Page 185 of The Grand Duel
Isit up in the bed, and Luna is instantly on me. I push her back and then pull her to sit at my side and not on my chest.
“Dais, come here.”
She shuffles herself up the bed and settles in the V of my legs, resting her head on my stomach.
Breakfast date and a trip to the cottage? I want to show you the outside.
I smile, and Luna must think it means something because she licks up my cheek. “Jesus, dog!” I say, wiping at the slobber.
I read over Lissie’s message again and then eye the dogs. “You wanna see Lissie today, pups?”
Luna whines. Daisy huffs a sigh.
I have to be back by 12ish.
On my way
She wasn’t kidding. My doorbell chimes as I’m pulling on my jeans, barely out of the shower.
I grab a T-shirt and jumper and jog down the stairs, pulling on the shirt whilst the dogs wait at the door.
“Back,” I tell them, pulling it open.
Lissie is standing on the other side, her hair pulled up off her face in a high bun on the top of her head. She’s wearing a pair of dark leggings with white trainers and the navy jumper she borrowed from me the other day.
She holds out a bag and two drinks in her hands, barely waiting for me to take them before she lets go and holds her arms out to the dogs.
“Hello, babies!” They jump at her, and she drops her head, letting them do their worst to her face and smiling the entire time. “Oh, I missed you this week!” When she eventually looks up at me, her smile widens. “That’s as good as any therapy I’ve ever had.”
I cock my head for her to come in, and she fights her way past the dogs and inside. “Good morning, Lissie.”
“It is. Are you excited?”
I check the drinks and hand over her tea. It’s been three days since she showed me the cottage, and I’ve not been back there since. “More intrigued.”
“Good. Intrigued is good. I was half expecting you to call me into your office this week and tell me you changed your mind.”
My lips curl down in contemplation. “I did call Mase and give him shit.”
“I know, he texted me yesterday.”
I look up from where I’m checking inside the bag. “What?”
She brings her tea away from her lips. “He texted me telling me you’d chewed him a new one and that it’s all good.”
“Mason texted you?” I say.
What the fuck?
Since when did my friends text my staff? The woman I’m…Lissie.
She smiles. “Well, I texted him telling him I’d taken you to the cottage, and that I was super thankful for all of his help.”
“Youtexted him?”
Why does that bother me so much, and what the fuck is my heart doing?
“Yep. And then he texted back.” She widens her eyes. “Shocking, isn’t it?” She chuckles. “Come on, we can eat in the car.”