Page 58 of Something Like Shelter

I hadn’t seen Owen since the dinner at his place. That had been four days and eleven hours ago. Not that I was counting. Or obsessing.

All I’d gotten from him was a series of texts asking if I minded putting off my bathroom because he got two emergency calls that required immediate fixes. Since he knew I had a working bathroom, he wanted to be able to help them.

I’d agreed, of course. I’d relied on Owen’s emergency availability many times in my life. I didn’t want to deny his other clients that same experience.

But did some part of me worry that he’d taken jobs just so he didn’t have to see me again after that almost kiss in his kitchen? Yes.

I mean, things had been fine after that. A little tenser than usual, perhaps, but we ate and talked, then took a walk with Adelaide and Tuna after Adelaide woke up for a feeding and change.

I still cringed each time I thought about kissing his hand. What the hell was I thinking? What full-grown woman did something like that?

“Owen, hey,” I said, head tilted to the side. “Did I sleep-text you?” I asked, horrified at the prospect. Especially if I’d done so half-asleep from one of my nightly sex dreams of him.

“No. No. I… I was hoping it would be okay to take you up on your offer. I come with coffee bribes.”

My gaze slipped from his face to see the tray sitting on top of a small donut box in his hand.

“Sorry. I’m not awake yet. Come in.” I stepped aside and he strode in. “What offer are we talking about?” I asked as he put down the box and handed me a coffee.

“Watching Tuna for me.”

“Oh! Duh. Of course, he’s welcome.”

“It’s… It’s going to be a really long day. Someone drove into my client’s living room yesterday.”

“Oh, God. Is everyone okay?”

“Thankfully, everyone was upstairs in bed at the time. I went over and helped board it up right after it happened, but I want to get their house back to normal as soon as possible. They have four kids.”

“Aw. Of course. I don’t mind having Tuna here at all.”

“On top of the work call, my dog walker had a family emergency and went out of town. It’s been… a long couple of days.”

Now that I looked a little closer at him, I could see that. He looked tired, unshaven, and tense.

“I’m sorry. That sucks. Tuna is one less thing you have to worry about. He can be here as long as he needs to.”

“Thanks, Willa. Really.”

“Do you have his leash? I’d like to take him for a walk to burn some energy.”

“Yeah. I have his leash, bowls, food, and a couple toys, and even a big chew in case he is being frustrating and you need a few minutes to do something with the baby.”

“You’ve thought of everything. We will be completely fine. Literally, if he needs to be here almost overnight, that’s fine. We’ve been up a lot anyway.”

“I really appreciate it. I will call you when I am on my way back. I wish I had a timeframe for you, but I honestly have no idea. But I do want to get as much done today as possible.”

“We will be here waiting.”

Something flashed across his eyes then, but it was gone too quickly to parse out what it was.

“I’d better get his things. But I’m gonna steal one of these,” he said, opening the box and taking an old-fashioned donut out.

With that, he moved out of the house and came back five minutes later with several reusable bags of Tuna’s supplies.

“What?” he asked, catching me smiling at him.

“It’s like dropping off your kid to be watched for the day.”