Page 53 of My Favorite Hero

I cleared my throat. “You know, I could put a pet door between us. Let the animals come and go as they like.”

She frowned. “You’d do that?”

I indicated the sleeping pair. “I know my dog. He’ll scratch his way through all the doors. I’ll remove the one on my side and put a pet door on the closet side, and in your hall door on your side. Once I take the walls down, the closet is going anyway, so I don’t mind. Frankly, it’ll make my life easier.”

“You trust me that I won’t open the door and stroll in while you’re sleeping?”

Instantly, the thought of waking up and finding her in my room hit me. Pulling her down to the bed and tearing off her clothes. Doing everything my dirty mind had conjured up since she’d broken in to my life. I had to mentally shake the image out of my mind.

“I can put a lock on both sides of the door—a slip bolt for our guaranteed privacy. Only animal access.”

“That works,” she said with a slight frown.

I felt a strange disappointment at her agreeing with me. From the look on her face, I wondered if she felt it too. Then I dismissed that thought.

Desperate to change the subject, I sat back, crossing my ankle over my knee. “I hear you’re doing karaoke on the weekend.”

She looked surprised. “How did you know?”

“I had breakfast with Mark.”

“Ah. Yes, Cal, Lori, and some friends are going. I always had fun the times I went, so I thought I would give it a try again.”

“More like a date, I think?” I pushed.

Casey took a sip of coffee, shaking her head with a frown. “No, a group thing.”

Hearing her say that, I felt marginally better and could be magnanimous.

“I hope you have a great time.”

She stood. “I need to get back to work.”

“Of course. I’ll get the stuff and put in the pet doors. While I’m at work, I won’t have the door locked, so you can get anything you need for Miller. He can go back and forth—you could just feed him at my place. Save dragging over his stuff.”

“Sure.” She paused. “Do you have any more of the paint left from the living room?”

“Sure, I’ll bring it over. I have rollers and a tray. All the stuff you need.”

“Perfect.”

In the hall, I looked at the armoire. “You can leave it as is, or I can try jacking it from the front. I’m a little worried about the carving on the bottom, though.”

“I’ll leave it. I locked the brakes, so it’s not going anywhere.”

“Okay, then.” I paused. “Thanks, Pixie—for looking after Miller and the cookies.”

Without a thought, I bent and pressed my lips to her cheek. She drew in a fast inhale of air, no doubt as shocked as I was by my action.

I turned and walked through the closet, letting the door shut behind me.

That was a mistake. One I wouldn’t repeat.

That voice inside my head laughed at me again.

This time, I sort of agreed with its mockery.

CASEY