Page 23 of To Catch a Latte Thick as Thieves

The sleepy cockatiel bent over and Fisher scratched her neck while she cooed. Why weren’t all women as easy to understand as his bird?

Annie slid between the cool bed sheets and reached over to switch off the lamp on her nightstand. Lying in the dark, she knew she should be thinking about the loss of business tomorrow and why someone would have broken into her shop.

But she wasn’t thinking of those things. Instead, her thoughts were consumed with the man across the hall. The feel of his mouth upon hers. Maybe it was just more pleasant to think about that than the robbery or maybe she just hadn’t been kissed with that much passion in...okay, forever.

She felt her body grow warm. A smile parted her lips. She couldn’t help it. His kiss had been amazing. It would be wrong to get involved with her tenant. She knew that. It would be incredibly complicated. What if it didn’t work out and then they had to share living space and watch each other’s comings and goings. No, that would be bad.

Even though his kiss had been incredible, it would be foolish of her to become attached to him. She would take him to the wedding tomorrow and that would be that. No more kisses in the dark. No longing for things that shouldn’t be.

Rolling onto her side, Annie hugged her pillow close while she tried to wipe the image of him from her mind. But when she fell asleep, she was still thinking of him.

“What happened? Did you throw a party and forget to invite me?”

Annie turned from hanging the CLOSED sign in the window to see Denise standing behind her.

“We were robbed last night,” she said.

“You’re kidding!”

“I wish.” Annie shook her head.

“What did they take?”

“Well, fortunately, Fisher chased the person away before they made off with anything,” she said. “But they trashed the place before we got here.”

“I can’t believe this.” Denise gaped at the mess surrounding them. “When I closed last night everything was locked up nice and tight. I was out of here by eight-fifteen.”

“We got home from the rehearsal dinner just after ten. That gave the burglar more than an hour to do this,” Annie said. “The police will probably want to ask you if there were any suspicious characters hanging around at closing. Would you mind talking to them?”

“Not a bit,” she said.

“Thanks. Consider today a bonus day off,” Annie said. “I left a message on your machine, but you must not have gotten it. Sorry you came all the way down here for nothing.”

“Not for nothing.” Denise shook her head. “I’ll help you clean up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Annie said.

“Yes, I do,” Denise argued. “You have the wedding today. You’ll never be able to clean this and get there on time.”

“Well, if you want to help.” Annie shrugged. “I’d be an idiot to refuse you.”

“Humph,” Denise grunted and went to put on an apron.

“Morning.”

Annie glanced up to see Fisher standing in the doorway. He was freshly showered, his dark brown hair was still damp. In jeans and a T-shirt, he looked every bit the Saturday man at play. Annie felt her entire body grow warm. Afraid she was staring, she glanced away.

“Good morning,” she said. “Want some coffee?”

“No, thanks,” he said.

She could feel his gaze upon her and felt her fingers begin to shake.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

“How do you think she feels?” Denise said as she returned from the kitchen. “The place is a mess. How would you feel?”

“I’m fine,” she said, glancing at Fisher and seeing his jaw set. “Really, I’m fine.”