Page 60 of The Beachside Rental

With a smile on her face and bag of groceries hanging from her arm, she headed out the door.She’d noticed that her siblings had given her some strange looks, like what was she smiling about, but they didn’t ask any questions, and she didn’t offer any explanations.

It was far too early in their relationship to try to explain what was going on between her and Simon.Or maybe that was just her excuse because she wasn’t ready to share her feelings yet with anyone.It felt special, more so than any of her prior relationships.If she kept it all between just the two of them, it would be protected.At least that was what she hoped.

When she arrived home, she rushed into her place and changed clothes.It was a little early for dinner.She headed next door to see how her patient was doing.

She knocked on the door, and just so he wouldn’t have to get up, she opened it a crack and called out, “Simon, it’s me.Can I come in?”

“Of course.”And then the door opened, and he was standing there, looking well, not quite handsome with all of that bruising and swelling on his face.Poor guy.

Gus was standing next to him with a happy glint in his eyes.His tail swished back and forth, as though happy to see her.

Her gaze returned to Simon.“Hi.You shouldn’t be up.”

“It was my face that took the brunt of the fall.The rest of me is fine.”

She arched a brow.“Except for your wrist and the other cuts and scrapes.”

Simon stepped away from the doorway and headed back toward the living room, where it looked like he had set up his makeshift office.His laptop was still open and resting on the coffee table.

Her gaze returned to him.“You’ve been working?”

He nodded.“At least trying.”

“But you’re supposed to be resting.”

“I tried, but I had an idea for the book and needed to write it down before I forgot it.”

“But your wrist—”

“Is fine.The brace helps.But it does make it really hard to type, so there’s been a lot of one-handed hunt-and-peck typing.”

She nodded in understanding.“Can I take Gus for a walk?”

That was all Gus needed to hear.He ran over to her and looked up at her with longing in his big brown eyes.She couldn’t help but smile.This dog had totally captured her heart.

As her gaze returned to Simon, she couldn’t help but think that Gus’s owner was sneaking his way into her heart too.But as soon as the thought came to her, she thought of her ex.After he’d cheated on her, she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t get involved with anyone for at least a year.

Her intent had been to focus on herself and figure out what she wanted to do with her life—should she stay on at the market?Or should she quit and find another path to follow?

It had only been two months since she’d caught Frank cheating on her.She should have learned her lesson about being too trusting.But every time she looked at Simon, her traitorous heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of her chest.What was it about this man that had her wanting to throw caution to the wind?

“Why don’t we both take him for a walk?”Simon grabbed Gus’s red leash.

She loved the thought of going for a stroll with him, but she hesitated.“Are you sure you’re up for it?”

He nodded.“Besides, my beautiful nurse will be with me.What could possibly go wrong?”

That was the thing, she didn’t want anything to go wrong.But she supposed a short walk in the sunshine might do him some good.

“Okay.And when we get back, I can grill us some dinner.”

Simon arched a brow.“Burgers?”When she shook her head, he guessed again.“Steak?”

“No.Kebabs.I hope that’s okay.”

“Sounds delicious.We better hurry.”

“Why?”