Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
I draw in a breath and let it out with a nod. “All right. Grab the carrier,” I say, pushing on when Starling lets out a soft squeal of happiness, “but this doesn’t mean I’m boarding the crazy pet train. There will be no playdates with Kyle. Kyle is not now and never will be welcome in my home.”
“So you say now, but you’re going to come around to loving Kyle. Everyone does, sooner or later.” Before I can assure her that I will never have warm feelings for her freak of nature turkey, she’s reclaimed the flashlight and hurried off to find the carrier.
Fifteen minutes later, we have a sleepy Bella settled in the crate with one of the spare fleece blankets donated by Furry Friends’ supporters. Thankfully, the rain has stopped, and Starling and I stay dry as she pops her trunk and we set Bella gently inside.
We’ve just closed the trunk and I’m about to head inside to check the fuse box when a soft whirring sound fills the air and the exterior light above the back entrance flickers on.
Starling looks up at me, arching a brow. “Power outage or destiny?”
I smile. “Maybe a bit of both.” I pull out my phone, checking the app to make sure the cameras are back on. When I see they are, I text Kane, letting him know the power is back on and that I’m heading home.
Starling drives me to my place without saying another word about how close we came to crossing the line between friends and something more, making me think she must have also realized the error of our ways. Knowing I’ll never have her in my arms again sends a tight, grief-adjacent feeling twisting through my chest, but this is what’s meant to be.
Destiny wanted me to leave the shelter with a new furry friend, not a lover. I have to accept that and move on.
I tell Starling goodbye and head inside to get Bella settled, certain that’s the end of the chaos between me and my nearly irresistible boss.
But I should have known better.
I really should have…
Chapter Five
STARLING
I’m awoken the next morning by a turkey wattle on my forehead and something slithering up the leg of my pajama pants. Luckily, I’ve had Keanu crawl into bed with me often enough to know it’s probably his weirdly hairless tail and not a snake loose in my sheets.
A glance beneath the covers, indeed, reveals a grinning Keanu, looking very pleased with himself for sneaking into the big bed instead of staying in his doggie bed on the floor.
“It’s Saturday, you two,” I mumble, gently guiding a groggy Kyle to lie on the pillow beside me. “How many times do I have to tell you—on Saturdays, we sleep late.”
“And on Wednesdays, we wear pink,” a voice says from the other side of the guest room in Wren and Barrett’s house.
I bolt upright with a squeal of surprise to see Nora standing in the doorway in a flowy brown skirt, white blouse, and a darker brown corset that’s shoved her ample breasts up around her chin.
“Sorry,” she adds, her blue eyes going wide. “You told me to let myself in when I was ready to leave for the fair, so I did. I thought you’d be awake.”
“Oh my God, what time is it?” I glance at the clock on the bedside table to see it’s nearly ten a.m. and my heart begins to race. “Shit, I’m so sorry! I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and overslept.” I toss off the covers, summoning a rusty gargle from Keanu as I drag my leg—aka his tail warmer—out of bed. “I haven’t slept this late since I was a teenager.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Nora says. “I’m not in a big rush. If we miss the jousting, we miss the jousting. It’s probably for the best anyway. I’m afraid of horses, and the guy who invited me is so crazy cute. What if he comes up to talk to me with his horse in tow and I make a stammering, stressed-out, afraid-of-animals idiot of myself?”
“No way, we’re not missing the jousting,” I say, dashing into the adjoining bathroom, only to dash back out again as I realize I haven’t grabbed anything to wear, and Keanu and Kyle are probably desperate to go outside and get breakfast. “I’ll let these two out, serve them their food on the back patio, and be dressed and ready to go in ten minutes.”
“Really, it’s not—”
“Maybe eight minutes if you don’t mind packing the snacks.” I grin as I scoop Keanu into my arms and cluck my tongue at Kyle. He instantly flaps his way off the end of the bed and follows me past Nora and down the hall, proving he’s a very good boy, and not a deviant, like Christian said.