Page 16 of The Love Shack

Lawson searched her face, then said, “You were wearing clothes.”

She winced. “Yeah, clothes that were mostly drenched with rainwater and cat fur. A nasty mix.”

A slow smile appeared on his handsome face. “You took off your shirt anyway, didn’t you, Berkley?”

Flushing, she wondered how he could possibly know her so well. “Um...”

“You did, and then you wrapped up the cat to keep her warm, and since you couldn’t go topless to the grocery store for cheese—”

“I was wearing a bra,” she argued.

“—you named the cat Cheese.”

Yup, he knew her. “I got Cheese,” she said, “just not the kind I could put on a sandwich. Instead, I ate ham and mustard, which was okay, because at least Cheese wasn’t still out in the storm.” They both looked over at the cat, who was now dozing...on Lawson’s boxers. “Poor little thing was half-starved and covered in fleas. I fed her in the laundry room, then immediately gave her a flea bath. Let me tell you, Cheese was not a fan. She’s never entirely given up her feral ways.” She gave Lawson the side-eye. “And she’s always been a thief.”

“Meaning I can expect more things to go missing?”

“Probably.” She added in another rush, “I’m sorry, but it’s just her way.”

Lawson smiled. “At least now if I can’t find something, I’ll have a reason to check in here. And that, Berkley Carr, means you might be seeing me more often.” With that, he sauntered over, boldly lifted the cat into his arms and took back his boxers.

Did he not know that cats had murder mitts? Cheese certainly wasn’t declawed—such a thing was inhumane—and she’d just explained that the cat was still feral in many ways.

For most, Cheese was more of a “pet me with your eyes” kind of cat. She didn’t like strangers to touch her.

With Lawson, she appeared too surprised to react, and the man wasn’t even wearing a shirt!

Yet something about the confident, gentle way he handled Cheese must have done the trick, because the cat was on her best behavior.

He returned and handed Cheese to her. “I like that story, especially how it turned out.”

“Me with a thieving cat?”

“You caring enough to save her.” He gave Cheese a stroke, smiled at Berkley and walked away, back into the woods.

Berkley looked at Cheese, who looked back, both of them nonplussed over what had just happened. “Thank you for not shredding that very nice chest. You showed great restraint.”

Too bad she couldn’t claim the same.

Now she wondered if she could convince Cheese to steal something else.

The past eight hours had been the longest of her life. Lark Penny couldn’t remember another time where she’d had to deal with such flighty customers. Actually,flightywas putting it mildly. Vain, verbose and vacuous. A trifecta ofV’s, that was what the beachgoers had been. No amount of hairstyling or complimenting had appeased the ridiculous women. Literally, her ears hurt from listening to their complaints, often topped by outrageous laughter.

Usually she liked everyone, man and woman alike. Kids and old people. Introverts and extroverts. Today she’d had to deal with some weird variation of women on the hunt...or something. In between demands, they’d very inappropriately commented on men they’d seen at the lake. Conquests would take place, Lark had no doubt about that.

Thinking to stroll along the sandy beach and clear her head, she drove to the lake instead of heading home, and found a parking spot. The air was clean, early evening was a little cooler, and the sights were incredible. Then she spotted the V’s—the very trio of beach beauties who had tried her patience—still on the prowl. Lark had to admit, they looked great with the backdrop of the early evening sunlight reflecting off the lake.

Maybe if she looked like that, she’d live in a bikini, too... No. With her fair skin, she’d need a bucket of sunscreen. Nothing sexy in that.

Changing her mind on her destination, she left her sporty little car and headed in the opposite direction, away from the body of water.

Being somewhat new to town didn’t slow her down. She’d made a point of finding all the different businesses—a girl liked to be prepared—and had even introduced herself to as many proprietors as possible.

Good Lord, she was the queen of alliteration today.

Smiling to herself, she headed for the barbecue restaurant. Apparently, this was a day for indulgence.

In minutes, she stepped through the door and was greeted by air-conditioning and the laughter of a busy crowd. She didn’t see any empty tables, so she headed to the bar, where she spotted an empty stool. To the right of the seat was an obvious couple, angled toward each other and in close conversation.

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