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She chewed her bottom lip, and I turned away to give them a moment. Raven had a sleep disorder and sleepwalked in a completely terrifying way—more than once she’d almost killed herself. Unfortunately for Raven, her wolf was tied to her sleepwalking, which meant it came out uncontrolled whenever she unknowingly put herself in danger. Her wolf had once been a scared predator, attacking anything that put Raven in danger—including killing her late husband and attacking Declan once. Holly was Declan’s solution to calm and distract her wolf when it came out. They were also training the puppy to assist in getting help if Raven sleepwalked without Declan realizing it.
“We could train Holly,” she whispered. Oh, I knew that look on her face. It was the look she got when her sleepwalking was brought up.
“If you ask me to pick between protecting you and taking home a kitten, I know you know the answer,” he told her softly.
“It’s okay,” Nolan interjected, his tone gentle. “I know plenty of people who could take her.”
The stare-down between them continued despite Nolan’s words. And for the life of him, I could see Declan’s resolve fracturing. When he inched back his chair and motioned for her to step inside, I knew. I just knew that man was about to let her bring home a kitten, even if they were about to discuss it in private.
“I swear at this point I just need a notebook full of notes on Declan’s behavior,” Nolan told me when the office door shut. “He’s a prime book boyfriend example. My ladies would eat him up like Thanksgiving dinner.”
I snorted because it was true. Nolan wrote smutty-as-hell romance novels under a pen name. He didn’t do events or signings or anything, but he did have a social media group that I ran for him. Thirsty internet women reading smut were a breed of women in and of themselves. We had entire wine and bitch-fests about them.
“I mean you already have the secret dirty talk Declan notebook,” I said with a laugh.
“Excuse me?” The door to the office flew open to one very unhappy Declan. He growled, “You have what, Nolan?”
Inside the office, Raven wheezed with laughter. Not that I blamed her. I did my best not to laugh, but man, my sides hurt with the effort. The absolute look of building horror on his face was comedic. Nolan, however, was completely unfazed as he plucked cat hair off his sleeve. Somehow, that made it all the funnier.
“I may write down what I hear,” he said.
“No eavesdropping, Nolan! That’s the rule!” Declan exclaimed. “You can’t be writing that shit down.”
“Then don’t be saying it in my bookstore where I can hear you.”
“Eavesdropping from upstairs with your wolf hearing isn’t the same,” he snarled.
“I know good writing material when I hear it!”
“You know, maybe putting you two working in the same space wasn’t a good idea,” Raven commented as she appeared behind him. To me, she asked, “Were they always like this?”
“A little bit.” I shrugged. “They weren’t the worst ones, though.”
“We’ll take the cat on a trial basis,” Declan said, and Raven squealed with excitement. God, he was such a sap. Big burly man catered to a tiny chaotic artist because he loved her. Nolan was right. The ladies would love a book about a man like Declan. Though, I refused to read the dirty-talking Declan notebook. Some things I didn’t need to know. I didn’t want to know. Knowing about their around-the-town sexcapades was my limit. “But if it distracts Holly from doing her job, I don’t care what time of night, I’m showing up on his damn doorstep to give it back.”
“Deal!” Raven beamed. “We’ll get you all the toys! And just wait until you meet Holly.”
“This is Henry and the goddamn chickens all over again,” he muttered and went back to his desk.
“Is Henry still trying to give you chickens?” I asked.
“Every chance he gets.”
“He showed up here and offered me half a dozen baby chicks.” I laughed. “Even told me he’d pay you to build me a chicken coop.”
“Of course he did,” Declan said. “And I want that notebook, Nolan.”
“Nope,” Nolan replied quickly. “It’s for research purposes.”
“Fuck your research.”
“Come on,” I whispered and grabbed Raven’s hand, dragging her to the door. “They’ll be at this all day. Let’s go get more coffee for the store.”
“Cat food, bowls, litter box, litter, scratch pad, treats, and toys,” Nolan called after us. “I’d also make sure she has a hideaway in case she struggles to acclimate. You may have to play mediator to a cat and dog, and she’ll need a safe place.”
“Thanks, Nolan! Bye, baby! I love you!” Raven shouted from the door.
“Love you too. Be safe,” Declan replied. “I won’t be home until after dinner.”
