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But then the thing with Vincent. She obviously took up the boat party offer as an avoidance move. I knew those moves because I did those moves.
She hadn’t wanted to be alone with me. And here she was at my house. Alone. I needed to back off and give her space. Maybe she—
A scream cut through my thoughts. A scream followed by a shriek of pure panic.
I bolted for the stairs. “Jillian! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
The guest bedroom door slammed shut. I found her with her back glued to the hallway wall across from the room. She pointed at the door. “Bat. Bat!”
I took in a measured breath. “There’s a bat in your room? Did you see it?”
“It was flapping, Hoffstetter! Yes, I saw it!”
I took her by the arms with care. “Did it hurt you?”
“No. I’m sure it’s as panicked as I was. How did a bat get inside?”
“Is the window open?”
“There’s a screen in the window. How would a bat fly through a screened window?”
“It’s an old house. It might have come through the attic and wiggled through a crawl space.”
“Okay, well, all my stuff is in there. Including my bed.”
I rubbed at my face. “Yeah. Look, how about you go ahead and take a shower downstairs. I’ll figure out the bat.”
She crossed her arms. “Please explain your plan to deal with the bat.”
“Would you prefer I call animal control? They won’t come until tomorrow.”
She did the cute lip biting thing again. I was sure she wasn’t trying to distract me, but the best of intentions… “I don’t want you to hurt the bat. It’s trying to live its best Chiroptera life.”
My brow rose.
“The mammalian order for bats. They’re fascinating animals, but not when they roost on my cooler.” She shuddered. “At least it has access to snacks.”
“If it eats, that means it will leave—”
“Yeah, yeah.” She winced. “Bat scat. Bat scat bad.”
“Bat scat bad for my floors, walls, and furniture.”
Her wince turned judgy.
“But the bat’s safety is most important,” I added. The judgy look waned. “I’ll get the extension ladder and open the window from the outside. The bat could fly out on its own.”
“There’s an idea. How will we know it’s gone?”
“We could set up shop on the deck and monitor the window.”
Her eyes closed and took a few seconds to open again. “I’m pretty beat. I’ll take a shower after all. And I guess put these dirty clothes back on.” She gestured with her head toward the closed door.
“Right, all your clothes are in there. How about I lend you a T-shirt and some gym shorts? You can handle lack of fashion for a night, right?”
She looked like she wanted to say more but decided against it. “Thanks. Now, shower time.”
I dipped into my room and rooted through the clean laundry basket. Gym shorts, really? These would hang to her knees. Or maybe she’d wear them higher, over her curvy hips. Her hips…dangit. Focus.
