Page 5 of Always Be Mine

One problem at a time. Craig sighed and ripped off a piece of tape from the roll at the same moment something slammed into the side of his leg.

“What the?—”

On the ground, next to his leg, looking a little stunned from the collision, was a massive orange cat. It was twice the size of his sister, Charli’s cat, and way too far from home to be Lilly.

Quickly, Craig slapped the tape on the sign and bent to grab the cat. He wasn’t a particular fan of cats, but surrounded by forest and all the wild animals that tended to live in the forest, Trickle Creek wasn’t the type of town where the fluffy guy should be running free.

“You’re a big guy, aren’t you?” Craig hefted the big cat into his arms. Judging by the size of him, he was definitely not a stray.

“Don’t body-shame him.”

Startled by the voice, never mind the comment, Craig turned around to see a petite brunette with a ridiculous number of things in her arms, walking toward him as fast as she could considering the load she carried. “Excuse me?” He was equal parts amused and confused.

“He’s just big-boned,” she said. “And very fluffy. Don’t make him feel bad about his size.”

There was no way he could hide his surprise at the words coming from her mouth. “You’re not serious?”

“No.” She shook her head and, for the first time, cracked a smile. “His name is Garfield. He’s huge and almost always avoids exercise of any kind.” She shot the cat a look, and Craig couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thank you for grabbing him. He got spooked and my arms are full.”

“I see that.” Craig shifted Garfield to his other arm and reached out to take the box from the woman. “Where are you headed with all this? I’ll give you a hand.”

“I’m going…” The woman glanced around and turned in a slow circle before looking at him again with a smile that brightened her very pretty face. “Here.”

“Here?”

“Well, there.” She gestured with her now free hand to the bright-blue door that was inset just a little bit from the Sugar Shack. “I rented out the unit above this ice cream shop.”

Interesting.

Like most of the old buildings in the plaza, there was a small apartment above the storefront. When Craig bought the building, it had been used for storage, and he hadn’t thought much of it. When his oldest brother Chase found out about the space, he’d offered to set Craig up on a short-term rental site to bring in some extra passive income. Vaguely, Craig remembered agreeing to it, and because he was already so busy he barely had time to sleep, Chase told him he’d handle the first rental for him.

Now that he was thinking about it, there were a handful of unread text messages and maybe a voicemail or two from his brother that he hadn’t gotten around to checking.

“Is that right? With a cat?” He was going to have to talk to Chase about that. He couldn’t imagine having pets in his rental property was going to be a good thing.

“Right? I got so lucky.” The woman, whose name he still didn’t know, moved to the bright-blue door and punched a code into the keypad. There was a beep, followed by a click. “I’m in.”

He watched as she set down her things on the floor inside and flicked on the light switch. “Thank you for your help. I overestimated how much I could hold.”

Her laughter was contagious, and Craig found himself completely mesmerized by the sound of it.

“I can take him now.”

It took Craig a moment to realize that she was referring to the cat still in his arms. “Oh. Of course.” He shook his head as she stepped forward to take the cat from him.

“Thanks again.” Garfield cuddled into her arms, immediately more comfortable. She looked him in the eyes, but didn’t make a move to leave. In fact, she stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

“Welcome to town.” He offered her a friendly smile. “My name is?—”

The rest of his introduction was lost as she pressed her lips to his in what had to be the most unexpected kiss he’d ever had. Yet, not entirely unwelcome.

Her lips were soft, and she smelled of lemons. Instincts kicked in, and his arms came up to hold her. But before he could, she’d stepped back and broken the kiss.

“Sorry.” She touched her fingers to her lips. “I don’t really know why I did that. I just…” She shrugged and blew out a breath. “Thanks again.”

Before Craig had even registered what had happened, she’d gone inside and closed the door. He stood in the plaza, stunned, for a few moments before shaking his head and turning away from the blue door.

“What…did that…” He looked around in search of a hidden camera, or more likely, his siblings who’d set up some sort of elaborate prank to get him out into the dating world. He wouldn’t put such a move past his nosy sisters.

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