Page 108 of Let Me Be the One

Tanner started to stop the dog, until she put her uninjured arm around him.

“You got new furniture,” Tanner said, concerned.

But Callie shook her head. “Blu is fine.” Staring Tanner right in his dark, sexy eyes, she said, “Anytime Blu is here, he’s welcome to get comfortable anywhere he wants. The couch…the bed. Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Okay, then.” His mouth hitched in another smile. “I’ll be right back. Try not to move too much.”

Callie nodded. With the pain settling in, she wasn’t sure she could. “Tanner? Please be careful.”

He nodded. Holding her flashlight, he headed up.

Grateful that she had Blu with her, Callie hugged the dog. He snuffled her, gave her a lick, then turned back to watch for Tanner. Body alert, Blu waited, but he didn’t really seem worried and that helped Callie not to worry. She could hear Tanner moving around up there and imagined that with the shorter ceiling it was an awkward exploration for him.

Thankfully, he wasn’t gone long, maybe ten minutes that felt like a lifetime, but when he came down the ladder, she immediately pounced. “Well?”

“No snakes,” he promised. “But I’ll need to secure that window tonight. You don’t want a bat to get in.”

No, she didn’t.

Tanner crouched down in front of her. “Have you been in the attic at all?”

“No. This would have been my first time, but it was a spectacular failure.” Seeing his expression, she frowned and asked, “Why?”

“There’s a rock in the attic. I think that’s how the window got broken. Also, the latch on the inside is opened.”

It took a second for the implications to sink in. “You think someone deliberately broke a pane of glass and got into my attic? But for what reason?” An incredulous, nervous laugh escaped her. “To toss in a snake?”

“That’s the big question, right? Actually, rat snakes are good climbers and they’re sometimes drawn to attics if you have a rat or mouse problem.”

“Okay, full-fledged freak-out coming on.”

“I looked around,” Tanner assured her. “No sign of rodent droppings and nothing was chewed up.”

Hopeful, she asked, “So no rats?”

“No signs of even a cute little mouse.”

Callie dropped her head back. “Finally, some good news.”

“Here’s the thing, though. Somehow that rock got in there. I’d think the rock was just thrown in to scare you…”

“Except for the open latch.”

He nodded. “I didn’t want to rummage through your uncle’s private things. That’s for you to do. There could be something valuable up there.” He shrugged. “But I doubt it. From what I could tell, it just looked like old photo albums and stuff from childhood.”

From Reggie’s childhood—and maybe her dad’s too? “I’d like to see them.”

“Tomorrow I can bring them down.”

So she’d see him again tomorrow? Meeting his gaze, Callie gave him an out. “I could pay Liam to do it.”

Tanner pretended to take that on the chin. “Ouch.” Expression softening, he said, “We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”

She’d thought so, until he’d disappeared for a week—again. “You tell me.”

Cupping a hand to the side of her neck, he leaned in and put the gentlest of kisses to her lips. “We definitely do. But tonight I just want to take care of you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

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