“This is what I wear to bed,” Cate said. In January. And when I’m sleeping with a man I’m not ready to sleep with.

Kellen grinned. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kellen slipped under the covers. “It means you can avoid a relationship with me for a while but eventually I’m going to win.”

Kellen didn’t want to alarm Cate, but after an evening of breaking and entering, dinner with her family, and a morning picnic where he watched her feed her giant dog breakfast sandwiches, Kellen was having thoughts of happily ever after. Yes, sir, Kellen thought, he wasn’t just going for the sheet time. He wanted the whole enchilada. Kellen was thinking marriage. How weird was that?

The air-conditioning was on, but Cate was starting to sweat. And it wasn’t sweat from passion. Cate was sweating from fleece.

“Tell me again why you have to sleep in my bed.”

“I tried sleeping on the leather couch but it was too slippery. I kept sliding off. And we agreed that I shouldn’t sleep in Marty’s room again because if he figured it out he wouldn’t think we were a couple. And the truth is, that’s all a lot of bullshit. I’m in your bed because I want to be in your bed.”

“Whatever,” Cate said, “but you’re on my side. Could you at least move over?”

“I can’t move over. Your dog is sleeping there.”

Beast was stretched out with his head on the pillow, sound asleep. Cate tried to roll him to the edge, and he opened an eye and growled.

“He didn’t mean that in a threatening way,” Cate said.

“Uh-huh.”

“Beast,” Cate said in his ear. “Wake up. You have to move over.”

Beast half opened his eyes.

“Poor baby is sleepy,” Cate said.

“I’m sleepy too,” Kellen said. “I wish you would get into bed.”

“Okay, fine, perfect!” Cate said. And she climbed over Kellen and wedged herself in between him and Beast.

“Comfy?” Kellen asked.

“Yes. And you?”

“Yep.” And he turned the light off.

Truth was, Cate wasn’t comfy. Cate was roasting. Sweat was rolling down the side of her face. She tried to move to find some cool sheet but there was no open space.

“Now what?” Kellen said.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re thrashing around like a fish out of water.”

“I’m trapped in here. I can’t breathe.”

Kellen turned the light on and looked at her. “You can’t breathe because you’re in this stupid sweat suit. What have you got under it?”

“Tank top and underwear.” Actually the underwear was a pink lace thong, but she thought it best not to share that information with Kellen.

“This is ridiculous. You look like you’re going to have heat stroke,” Kellen said. He grabbed the sweatshirt by the bottom ribbing and in two seconds it was over Cate’s head and lying on the floor. “Better?” he asked.

“Yes, but…”

“Now get rid of the socks and the sweatpants.”

“No way!”

“Do I have to wrestle you out of them?”

“Good grief,” Cate said, shucking the sweatpants and socks. “How did I get myself into this dilemma?”

“For starters, you chose the wrong roommate.”

“He seemed like such a nice guy.”

“Just because he steals jewelry doesn’t mean he isn’t a nice guy.”

Cate settled in between Kellen and Beast, Kellen turned the light off for the second time, and everyone lay motionless and rigid for two minutes. Finally Kellen blew out a sigh.

“This bed is too small,” he said. “Now you’ve got everything pressed against me.”

“And?”

“And you’re all smooth and silky and warm and soft. And I’m really uncomfortable.”

“It wasn’t my idea to sleep in the same bed. And it wasn’t my idea to remove the sweat suit.”

“Okay, how about this. How about if we get engaged.”

“Engaged? Are you insane? I hardly know you.”

“Honey, in a couple minutes you’re going to know me pretty well.”

“Have you ever been married?” Cate asked.

“No.”

“Do you have any children?”

“No.”

“Diseases?”

“No. And I’ve got all my teeth. I don’t have a criminal record. And my cholesterol is perfect.”

“All good things to know,” Cate said. “How do you stand on the flat tax?”

“Oh hell,” Kellen said, turning to Cate, draping his leg over hers, and wrapping her in his arms.

“And what about birth control?” she asked him.

“I’ve got it covered,” Kellen said.

Cate slid her hand down Kellen’s flat stomach, her thumb dipping into the waistband of his boxers, and a nervous giggle escaped from her lips. It seemed like a lot to cover.

Kellen moved against her, and his hands found their way under her T-shirt, skimming over places that were soft and sensitive, his mouth following close behind his fingertips. He slid his hand under the little pink satin thong, sliding it down Cate’s legs, over her perfect feet, and onto the floor at the end of the bed.

Beast’s head shot up and within half a second he was on the floor, pink thong in mouth.

All romantic activity stopped dead, and Cate sat up and gaped at Beast, frozen in horror. There was a little strap of elastic band hanging out from his lips like dental floss.

Kellen pointed at Beast. “Drop it!”

Gulp. Gone.

“He ate my underwear! My favorite thong. What do we do now? He might choke. Do you know the Heimlich maneuver? Should we take him to a vet? Does the Angell Memorial Hospital send ambulances?”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. I sympathize with the favorite thong part, but that scrap of fabric you call underwear was hardly enough to choke a hundred-twenty-pound dog. It was barely a snack.”

Cate thought about the path her panties would be taking, and that it was probably best to let them go.

“At least Beast is out of the bed now.” Kellen’s Big Bad Wolf smile had returned. “I needed more room to do my best work.”

His fingers magically found the most sensitive of Cate’s sensitive spots, and all of her worries were temporarily washed away. Clearly this was a man whose skills and knowledge went beyond those of breaking and entering and training dogs.

Cate stood in the shower and let the water beat on her. It was morning, and she was tired and a little sore in strange places, having used muscles last night that she hadn’t used in a while. Well heck, if she was going to be completely honest, she’d probably used muscles she’d never used.

She shampooed her hair and wondered if she was engaged. She was almost positive Kellen hadn’t been serious. And she was afraid to ask. She didn’t know what she’d say to a real proposal. She was half afraid she’d say yes.

“Hey,” Kellen called from the other side of the bathroom door. “I’m running late. Do you mind if I come in?”

Before Cate could answer, she had a big naked guy in the shower with her.

“I don’t know if you’re going to fit in here,” she said.

“Yeah, you said that last night, but we made it work, right?”

Cate clapped a hand over her mouth to squelch a giggle.

“I forgot about a staff meeting,” Kellen said, soaping up and rinsing off. He gave Cate a kiss and grabbed a towel. “I hope I didn’t promise breakfast.”

“I have a box of Pop-Tarts in the kitchen.”

“That’ll do,” Kellen said. And he was out of the bathroom.

Cate wrapped herself in her terry robe and followed him out. “I have a huge favor to ask.”

“Anything.”

“I’m worried about Beast. I’m afraid Marty will come back and take Beast.”

“Cate, I know you love Beast, but technically he’s Marty’s dog.”

Not that it mattered to Kellen. If Cate wanted to keep Beast she was going to keep Beast, and Kellen knew he would do whatever was necessary to make it happen.

“He doesn’t know Marty,” Cate said. “And he’s just a baby. And Marty is a thief. And maybe even a murderer. Suppose he pushed his agent down the stairs.” Cate squeezed out a tear. “That’s not the sort of man who should have a dog like Beast.”

Kellen grinned. “You had to work hard to squeeze that tear out. You’re manipulating me.”

“Is it working?”

“Yep.” He pulled on socks and laced up his sneakers. “Get a doggy bag together for me. Remember, I’m the guy with the great house and no food or dishes. I’ve got a full morning, and I think I have an early afternoon meeting, and then I’m free. Do you want me to keep Beast at my house, or do you want me to bring him back here tonight?”

“I want you to keep him at your house until things are settled.”

Kellen wasn’t an expert on fairy tales, but he was pretty sure the knight in shining armor wasn’t supposed to be guarding the distressed damsel’s dragon.

Cate had Julie’s pages everywhere… on the floor, on the dining room table, on the kitchen counters. She’d been working all morning at numbering them and putting them in order. While she’d been organizing she’d been reading. Julie was telling the story of a small-town girl struggling to find herself in a big city. She talked about her mama and her cousins and the pain and the excitement of leaving them. She talked about the people who passed under her window. She talked about being lonely and poor and feeling rich and being in love with life. She talked about her friends and her job on the trolley, and in some mysterious way it all was bound together into a story with a beginning and a middle and an end.

Cate thought it was amazing. Julie had written a book. And it was good. It had some rough edges but that was part of the charm. Just like it was part of Julie’s charm. Scratch the surface of the down-home girl and you found a complex person with a surprising understanding of human nature. Easy to underestimate someone like Julie, Cate thought as she collected the pages. Julie walked and talked country, and Cate realized Julie sometimes used that image to her advantage. She even had a term for it. Country sneaky.