Theirs

Chapter 7

Lisa shut her finance book and yawned. She stretched and turned off her computer. She shut her office door and sat the finance book on the counter. She put a few books away that she had procrastinated on doing then grabbed the book and a few others. She locked up the door and slipped the keys into her pocket. She turned and jumped when she saw Kota and Max standing a few feet away from her.

"Hey," Kota waved softly.

"Hi," She said meekly.

"Late night closing?" he asked and she nodded. "I was just taking Max out for a walk." She nodded and took a step back when Max came closer to her. Max whined but sat right back beside Kota. "Can we walk you home since it's so late at night?"

"Um...I don't know," She said nervously.

Max whined and edged closer to her. She froze up and once Max was by her feet he remained still. "He wants you to pet him," Kota smiled softly.

She ever so slowly knelt down and slid out her hand. Kota could see it shaking from where he was standing. She finally gathered enough courage and put her hand on Max. Much to Max's credit he remained still and let her go at her own pace. He wagged his tail but other than that he sat still. She ran her fingers through his fur just small strokes at first but then as she got more comfortable her pats became longer. Pretty soon she was running her hand from the top of his head all the way down to his tail. Max stood and rubbed over her leg. She let out a giggle and Kota smiled.

"Can I hold your books so you can fully pet him?" he asked and she nodded. She passed over the books then completely started petting Max. Kota took a few pictures then glanced down at the books he was holding. One was her finance book, he was assuming was for Lost in the Pages, then there was a book called The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare by Ed and Lorraine Warren. The other book was her sketchpad. She stood and Max jumped up to stand beside her. "I'm glad you are working on overcoming your fear of dogs."

"It's just him," She said softly as she looked down at the ground. She shivered slightly and he frowned noticing she wasn't wearing a jacket. Kota slipped North's hoodie off of him and put it around her. "What?" She asked confused and startled.

"You are cold, besides I have another one on," He shrugged.

"Thank you," She whispered as she walked toward her apartment. As they walked she noticed that people would do a double take seeing her with Kota but she had no idea why. She was still trying to figure out why Sheriff Jones said they were trouble. She could tell some people respected him but others looked at him with fear. It was very confusing and kind of scary as well. Once they reached her apartment building she noticed that he frowned at the building. She knew it wasn't the safest place around but it was in her price range and a place over her head so she wasn't complaining. "Thank you for walking me home," she said softly.

"You are very welcome," Kota smiled, "It is can be scary at night. We wouldn't like it if something happened to you. Especially Mr. B, he would be very livid."

She looked at him confused, "What do you mean? Why would he be concerned? I mean I would understand if it was the night that creep keep following me at the charity thing. But why would he be mad now if something happened?"

Just then Max started barking and took off down the road. "I'm sorry I have to go," Kota said taking off after Max. It was only after she was in her apartment and getting changed into her pajamas that she realized that she still had the hoodie that smelled like the other guy and not Kota and that Kota had her books. She could only hope that he would go by her bookstore the next day with her books and she could return the hoodie.