this winter?”
Dominic looked at me, seriously at first, then with more of a sense of play. “You mean you don’t want to run screaming?”
“Where would I run? Back out into the snow? That seems counterproductive.” I shook my head. “I’d rather stay and help, thanks. But first, you’ve got to tell me—where do you sleep? Because it can’t be up front here.”
“Oh, no. Come this way.” He led me down the hall to the last door on the left, which opened into a little bedroom beside the kitchen. “I think it might have been a mud room or storage room originally, but this spot is the first thing I fixed up,” he said, shutting the door behind us and turning on the space heater in the corner. “It was something doable that I could single out, you know? And it was small enough that I could finish it fast.”
I glanced around. It was a pretty small room, for sure, but there was space for a double bed and a dresser, plus a little end-table covered with novels and a lamp. Two of the walls were cream-colored, with a gray accent wall at the back. The green bedspread and pillow gave the place color, and the light oak dresser and table made it feel warm. There was a picture of Hal, Dominic, their sister Christine, and the girls all together hanging on one wall, along with another of a group of soldiers in their BDUs, smiling at the camera. I couldn’t immediately tell which one was Dominic, but I finally recognized him at the end of the line. He was the only one not beaming.
“It’s not much, I know—”
“I think it’s great.” I didn’t want to hear a hint of shame come out of his mouth. I was the one who’d basically invited myself over—it was too late in the game to get prissy just because his bottom floor was a work-in-progress. Besides, this little room was totally fine. “It looks homey. Gives me an idea of what the place will look like once you’ve finished it.”
“Thanks.” He grinned, relaxed again, and he looked so damn handsome that I couldn’t resist reaching out and taking his hand. I tugged him in close to me, my touch light and unassuming, and smiled when he came right along.
“I would really love to kiss you right now,” I said, completely honest.
“Maybe you should, then,” he replied.
Yeah, maybe I should. I grinned and leaned in, Dominic’s lips parting in readiness, and we—
Something crashed from down the hallway. We froze, then Dominic groaned and said, “Oh man, not again,” pulled away and headed toward the living room. I followed him back down the cold hallway and to the front room and found him crouched down, staring into a corner that was filled with stacked floorboards and edging. “They’re back,” he said quietly. “Damn it.”
“Who’s back?” I asked, bending down next to him.
“The raccoons.”
“You have rats and raccoons?” I was on the verge of laughing at the weirdness of it, but I refrained when I saw Dominic’s embarrassed look.
“Yep. I evicted this family a week ago—believe me, it was not easy—and spent an entire night covering all the holes I could find that they might have crept in through.” He frowned. “I must have missed one.”
“I don’t see—oh.” No, wait, there was the glow of an eye. And another eye. And another… “How many are there?”
“Three, all juveniles.”
I snickered. “Are you going to arrest them, officer?”
“I’m going to serve them with an eviction notice,” he replied. “The problem is getting them to run outside instead of deeper into the house.”
I could see that. Nobody wanted one of these little guys to make it upstairs. “Okay, I’ll go open the front door and block off the hall. You uncover them and encourage them to run for the nearest exit.”
“Got it.”
Operation “Raccoon Eviction” was pretty successful, if I do say so myself. After Dominic shoved the boards covering them away, all three of the home invaders scattered. Two of them did cut for the stairs, but a few steps in that direction from me made them rethink it. As soon as one finally ran outside, the other two followed.
“Okay,” I said once Dominic had shut the front door, holding the freezing wind back once again. “Well, I think I know what we’re doing tonight.”
Dominic blushed. I don’t know where he got the heat for it—I was so cold I couldn’t even feel my hands. I’d have to get the