“Aren’t you working today?”

“Yes, but not until later.”

“How did Diego’s shift go?”

Alex glanced at the house. “Good. He didn’t get fired and he made decent money. If this keeps up, I’ll have my house back in a few weeks.”

“That’s great. Hey, Undrea came by and put the first two fish in the tank. It’s a big tank and only two fish, but it’s still pretty cool to see them in there. Swing by before you head to work if you want to check them out. I won’t be gone long.”

He nodded. “I will if I have the time. Tomorrow might be better. Where are you off to?”

“Bell, Book & Candle. The bookstore in town?”

“Yep, I know it.”

“Agnes, the owner, wants to talk to me about a signing. And that reminds me…” She turned off the engine and scooted up to kneel on her seat, which still didn’t put her at eye level with him. “I hate to even mention this, because it all worked out, but Birdie gave Agnes my cell phone number. I don’t even know how she’d have it, but I’m not crazy about that.”

Alex closed his eyes and sighed. “It’s my fault in a way.”

“What? How?”

“The ticket. You must have put your number on it when you mailed it in. Did you fill out the info on the back?”

“Oh, yes.” She slid down in her seat. “I didn’t even think about that. And that’s not your fault.”

He put his hands on the edge of the passenger door and leaned in. “Look, I’ll talk to Birdie. She shouldn’t have done that. It was all kinds of inappropriate.”

“Don’t be too hard on her. Like I said, it all worked out, but…” She sighed. “I don’t want her to hate me. She is a fan.”

“I get it, but she ought to know better.”

“Yeah, I guess. You know what, on second thought, don’t say anything.”

He stood. “You’re sure?”

She nodded. “Let it go. I’m sure Birdie isn’t randomly handing out my phone number to just anyone. Agnes is a special case. And Birdie means well, I know she does. Just…let it be.”

“Okay, if you say so. But if you change your mind, just tell me.”

“I will. Thanks.”

“Sure. Hey, I’m off to the Shop-n-Save. You need anything?” So long as she didn’t ask for feminine products, he was good. Actually, he could buy those if he really had to, but in this town, that might start some rumors.

“No, I just went yesterday, but I appreciate the ask.”

He almost sighed in relief. “All right, have a good one. Oh, and Diego and I will both be gone all night so if you want to use the hot tub, feel free. The side gate is always open.”

“Ooo, thanks, I might take you up on that. See you later.” She started up the car.

“Later.” He watched her go while wishing he could be home to join her in the hot tub. Getting Diego out of his house would be a very good thing, not only because he’d have his house back, but because he’d have some privacy again.

Privacy that might allow him to get to know his sexy neighbor even better. Sure, she was human. But on some level so was he. And that part of him couldn’t deny that he was very attracted to Roxy.

But he understood she wasn’t ready for a relationship. She’d been through a lot. Whatever time she needed was perfectly okay. That just gave them a chance to become better friends. To really get to know each other.

If that led to something more, he’d deal with what that meant then. And if it didn’t lead to anything, that was fine too. They’d still be friends, and his gut told him that was a position she needed filled in her life more than any other.

Roxy walked into Delaney’s and smiled. It was hard not to when faced with so much chocolatey deliciousness. The store was only moderately busy, and another worker was helping the customers at the counter while Delaney sat at a worktable making up boxes. Roxy caught her eye and waved. “Hey, there.”

“Roxy, hi!” Delaney grinned. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon. How nice! How are you?”

“I’m good. I just need to get a little box of goodies to take to Agnes Miller, the bookstore owner. She wants me to do a signing there so I’m headed over to talk to her.”

“Very cool. Sure, let me fix something up for you. I think Agnes likes the lemon creams and the vanilla bean truffles.” Delaney grabbed a box and lined it with wax paper. “How are…things? You know, your stress level?”

“Good. I’m feeling better actually.” Especially because she hadn’t seen gills on Undrea this morning. Not that she’d really looked. “Clearly I just needed to relax a bit.” She couldn’t help but smile. “Which I did. In my neighbor’s hot tub last night.”

Delaney’s grin widened. “Are we talking about Officer Cruz?”

“Yes.”

Delaney’s brows lifted as she filled the box with confections. “Is relaxing all you did?”

Roxy pressed her lips together. No, it wasn’t, but she wasn’t sharing that kiss with anyone. “We’re just friends. I can’t be in a relationship right now. For one, I don’t want to be. And for two, Thomas still hasn’t signed the papers.”

“I hope you’re calling your attorney tomorrow.” Delaney closed the box and sealed it with a gold sticker. “That’s ridiculous.”