Showering with Roane was the perfect experience to follow an afternoon of sex. As we soaped each other up with his citrusy-smelling shower gel, we touched and petted and explored. When he spread kisses across my breasts, I confessed, “I love your beard.”

I did. I loved the way it felt against my skin. There was something so appealingly masculine and rugged about it.

Roane lifted his head, his grin pleased. “Then the beard stays for however long you want it to stay.”

Forever.

But I was too afraid to say that out loud.

Once we were done with the shower, we dressed and hurried downstairs to Shadow, who got up from his cool corner of the kitchen to greet us with lethargy.

“These hot days are no good for dogs, are they, baby,” I crooned, scratching behind his ear with one hand while I gave him a rubdown with the other. He swiped me with his warm tongue in thanks. “You need to drink more, gorgeous.”

I straightened from petting the dog to find Roane smiling at me. “What?”

“I love that you love my dog.”

“He’s very easy to love.”

“True.” He stroked a hand across Shadow’s head. “Dinnertime, boy?”

His sudden wagging of the behind suggested he was up for that.

Not long after, all three of us jumped into Roane’s Defender and we drove back to Alnster. After parking outside the bookstore, Roane rounded the SUV and took my hand as I let us inside. Shadow ran ahead, his claws clattering on the wooden staircase, and we could hear Caro upstairs greeting him in delight.

I squeezed Roane’s hand. “Are we telling people?”

His eyes narrowed. “Considering I can’t keep my hands off you, I think it’ll be more than obvious. Or do you not want to tell people?”

At the slight irritation I heard in his voice, I tried not to smile and failed. “I think keeping it a secret hardly goes hand in hand with giving us a real shot.”

“Agreed.”

To my surprise, I didn’t feel nervous about telling people. I already knew that mostly everyone wanted us to get together.

My building was almost as stuffy as the farmhouse, but as early evening hit, it grew somewhat cooler. There was a slight break in the air because Caro had opened all the windows and had the electric fan from the shop rotating in the corner of the living room.

I expected Caro to take one look at us and know.

However, she was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter with her head buried in her laptop. “I’ve seen some flats and houses I’d like you to look at,” she announced without lifting her head. “Some of them are pretty decent but I don’t know how much I should pay in rent. I need advice.”