Page 37 of Men or Paws
I opened my eyes, clenched my jaw, held up my fist at the camera, then slammed shut the laptop to end my Zoom meeting with Josh.
I would plot his death later.
“Beth?” Rocco said, knocking on the door again.
His voice came through the door loud and clear, which meant vice versa would most likely be true. It also meant I was going to be sick.
ChapterEight
Beth
Maybe I got lucky. Maybe Rocco didn’t hear me. Or maybe I was living in a fantasy world where sparkly unicorns served me fresh Guatemalan coffee with chocolate old-fashioned donuts that increased my intelligence and reduced cellulite.
Would it be wrong to wish for a giant meteor to come crashing through the roof and land on my head? It was definitely worth a shot.
Meteor, meteor, meteor.
Nope.
Nothing.
It looked like I would have to open the door.
The only thing I could hope for was that the noise from the helicopter flying overhead a minute earlier had made it impossible for Rocco to hear my voice.
There was only one way to find out.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to bring my heart rate back down to a level that wasn’t pegging in the red.
Act natural.
Plastering a fake smile on my face, I creaked opened the door. “Oh! Hey!”
Hopefully, I appeared calm.
I was far from calm.
Rocco stood there with a stuffed squirrel in one hand and a plastic shopping bag from the Rancho Santa Fe Pet Supply in the other. “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to answer the door.”
Funny, I’d been wondering the same thing.
Houdini was by his side, watching me, wagging his tail. The dog stepped forward and licked my hand a few times before wandering inside the guesthouse behind me for some reason.
I was perfectly okay with Houdini eating all the paper in the guesthouse. Fiber was an important part of the diet. Besides, I had more important things to worry about.
“Sorry,” I finally said, trying to think of an excuse for taking so long. “I was in the middle of something.”
Rocco glanced over my shoulder. “Researching wedding venues?”
I blinked twice.
He heard what I said to my brother.
I can’t wait to be Mrs. Rocco Romano.
My heart was going to pound right out of my chest.
Heat crept up my face.
