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“Balance, remember? No risking burnout, as we discussed.”
“He’s right, Princess. You’ve been working around the clock to get this off the ground, you need to take a break here and there.”
I sucked in a breath. Of course they were right. And they were always looking out for me. “Okay.”
Asher leaned in and brushed a kiss over my cheek. “Always challenging me, little beast.”
I grinned back at him. “And you wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“No, I absolutely wouldn’t.”
Jonah chuckled, and then Asher and I started packing up and getting ready to head home.
As we stepped into the foyer of Hexwood House and Angus, one of the security team members shut the door behind us, Bryce came rushing up to us.
“What’s happened?” Asher asked, on high-alert instantly.
“Uh… there’s something… I mean…”
“Bryce, spit it out,” Asher pressed.
“I think he’s getting at that,” Jonah said, brushing past us and gesturing at the muddy prints all over the corridor, heading every which way.
Asher stepped forward and scrutinized them. “Paw prints,” he determined. And then he sucked in a breath. “And what are those other ones headed toward the salons?”
Bryce swallowed hard. “They’re—”
Before he could get the words out, fluffy fur filled our vision and then an alpaca rounded the corner.
“Jesus Christ!” Jonah cried, stepping back.
“Clover!” Killian’s voice rang out and then he was there as the alpaca spun toward us, staring us down, trying to figure us out.
He stroked his head and his beige fur—actually fleece, I remembered it being when Killian had told me all about there being one at the sanctuary he worked at.
“Wow,” I breathed, walking over and stroking his back. “He’s so adorable.”
Jonah reached out and stroked him too. “So soft.”
“Again?” Asher spoke.
The last time this had happened, Killian had brought home an angora rabbit and it had left droppings all over Asher’s favored white leather couch, which he unfortunately hadn’t realized until he’d already sat down on it after a long day at our firm. It hadn’t exactly gone over well.
But the rabbit was still here, because Asher was secretly a softie, apparently, when it came to animals. The rabbit was in Kilian’s room now, though.
“I’m sorry. They needed a home and we’ve got a hell of one here.”
“For an alpaca?”
Killian shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because—wait—you said they?”
“Uh… right, I did. So, here’s the thing—”
Yipping sounded out a moment before a little bulldog puppy bounded out of the kitchen.
He went straight for Asher, licking at his ankles and jumping up excitedly.
