Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Moving quietly, I used the bathroom and got a drink of water. When I got back to my room, my bed was occupied—naturally.
Zeus looked up and wagged his tail when I shut the door behind me. Carter made me uncomfortable, but when I thought about it, Zeus was the most forward of the bunch. “Did I invite you in here?” I asked him in a whisper.
His tail wagged harder, as if to say that I hadn’t, but I should have.
He was right in the middle of the bed, so I climbed over him and then worked to free the covers. Finally getting the hint, he stood up, but as soon as I was all tucked in, he settled down by my side. His bulk was welcome even though it wasn’t too cold in here. I patted my head. “How long have you known Carter?” I asked rhetorically. “He doesn’t seem like the type to own a good boy like you.”
Zeus tilted his head so I could rub under his chin. Drowsiness set in, but I didn’t stop petting the dog. All my anxiety, both on this trip and from a lifetime, faded as I stroked his soft fur. It was nice to be able to let my guard down. That didn’t happen to me often, but it did with Zeus.
Too bad I worked such long hours. It would be nice to have a dog to come home to. My thoughts grew fuzzy as I petted the collie, and I fell back asleep.
My thoughts about Zeus were a little less charitable when he woke me at an ungodly early hour. Well, okay, according to my phone it was seven thirty, but since coming up here, I’d gotten in the habit of sleeping in.
With bleary eyes, I opened the door just enough for the dog to slip out. Someone else could take him outside.
I went through my very small assortment of clothes and decided to wear my hoodie with Drew’s sweatpants. We were in the mountains—it was okay to look baggy like an abominable snowman, right?
No one was in the living room before or after my shower, which seemed a small mercy. I hadn’t had a roommate in years. Even if I wasn’t staying with three hot-as-sin men who made me nervous on several levels, I wouldn’t have enjoyed sharing a bathroom. But at least they weren’t slobs. The bathroom had smelled like aftershave and body wash, but it wasn’t a mess.
I ventured into the kitchen, wondering where the others were. Tristan and Carter might be upstairs. Did that mean Drew was outside with Zeus? I wished I knew if any of them had had breakfast. I couldn’t cook much, but I was pretty good at scrambled eggs. However, I didn’t know if I should make them for myself or for everyone.
While waiting, I popped some bread in the toaster. Then the front door opened. A rush of cold air preceded Carter and Zeus in. The dog made a beeline for me, but Carter took his time putting his bow and arrows away, while I tried not to think about what he’d been doing with them. At least he didn’t have a dead rabbit with him or anything like that. Maybe he was a bad shot? The thought had me biting back a grin.
Zeus danced around my feet when Carter entered the kitchen. He had on a blue sweater and black jeans, and his boots made him look impossibly tall. His cheeks were flushed from the cold, and his eyes, as always, were unreadable. “He wants a treat.”
“Huh?”
“Zeus. His treats are in that top cabinet next to the fridge.”
Oh. It might help me understand Carter better if I stopped jumping every time he appeared, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards. Zeus grew frenzied as he saw where I was headed, but once I opened the cabinet, I had a problem. A large bag of dog treats was on the top shelf. Carter would have no issue reaching up there, but me? Not so much.
My heart sank as I stood on my tiptoes and still couldn’t reach the bag. It had been a long time since I’d had the simple pleasure of giving a dog a treat—well, besides the unauthorized cookie I’d given Zeus down at my cabin. Placing one hand on the counter for leverage, I jumped, reaching upward.
All I managed to do was to bump my hips into the counter and then rebound backwards—directly into a very hard, immovable mass.
Carter grasped my shoulders as I ricocheted back against him. His long, hard body had all the give of a brick wall. He was an entrepreneur—why the hell did he need all those sculpted muscles? They sure as hell didn’t provide a very soft landing place, though, I had to admit, pressing back against him made my blood pump harder.