
My jaw had never come closer to hitting the ground. “What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t tell her anything. When she found out that he was a foster, she kind of assumed that you and I were fostering him together. She seemed pretty impressed that you’d take on such a big responsibility. That’s what you’re trying to do, right? Impress?”
Moose flopped on the floor and stretched out like he owned the joint.
“Well, yeah, but not like that.” I gestured to the dog sprawled on the tile and panting louder than a huffing steam engine.
“Granny’s quite the dog lover. I think you could be, too, if you gave it a try.”
“First, stop calling her Granny—it’s weird. Second, you’re wrong about me. I’mnota dog person. Never will be.”
“Suit yourself.” He took a step backward and jutted his thumbs toward the door. “I’d better get going with the food. We don’t want to keep the lady I’m not allowed to call granny waiting.”
“Wait!” Panic swirled in my gut as I looked at the big, bad behemoth lying on my kitchen floor. “How do I keep him from biting me?”
“Don’t bite him first.” He winked as if he’d just said something cute and then disappeared through the door, leaving me with this two-ton man-eater. I heard the front door open, then close.
I was alone with a toothy moose that probably came close to outweighing me. My heart pounded so hard in my chest that I was in danger of cracking a rib. Could this situation get any worse?
“I see you’ve been reading up on real estate, Willow,” Grandmother called from the living room. “You know, I’ve made quite a fortune in real estate.”
No! She was looking at the props—I mean—the books I’d left behind. “Yes, I remember.” My voice wobbled with nerves. I tried to slink past the dog, but every time I moved, he picked his head up, staring at me with his big brown eyes and gaping mouth. “Come on, dog. Live and let live.” I needed to get out there and get those books out of sight, STAT. “Let me get by, doggie. I’ll give you a can of beans.”
I pulled the can from the cabinet again and rolled the dusty thing across the floor. Moose scrambled to his feet to chase it down, his fluffy tail wagging and thumping on my base cabinets. He actually looked pretty cute as he smacked at the can with his heavy paws, but I didn’t take the time to appreciate it. I took my opening and shot out of the kitchen.
