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“That’s the thing about Vermont,” he said. “Its beauty knows no time limits.”
“The tail end of summer was gorgeous, and I’m now loving autumn in Maplehaven.” Leah wrapped his shirt more tightly around her. “But I’m wondering how brutal winter is.”
Dakota puffed out a breath. “I’m not going to lie to you. Winter can be tough. The key, however, is to stay active.”
“Of course that would be your advice, Mr. Adventure.” She poked a finger into his side.
“I’m serious. There’s a lot to do in Maplehaven in the winter. Snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing, sledding, ice skating.”
Leah’s head popped up. “Ice skating? I love ice skating.”
“Are you any good at it?”
She pushed away from his side all the way now, a look of pure disgust on her face. “Am I any good? Sir, I’ve got the figure skating trophies to prove how good I am.”
“Trophies?” He was delighted she’d shared this tidbit of herself with him. Whatever walls she had in place were not impenetrable. “Oh, Ineedto know more about this.”
“Are you going to tell me what that tattoo is?” she asked.
“You can see it whenever you’re ready to uncover it yourself.”
She shook her head, but a smile graced her lips. “Not ready yet. I guess ice skating stories are strictly reserved for our next date.”
“Our next date…” He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
Chapter Seven
Leah leaned against her front door after closing it. She’d spent five minutes wrestling with the lock that had a mind of its own. Sometimes she could lock it with one easy turn. Other times, it took multiple attempts to get the thing to budge. And shehadto lock the front door. Trouble could bust right in if she didn’t.
Actually, if trouble wanted to bust in, it could do so no matter what. A stupid lock wasn’t going to stop the truly crazy people out there.
Leah rubbed at the goosebumps on her forearms and pushed away thoughts of trouble. She thought about Dakota instead who had followed her home in his truck to make sure she got there safely in the dark. Saying goodnight to him on her front step had been fabulous. The man could kiss. No doubt about that. She’d found herself forgetting everything when his lips were pressed against hers, warm and skilled. Maybe all her previous moments had been steps along the way to…him.
Shaking her head as she pulled off her boots, she warned herself to be careful. A man like Dakota could make her slip into a fantasy world where everything was wonderful and the real world wasn’t hiding around every corner, waiting to cut you down at the knees. She’d had this fluttery feeling before—this beginning of a relationship joy—but if a person wasn’t cautious, that person could find herself blissfully happy and deeply in love.
And love ultimately led to pain. That was a fact of life.
Leah stepped away from the door and directly into some cat puke. A softsquishsounded and she cringed as she lifted her foot. Her sock was immediately soaked through with the warmth and wetness of it. “Ick. Dammit, Fey.”
At the sound of her name, the kitten poked her little head up from the tight circle she’d been in on the recliner in the living room. She let out a scratchy meow and stretched out her legs before jumping down. On tiny paws, she meandered over to Leah and rubbed her ankles, a loud purr vibrating through her small, furry body.
“Yeah, yeah,” Leah said, hands on her hips. “You’re real adorable.”
Then Fey’s back paws stepped in the puke too.
“Oh, no, no.” Before Leah could bend and scoop up the kitten, Fey had run into the kitchen as if something was chasing her. Classic case of the zoomies. Puke pawprints dotted the wood floor as Leah fumbled to get her disgusting sock off. “Get back here, you crazy cat!”
She ran after Fey and plucked her from the ground just before the kitten pounced on the fringe carpet by the couch in the living room.
“Gotcha!” She held the cat up to inspect her hind paws, but all the puke was already on the kitchen floor. “You’re not going to be constant trouble, are you, Fey?”
As she stared into the kitten’s green eyes, a front paw landed—ever so softly—on Leah’s cheek.
“Don’t get all cute with me, kid. It won’t work.”
But it totally did. Nuzzling the kitten’s head, she carted Fey around with her as she rinsed her sock and tossed it into the laundry room, cleaned the puke pile and retreating prints on the floor, and wiped Fey’s back paws… just to be sure.
