“You two can quit talking about me like I’m not here,” she said.
Mrs. Wilson grinned at her. “I’m going to help Seth at the register.”
“All right.” She turned to Tim. “What are you doing here?”
He kissed her again, lingering a little longer than before. “I know you were nervous this morning and I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“You’re checking up on me?”
“Yes.”
Pure joy raced through her veins. “Thank you.” She stood on her toes and kissed him again.
“Where’s Kevin?” she asked.
“Next door, getting us a couple of coffees.”
“Really? You’re sending the rookie to fetch your coffee for you?”
He smiled at her. “He offered. I think he’s interested in something not on the menu.”
“What’s not on the menu?”
His eyebrows rose and he stared at her expectantly.
What’s not on the…? “Oh. Oh! Are he and Rob seeing each other?”
“He hasn’t confirmed it, but I think so. He was very eager to get coffee for us.”
“Well, yay for them. Rob’s a good guy.”
“Good to know.” He waved at a little boy peeking out from between his mother’s legs while she paid for her purchase.
The door opened again and Denise walked in, followed by her large Mastiff mix. It was only the second time Zoe had seen the dog with her service dog vest on.
“Oh my God. This is heaven.” She stopped next to Zoe and Tim. “I’ve always dreamed about having a house with a library like this. It’s beautiful, Zoe.”
“Thank you so much.” She swept her gaze over the store. “It’s exactly how I imagined it in my head.”
“I’m going to browse.” Denise took a step forward, stopped and turned back. “No issue with Sprocket, right?”
“Of course not.”
Watching Denise walk away, Sprocket close at her side, gave Zoe an idea.
“I need my planner.” She hurried over to the desk and wrote a reminder to look into the reading to rescue animals program she’d seen online while it was fresh in her mind. Finished jotting down her notes, she glanced up to find Tim leaning against the counter, watching her.
She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “What?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt you in the middle of your thought process, but I need to grab Kevin from next door so we can finish our patrol.”
She walked around the counter. “Sorry, I got distracted.”
“Don’t apologize for being you.”
The soft, appreciative look on his face spread warmth through her chest.
“I need to go check on the children’s area anyway since it was overrun right before you came in.”
