‘But you’ve thought of that already, of course.’
Right at that moment, her hand happens upon her key. She waves it at Sam in triumph.
‘You just prefer the slight adventure of never quite knowing how long it’s going to take you to find it.’ A reasonable deduction.
‘Shut up,’ Lexi says, but not as forcefully as she’d like, because Sam is taking the key out of her hand and his fingers clasping hers feel good. And soft. And soothing, somehow. It’s nice to be looked after, even by her mortal enemy.
It’s taken Lexi so long to find her keys, though, that Erin has heard the voices outside and come to see what the commotion is about. And, horror of horrors, Lexi and Sam have not yet disentangled. So the first thing Erin sees when she opens the door is that Lexi is literally joined at the hip to her nemesis. Lexi can see in Erin’s face that she’s struggling to process what’s happening.
‘I banged my head,’ she tells her quickly, before anyone says anything regrettable.
‘I’m concerned about signs of concussion,’ Sam adds. ‘She’s saying crazy things about how I’m her mortal enemy and I want to destroy her bookshop.’
Did Lexi say those things? If so, she can assume she’s fine. Those aren’t the words of a confused person. They might, however, be the words of a person whose so-flimsy-it-barely-exists filter has been knocked out of place by said bump on the head.
‘I’m Sam, by the way,’ he says, holding out his hand.
‘Hi. I’m Erin.’ She duly shakes, and Lexi thanks her lucky stars that Erin doesn’t respond that of course she knows exactly who Sam is because they discuss him several times per day and that Lexi was correct about his being quite irritatingly handsome.
‘I assume I’m a household name around here.’
Ah. So he’s read through her anyway. She wishes she could think him arrogant for this assumption, but it’s hard to come to that conclusion when in fact he is entirely correct.
‘Something like that,’ Erin says diplomatically. ‘Anyway, come in.’ She crouches, noticing Oscar and scratching him behind the ears. ‘And who do we have here?’
‘This is Oscar,’ Sam says. ‘Arguably, all of this is his fault.’
‘He tripped me up with his leash,’ Lexi explains.
Oscar wags his tail both happily and obliviously.
‘Is it okay if he comes in too? I can tie him up outside if not.’
Lexi tries not to show it, but she’s becoming more impressed by Sam with every moment that goes by. Truth be told, she is neutral on dogs (though she’d never admit this in a place like DC), but not always the biggest fans of dog owners, who seem to assume everyone will be okay with their pet jumping and licking, in the same way that new parents assume everyone will think their baby is cute. In Lexi’s experience, it’s best not to take either of those things for granted.
‘Sure,’ Erin says, picking up Oscar, who seems delighted by the attention. It’s true that Lexi and Sam neglected him a little as he dutifully trotted along beside them. To be honest, Lexi had kind of forgotten about him altogether. She blames the concussion that she may or may not have. It’s definitely not because she was distracted by Sam’s arm around her waist or his soft fingers on hers.
Lexi is barely through the door when she collapses on the sofa. Sitting is good.
‘How are you feeling?’ Erin asks her.
‘Fine. It’s fine. I’m fine. He thinks I need to take the day off and sit around at home, but only because he’s plotting my downfall.’
Sam sticks his tongue out at her. This should be an affront, but now Lexi can’t stop staring at his mouth.
‘Point well argued,’ Lexi notes sarcastically.
‘I can take it from here,’ Erin tells Sam. ‘If you need to go back to your plan of world domination.’
‘You’re sure? I can stay if it’s easier.’ He shuffles on his feet, seeming reluctant to go.
‘I’m sure. Thank you for delivering her safely back.’
Erin puts Oscar down, and he immediately jumps onto Lexi’s lap, looking as if he’s deciding whether he is going to lick her face. She really hopes he doesn’t.
‘Need me to leave the therapy dog here with you?’
It’s a sweet offer, and one she knows dog owners don’t make lightly. ‘You’d really do that?’
