“Frankly, Kipp, it would give me a great deal of comfort to know you’re being looked after by someone who cares for you.”
I was about to remind him I was an adult who didn’t need anyone looking after me, but his last words distracted me.
“He cares about me?”
“Yes, I do, Kipp.”
I whirled around to find Mr. Wyndham standing in the doorway to the garden.
The golden got to her feet and approached him, waving her plume of a tail gracefully. He ruffled her ears, then glanced at me.
“You forgot your laptop. It’s in the car, along with your duffel bag. I gathered you wouldn’t be returning to that mausoleum.”
“You’re right.” Sir had made it clear I was no longer welcome. “Thank you.”
I was relieved beyond belief, mostly because I didn’t have to take the laptop from him. My fingers would have touched his. They’d have trembled, but I’d have made no effort to avoid the contact, and he would have seen, in spite of everything, I was still in lo—infatuated with him.