Page 33 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

Travis cracked the door and she waved him in. “I heard you laughing.”

“I was just…” She shrugged. “Listening to you talk to the dog.”

As if the puppy knew she was talking about her, the fur ball ran into the room and jumped straight up onto the bed. “Oh, you do stink.” Steph wrinkled her nose but she didn’t stop petting the dog or scratching her tummy. “But Travis is right, youarecute. And such a good girl, too.”

Tink climbed up on her lap and licked her face.

“Hey now,” Travis said. “No fair if I can’t get kisses.”

Stephanie looked around the dog to Travis, who watched her with a matter-of-fact expression on his face. She raised an eyebrow.

He grinned. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about thatjust friendsbullshit?”

Had she?

It was tempting, that was for sure. But even if shehadchanged her mind—which she wasn’t sure about yet—she wasn’t going to be quite so easy.

Stephanie turned her attention back to the dog and scratched her ears. “You can tell Travis that you get kisses because you’re not afraid of a real relationship.”

It must have been the lack of coffee or the fact that it was still really early and she had barely had time to formulate a thought yet, but she could hardly believe that had come out of her mouth.

Travis, however, didn’t miss a beat. “I never said that.”

“Didn’t have to.” Tink jumped off the bed and Steph followed the puppy out into the kitchen. She didn’t bother with the sweater she’d been wearing to cover up her skimpy pajamas when Travis was around. After all, he knew where she stood.

“You’re doing that on purpose.”

He followed her out into the kitchen, where she poured a cup of coffee. She held the mug up and inhaled deeply before turning around, making a point to stand up straight and press her breasts out.

“Doing what?”

He didn’t even attempt to hide his hungry gaze as he traveled down the length of her and her silk shorts pajama set. Her body responded to his appreciation, and her nipples hardened beneath the sheer material. It was clear, by the way his pupils darkened, that it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Prancing around looking all sexy.”

“You think I’m sexy?” She lifted the mug to her mouth in an attempt to hide her smile.

“You know I do, Stephanie,” he said without a trace of humor. “The same way you think I’m sexy. We’ve already discussed this.”

She burst out laughing. “So how is it different then that you go around without a shirt on all the time, but you’re getting all flustered because of my pajamas?”

“Feel free to take your shirt off.”

It was her turn to laugh. “See? Just friends is fun.”

He groaned and turned away. “Being more than just friends would be a whole different kind of fun. And you know it.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“And what if I—”

A shrieking alarm from her phone interrupted them. Stephanie jumped and darted into her bedroom for the phone. “It’s the perimeter.” She shoved the phone toward Travis, but he was already looking at his own phone. He must have installed the app on his phone, too.

“On the north side,” he said. “Next to the river. I’m pulling the video up but, it’s hard to see anything with all the rain. Might be a tree down.”

“You don’t think it’s anything—”

“A person?” He looked up with a shake of his head. “Not in this. It’s still coming down out there. But I’ll go check.” He was already reaching for his raincoat and boots. “It won’t take long,” he said as he shrugged the coat on. “I just want to make sure it’s nothing too serious, and I’ll check on the river levels while I’m out. The forecast said it’s supposed to slow down later this morning.”

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