Page 63 of Heartsong
If she wasn’t careful, she got all soft and soppy thinking about The Kiss with Frey. Who knew a medieval mythical being would be a good kisser—or that his fangs would get her so hot and bothered? And it wasn’t just an isolated kiss, oh no.
Ever since The Kiss, it was like a switch had flipped for Frey. Like he had a green light. Like they were…together.
She came home to dinner ready as usual, but now there was more touching, more flirting. They’d migrated from sitting on opposite sides of the couch to sitting beside each other to flat out cuddling. Meaning they were horizontal with maximum contact.
Captain was all for it because it meant he could lay on both of them at the same time and get double the pets.
Frey was all for it if his wandering hands and rumbling purrs were anything to go by.
Anna was…well, her heart was all for it. She soaked up the attention and affection like a sponge. She was still sort of baffled by how they’d gotten there, when they’d moved from platonic roommates to cuddle buddies. And she wasn’t complaining per se, but more…confused?
And worried. Mostly worried.
Clicking through the main museum email, Anna halfheartedly answered a few inquiries and shunted junk mail to the spam folder. It was about all she could do at the moment, as the computer had again decided to be uncooperative. Dave was currently taking his sweet time coming to fix it.
At the rate Anna was going, he’d stop taking her service requests.
She was starting to get a reputation among the docents. The computer didn’t act up for anyone else. Just her. Yay.
Computer problems always had a way of souring her mood; Anna never liked having a problem she couldn’t solve or at least deal with for the most part. Relying on Dave and being on Dave’s schedule rankled. So did his attitude.
When the man of the hour finally showed up, he threw Anna a dirty look.
“What’d you do this time?”
“Nothing, as usual,” she said, taking longer than necessary to vacate her chair so Dave could slump into it.
Ugh, he’ll throw off the ergonomics again. I think he does it on purpose.
Dave just grunted his acknowledgement, signing her out of everything and typing in command prompts.
“I’m starting to think it has a bug.”
Dave snorted. “Not likely.”
Well, hewouldsay that. It was his job to make sure the museum didn’t pick up or retain any bugs. Anna wasn’t so sure he was doing his job overly well.
Getting the message loud and clear that Dave didn’t want her around while he worked, Anna put up theMaintenance in Progresssign and headed off to do a round of the museum.
The walk did her some good, and helping curious visitors took her mind off of certain hunky roommate-with-benefits.
Which was good, because her heart was getting away from her. She had to keep her head in the game because between Frey and her heart, it was the only rational one left.
It wasn’t that Anna didn’t want to maybe try things with him. She’d be a liar if she said she hadn’t thought about having him put that boastful mouth to good use.
It was just…she hadn’tchosenany of this. Not to waking him in the first place, not to being his supposed soulmate, not even really to start being more than roommates. It all justhappened.
She’d spent a lot of her life being buffeted from place to place by other people or forces. Sometimes it was her mom breaking up with a boyfriend. Sometimes it was a change in finances. Sometimes it was her own body sayingnope, not todaywith a migraine. Anna had worked hard to take some of that power back as an adult, and even though Frey and his cuddling were great amazing wonderfulwow, that didn’t mean she was just going to give in.
If her mother had taught her anything, it was that falling in love was amazing. Shannon was always falling in love. The butterflies, the flirting, all the firsts in a new romance. It was like a drug, addicting and consuming.
But like with all drugs, there were serious side effects.
Anna had been tugged around by the ear because of love too many times. Enough that she’d never let herself fall in love like that. Everything she’d learned about it had been second-hand, yet Anna had still seen and felt the utter misery of heartbreak. How it could rip apart your heart and life and leave you a shell.
So Anna didn’t partake. The side effects of coming down off of love would be too much to bear.
Anna already had her share of things she’d never asked for. While Frey was definitely better than the rest, it didn’t change that she hadn’t chosen this. And really, neither had Frey.
