“You like living with ‘some’ bees in a gutted house with no locks on an isolated stretch of the lake with a psycho after you?”
Kate kicked at the floor and looked at her shoe. “It’s not gutted, it’s decorator-ready. And, besides, every house has ‘some’ bees.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “Then it’s settled. I’ll come with you while you pack. You and your poodle will stay with me until an arrest is made and your house is renovated and one hundred percent bee free.”
“That could be a very long time.”
Matt shrugged. “True.”
He’d sounded almost happy, and secretly, Kate was, too.
“And you know that we’ll probably end up wanting to kill each other,” she said.
He smiled. “Old news.”
“And that people are going to talk.”
“They always do.”
But what was gossip mere seconds ago now would be true. She, Matt Culhane, a fussy poodle, and a three- legged dog were going to be shacking up. The circus had just come to town.
SIXTEEN
Matt thought his house was pretty cool. He’d put a good couple of years into harvesting the timber from his property and then building the place. Because it had been designed to suit his needs, he’d never thought too much about how others might view it. Until now.
Kate climbed out of her Jeep, then scooped up Stella, who’d hopped into the driver’s seat as soon as it had been vacated. That was close to their actual dog/woms aer an relationship. To be totally accurate, Stella should have been driving the car.
Kate checked out his house. “I take it you had a thing for Lincoln Logs when you were a kid. This is one very impressive adult version thereof.”
“You know what they say… The bigger the boys, the bigger-”
“We’ll probably do better if we don’t talk about the size of anything, especially your toys,” she said, lingering by her vehicle. “This seemed a lot more sensible in the abstract than in reality. You… me… under one roof…”
He smiled. “I like it. A lot.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Okay, and she was worried that she’d like it a lot. She was worried she’d like it way too much.
“Come on in and have a look around,” he said.
They climbed the cut flagstone steps to his front porch. He opened the door for Kate and the pooch.
She hesitated again. “Is Chuck in there?”
“Yes, but don’t worry about him. I’ll lock him in my bedroom until you and Stella get settled.”
Kate stepped across the threshold. “Wow. This is gorgeous. There’s a lot more light than I expected.”
Matt had designed the house so that the back of the main living space had an expanse of windows overlooking the pond and woods beyond.
“It’s a good-sized place, but there aren’t that many actual rooms,” he said. “I’ve put you in the only other fully enclosed bedroom, right next to mine, since I didn’t think you’d want to deal with the loft.” He pointed to the ladder that led to the house’s half-floor. “The space up there is good, but the climbs up and down might be tough on the poodle.”
She set her dog down. “A Stella-accessible room would be nice.”
If this were Chuck, he’d be cruising and sniffing around. Not Stella. She checked out one floor tile and put her nose in the air. Matt guessed she wasn’t much for the scent of hound. And she clearly wasn’t into him.
After stowing Chuck away, Matt led Kate to the guest room. Stella stuck to her side.
“It’s pretty basic.” He gestured at the queen-sized log bed he’d built from wood they hadn’t been able to use in the house. “You have your own bathroom through there.”
“Works for me.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, and Matt watched as she leaned back on her palms like she was testing the mattress for play. His favorite kind of play… Matt couldn’t look away19;em” wid. In his mind, he’d already joined her. They were both wearing a helluva lot less, and Stella was napping elsewhere.
“Nice,” he said.
Kate flopped back, arms spread, luxuriating on the patchwork quilt he’d swiped from his mother. “It is. It’s wonderful.”
Matt hadn’t been talking about the bed. He’d been thinking out loud, congratulating himself for maneuvering Kate into his house and his life. He moved closer to Kate and the wonderful bed, and a low growl sounded from somewhere very close to his left ankle. He looked down to see Kate’s dog baring piranha-sharp teeth.
“Stella, stop that,” Kate said. “You’re going to have to get over it. We’re guests here.”
The dog’s lip curled upward even more and Matt knew he had to make a tactical retreat until he stocked up on treats. He was going to lose this battle, but the war wasn’t over.
Matt backed off. “What do you say we move on to the kitchen?”
The galley-style kitchen wasn’t large, but Matt had built it to last, with granite countertops and quality appliances. Not that he used much of anything but the microwave.
“We haven’t talked about cooking,” he said.
“And we should probably keep it that way, too,” she said. “My cooking would scare you. How about I’ll fend for me and you fend for you?”
“Sure. But if I decide to actually cook a meal, I’m going to cook for you, too.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling. She moved closer to the fridge, where he kept various niece-and now nephew- photos and scraps of kid art on the door.
Kate pointed to the hospital baby shot of Maura and Todd’s latest. “There’s TJ.”
Matt nodded. “Yup, that’s the bruiser. How did you know they were calling him TJ?”
“From the birth announcement.”
“You got a birth announcement?”
“Of course,” she said. “And I’m going to the pamper mom party that Lizzie is throwing next week.”
“Party? I didn’t know about a party.”
“It’s for women only. Lizzie probably wouldn’t think of mentioning it to you.”
Apparently, Kate was more looped into the Culhane clan than Matt had known. This was yet another sign that his sisters had a full underground social machine in place. A slightly ominous thought, but since it also meant Kate was both watched over and building friendships that might make her feel more at home in the town, he’d learn to deal.
“Anything else you’d like to share?” he asked.
“Not a thing.”
AFTER SIX days with Kate under his roof, Matt was having a hard time imagining her not being there. Unfortunately, the man-and-poodle relationship remained nothing to brag about.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me being here on card night?” Kate called from the kitchen. “I could always meet up with Ella for a girls’ night out.”
“You’re cool here,” Matt said as he stowed beer by the poker table set up in his living room. “Chuck likes having you around.”
Plus, Matt didn’t want Kate too far out of sight. He remained spooked by last Thursday’s near miss, and he flat-out enjoyed her company.
Kate came into the room with her dog trotting after her. She handed Matt a bowl of potato chips, and he stuck them on the table.
