Page 5

“Beautiful,” Dewey murmured. “I haven’t ever seen the fall leaves here.”

Paige wrinkled her nose as she realized Dewey had spent over a decade trapped below in the library’s archives because the former librarian had never taken him out, keeping him hidden away instead.

“You better stop talking to me before you end up on the internet again as a crazy lady.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Paige said with a grin. “I put one of those Bluetooth things in my ear, so people will just think I’m on the phone.”

“Ohhhh, smart, Paige, smart.”

Paige’s smile broadened as she waited on the street corner to cross.

“So, where’s your place at?”

“Not far from the library,” Paige answered, turning a corner after crossing the street. “I’m in the old Drumchapel building on Stormspell.”

“The one with the gargoyles on top?”

Paige turned onto her street. “That’s the one!” Her brow furrowed. “How did you know that?”

“I saw a picture of it when I was researching the town. Sometimes at night after hours, if we weren’t busy, I’d go on Snoodle Maps and walk around town and pretend I was out.”

Paige glanced down at the carrier as she climbed the stone steps in front of the white building, glancing up at the gargoyles perched above her before she pushed in through the creaky iron and glass door.

“Well, now you are out and about and in the Drumchapel building!”

“Yeah!” Dewey said, his voice echoing in the high-ceilinged entryway. Paige stepped onto the worn tile floor, the same one from the building’s construction in the 1920s.

She hurried up the worn stairs to her fourth-floor apartment and puffed for breath as she reached the landing.

She wandered along the railing overlooking the stairs to her apartment. The brass number three at the end of her apartment number still hung upside down. Paige dumped her bags on the floor as she dug in her tote for her keys.

“Oh, shoot,” she murmured.

“What is it?” Dewey asked, still swinging from her shoulder in his carrier.

“The stupid dragon tail got stuck on the tote again.” Paige dropped to one knee as she struggled to free the dragon charm on her charm bracelet from the tote bag’s lining.

“Hey, watch what you’re calling stupid.”

“I’m calling this stupid because it is stupid. The stupid tail is always catching on any stupid thing it can find and getting stuck.” She gritted her teeth as she grabbed hold of the silver dragon’s tail and wiggled it free.

She breathed a sigh of relief, pulling the tote open with her right hand to dig for the keys.

“Oh, hey, Paige,” a male voice said.

Paige snapped her gaze in the direction of the voice. Her upstairs neighbor, Devon, stood on the landing. He ran his fingers through his wavy, dark hair, his white teeth gleaming from his tanned skin.

“Devon!” Paige said with a bit too much enthusiasm as she rocketed to stand, bobbling Dewey’s carrier at her side.

The tall man closed the distance between them. His dark eyes bore into hers as he flexed his chiseled jaw. “Haven’t seen you in a few days. Everything okay?”

The grin never faded from Paige’s face as he spoke. “Yep! All good. So good.”

He glanced down at the bags sprawled around her feet, his full lips puckering before they turned into a grin. “Having a party?”

“Movie night,” Paige answered.

He poked a finger at the carrier. “With the cat?”