“No, Zosia!” I grumble. “This is my space, and you’re not invited.”
Zosia trots over to the ugly chair in need of reupholstering and hops up, kneading the lumpy cushion with her front paws. “Down, Zosia! Right now.”
The fox tilts her head to the side, jumps down from the chair, and trots past me. Good; perhaps I’m making progress. But instead of leaving my room, the little stinker leaps onto my bed—my clean sheets are going to be smothered with white fox fur!
I wave my hands to shoo her off my bed. “No, no, no!”
“Pah.” Zosia stalks toward the head of my bed, but before she can put any of her nine tails and fuzzy derriere on my pillow, I snatch it up. Undeterred, Zosia curls up where my pillow would have been and gives a contented sigh.
I drop onto the bed, hug my pillow to my chest, and groan. “Why won’t you listen to me?” Somehow thisfeels like one more test I’m failing; I never completed the assertiveness training course that Miss Dragonfly paid for because I couldn’t pass the midterm exam.
I feel a warm lump against my thigh and glance down; Zosia has nestled in next to me and is licking her front paw.
Sighing, I reach down and scratch behind her ears. She purrs and rubs her face against my leg. As we sit there in contented silence for several minutes, a strange sense of being wanted—even if it’s just by Zosia—settles over me. Maybe having a pet isn’t so awful after all.
I leave her lying on my bed as I change into my gym shorts, tee, and running shoes. When I turn to go, I call out, “See you later, Zosia.”
Zosia opens one silver eye and says, “Pah.”
As I pull closed the door to the cottage, it occurs to me that sounds an awful lot likePa.
Great stars… I hope the little fluffball doesn’t think I’m her father!
Chapter 13
Girl Talk
SOPHIE
Afternoon, June 23
Cassia and I are sitting cross-legged on the blanket inside the bakery, sipping our coffee. After I hear the back door clack shut behind Teddy, I heave a sigh. “Finally; a little peace! Teddy is such a workaholic… and he’s so persnickety. How am I going to survive a year without killing him?”
Cassia tents her blonde eyebrows. “Are you kidding me? Teddy is hot! And he seems genuinely nice. On first impressions alone, I like him a thousand times better than Rafe. Why bother dating Rafe when you could get to know Teddy better?”
“You can’t be serious! For one thing, Teddy has a cleanliness disorder.” Cassia chortles, but I hold up my hand. “I’m serious! I think he cleans to unwind or something. Plus he’s my employee, and I refuse to date anyone on my staff.”
“Teddy is the only person on your staff,” points out Cassia. “Who cares?”
I shake my head. “I’m determined to keep Teddy at arm's length. It’s not a good idea for us to get involved… not with Auntie’s will and all. Besides, I’m really excited to see Rafe tomorrow.”
Cassia huffs out a breath. “It’s so unfair.”
“What’s so unfair?”
“You get to work with a gorgeous werewolf, and I’m stuck working with five nasty gargoyles who make rude gestures all day. Well, if Teddy needs an extra job, please send him to the café. The customers would adore him.”
“I don’t think he has any restaurant experience.”
“So what? His looks alone would bring in more business.”
“Wait a minute, are you interested in dating Teddy?” I recall the feeling of Teddy’s arms around me and frown slightly. I might not want to become romantically involved with Teddy, but I’m not sure I want my cousin getting any ideas about him either. He’s still my housemate and business partner.
“Nope, he’s cute, but I’m not into werewolves. I grew up with one, remember?” Cassia waves her go-cup around. “I’m merely suggesting you might want to reconsider your stance on not dating Teddy. See where things go. You never know; he could bethe one.”
“The odds of Teddy beingthe oneare zilch.” I sniff. “He actually called me a frumpy, grumpy faerie last night, after I went to the trouble of picking him up from jail.” I don’t bother giving Cassia the full context or telling her that Teddy also called me beautiful.
“Oh, well that doesn’t sound very nice. But he’d just been arrested, so maybe he was venting.”
