by Lori Foster
“Give me that.” He took the box from her, bent to kiss her forehead and said, “Your mom is waiting in the kitchen with pie and coffee.”
“Love you, Dad,” Amber said sweetly.
Shohn shook his head. Only with Morgan was Amber ever that sugary. “Move so I can set this stuff down.”
She did, but because Morgan had only gone as far as the living room, she leaned in again to whisper, “Go after her, Shohn. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
“How?” he whispered back while keeping an eye on his uncle. “She wasn’t exactly receptive.”
“Well, duh. She knows your rep, whether she buys into it or not, and as I already said, she’s not a dummy.”
Done with being insulted, Shohn turned to go. “A lot of help you are.”
She followed him out. “Get a dog.”
He stopped midstep. That was…ingenious. “Yeah.” He nodded while thinking it through. “I could do that.” Hell, he loved animals. Most everyone in the family had pets. And he could use the excuse of having Nadine watch the dog for him when he worked. She wasn’t overly expensive, dogs loved her and then he’d have a reason to visit her.
Often.
“This is why you come to me,” Amber announced with great fanfare. “Go to the shelter. There are a lot of dogs there looking for a home.”
He saluted her, and now, with a plan in mind, he felt better. Less unsettled. Tomorrow, on his way to work, he’d get a dog. Something easy and friendly. A mature dog that wouldn’t need to be trained.
Then he’d have all the reason in the world to hang around Nadine, and maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to figure out what it was about her that suddenly pushed all the right buttons.
*
IT WAS JUST after 9:00 a.m., but the sun blazed in a bright blue sky, promising a scorcher. Suffocating humidity left the air dense, but Fred had mowed the yard an hour earlier and the freshly cut grass smelled oh-so-sweet.
As she did every morning, Nadine faced the new day with a sense of promise, never mind the sleepless night spent mooning over Shohn Hudson.
For years, she’d done her best to block him from her thoughts. She was a realist, and she knew anything more than a shallow friendship wasn’t meant to be. Shohn seemed to see her as an asexual being.
Or at least, he used to.
Last night…what a difference. But she could probably chalk that up to boredom or a full moon or some other fleeting happenstance that would never again occur.
Still, that kiss had kept her awake long into the night, making her think about “what ifs” and keeping her too hot and achy and hungry.
As she came in from bathing a dog, she again shoved thoughts of Shohn and his awesome bod and well-deserved confidence from her mind. Because she’d been sluggish that morning, she’d put her hair in sloppy braids down her back. Somehow the ends had gotten soaked along with her T-shirt and shorts. She had mud on her nose, dog hair stuck to her cheek and her feet were bare. Sadie, an older German shepherd, loved her baths so much that she bounded and splashed and played and made it almost impossible to get her clean.
So sweet, and so much fun. Nadine was lucky to have a job she enjoyed that also paid well enough for her to keep her independence. And if the hours kept her single for the entirety of her life, well, that one kiss with Shohn would have to suffice for a fantasy life.
Her thoughts had gone full-circle to him yet again. “Just stop it,” she told herself.
“Stop what?”
Oh, no, no, no. Trying not to grimace, she looked up, and there stood Shohn.
Her heart threatened to punch out of her chest. Her bare toes curled on the linoleum floor, and a vise closed around her lungs.
Oh, for heaven’s sake. The memory of his kiss, of being pressed to that tall muscular body, was good, sure, but it didn’t warrant all that.
Liar.
Shohn looked down at his lap. “Is my fly open or something?”
“What?”
“You’re staring.”
“Oh. Sorry.” She straightened her shirt and used a wrist to try to swipe away the mud on her nose. “What are you doing here?”
Rather than answer, he gave her that cocky, crooked and endearing smile. “What have you been up to? Mud wrestling?”
“No.” She felt a little slow and stupid, but ho boy, he looked good first thing in the morning. He was freshly shaved, his uniform shirt opened at the throat, showing off a little peek of chest hair. He had his hat pushed back, his thick utility belt hanging around his lean hips.
She’d seen sheriffs and cops and military men, but not until Shohn became a ranger had she truly gotten the appeal of a man in uniform.
“No?” he asked. “That’s it?”
“What?”
His smile widened, became intimate and knowing. “Having trouble keeping up today, huh? Me, too.” He reached out to tweak one of her braids. “I asked how you got so messy.”
“Dog bath.”
His attention went to the front of her shirt and a brow lifted. “Did the dog bathe you, or vice versa?”
“Little of both.”
He nodded at her chest. “Nice shirt.”
Remembering the shirt she’d chosen sent heat into Nadine’s face. It read I Like Tiny Wieners and came with a picture of a dachshund.
With a load of suggestiveness, Shohn said, “I hope that doesn’t take me out of the running.”
The running for what? He didn’t want her, not for anything more than a joke or a way to kill time or some equally repugnant motive. She had to remember that.
Trying to switch the topic to something less stimulating than his size, she gestured at the carrier he held in one hand. “What do you have there?”
He twisted his mouth. “Well, see, after being here with you, around all the animals, I mean, I kept thinking about getting a dog.”
“Really?” Her heart swelled with pride. If nothing else, she’d been a positive influence.
“I went to the shelter first thing this morning.”
“Perfect!” Adopting a rescue was always better than buying some fancy little dog with a pedigree or, God forbid, paying a puppy mill.
“The thing is—”
She leaned down to look in the carrier—and a distinct “Meorwwwww” came out.
Nadine straightened. “Funny sounding dog.”
“Yeah, see, I was looking at the dogs…”
She took the carrier from him and moved to the counter, where she could better see. She looked in. Yup. “That’s a cat, Shohn.”
“I know it’s a cat, smart-ass.” He braced a hand on his gun. “His name is Louie.”
She’d noticed that was a familiar stance for him. “Friendly?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Superfriendly, actually.”
“Come on.” Curiosity got the better of her. She loved animals, all of them, and she wanted to meet this wonderful cat that had won over Shohn Hudson.
“Where are we going?”
“To a private room so I can let him out.”
“You’re not going to coax me in there and then lock the door on me, are you?” He followed her in. “I need to head to work soon.”
“Don’t be dumb.” She closed the door to a small waiting room—not the storage closet—and set the carrier on a table. Leaning down again, she looked in and said, “Hi, Louie.”
“Meorrrwww.”
“Yeah, baby, you want out of there, don’t you?” She reached a finger in through the opening, and Louie rubbed his square head against her knuckle. “Very sweet.”
“Yeah,” Shohn said with clear doubt. “Sweet.”
“He looks older.”
“Ancient, even.” He dropped into a chair. “The shelter wasn’t sure of his age, though. They just know he’s mature and kind of set in his ways.”
“That’s okay, isn’t it, Louie? Pets, like people, have their preferences.” She opened the front of the carrier and Louie, who was built like a small scruffy bulld
og, shot out. For a thick, older cat, he moved with incredibly agility, darting right past her, down to the floor, up Shohn’s pants leg and to his chest.
Wow. She’d never seen a cat move so fast.
With a great throaty purr, Louie crawled up and over one thick shoulder so that his tail circled Shohn’s neck.
For his part, Shohn didn’t move, he just sighed.
Amused, Nadine crossed her arms and leaned a shoulder on the wall. “Friendly, huh?”
“He freaking loves me.” Shohn held perfectly still, his hands at his sides, his head tipped a little away from where the cat nuzzled against him.
Nadine smothered a laugh. It was just too precious. “What’s the matter, Shohn? You don’t like him?”
“He’s…fine.” Still straining away from the cat, Shohn said, “It’s just that I went into the shelter to look at the dogs, but Louie spotted me and apparently decided I was his or he was mine or whatever. He’s been really clingy.”
The cat purred and turned so that his tail slid just under Shohn’s nose.
That got him moving real fast. Face twisting away, Shohn tried to pry Louie loose, but the cat wasn’t budging. He managed to wrestle down Louie’s butt so that it wasn’t right in his face, then scowled at Nadine for laughing. “The guy that runs the shelter said he’d never seen anything like it.”
“He adores you.”
“I guess. But why me?”
“Who knows. Maybe he realizes you’ll take good care of him.”
“I will, but I wasn’t counting on a cat, you know?”
“In many ways, cats are easier.” She snickered as she said, “They need less attention.”
“That’s not funny.”
But it was, because at that moment the cat was trying to crawl inside the neckline of his shirt.
Again Shohn tried to gently wrestle him back. It wasn’t easy. He’d get one paw loose and Louie would hold on with the other three.
“You could help, you know. This is your forte, right?”
Grinning, Nadine went over to assist in getting the cat loose. Louie wasn’t happy about it. He panicked and grabbed for Shohn even more.
When Nadine finally got Louie free, she cuddled him close and stroked him to calm him down and let him know it was okay. In the process, she noticed he had part of an ear missing, and a distinct kink in his tail. “He looks a little worse for wear.”
Shohn left his chair and came over to them. “Spent too many years tomcattin’ around, fighting for the ladies, didn’t you, boy?”
The way he stood right behind her, reaching around to pet Louie, was almost like being hugged. She felt Shohn’s chest on her back, and hopefully that was his holster nudging her hip. “Maybe,” Nadine said in a croak.
Shohn’s jaw brushed the top of her head. “I know just how you feel, buddy.”
Nadine snorted. “Like you’ve ever had to fight for a girl.”
“Just you—or don’t you remember Bob?”
It wasn’t easy to remember anything with him so close, stirring up the memory of his kiss and the expanded fantasies she’d indulged all night long. “Bob who?” she asked while continuing to soothe the cat.
“The idiot who teased you when we were kids.” He leaned closer and said near her ear, “He pushed you in the lake, and you got all…wet.”
Nadine stepped away from him so quickly, Louie protested. She tried a laugh that fell flat, but the incident he mentioned was still painful to her. When all the other girls had been tiny and cute, just starting to mature, she’d already been…thick. It wasn’t until she turned twenty that she decided she no longer cared. She was not, and never would be, a skinny person. Not only wasn’t it part of her genetic makeup, but it was just plain too much work to always be exercising and dieting and fretting about it.
She liked herself, abundance of curves and all. And she loved her life, a life filled with activities that made her happy.
Shohn watched her closely. “I didn’t think it was funny.”
No, she hadn’t, either. For three days she’d hidden away and cried. Twelve-year-old girls could be so melodramatic and tenderhearted. “Well, it wasn’t then, no. I was so embarrassed.” More like humiliated beyond endurance. “The lake made my shirt all but transparent and Bob started poking fun at me for being chubby.”
Shohn strolled closer again. “Bob was an immature jerk.”
“We were all immature, you included, Shohn. You were only, what, fourteen?”
“Yeah. Fourteen and eternally horny. When you came out of that lake, I thought my knees would give out.” He smiled and teased a finger along her braid. “You’re right about the shirt. I remember it was so wet that I could even see your nipples. I about swallowed my tongue.”
Nadine could only stare at him. His memory of the day was vastly different from hers. “I’m surprised you noticed that, given how you were eyeing all the girls in their bathing suits.”
“That wet T-shirt on you was far more interesting than any bathing suit could ever be.” He stroked down to her chin then lifted her face. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, now that we’re not kids anymore.”
“I’m still chubby.”
His eyes darkened even more. “You are so damn curvy it’s making me nuts thinking about it.” He started to lean down to kiss her.
Nadine started to let him.
Then with a protesting “Meowrrr…” Louie wriggled free from her hold and butted the top of his head on Shohn’s chin.
Nadine ended up with the cat’s tail in her face.
Talk about ruining the mood.
Relinquishing the cat to Shohn, she grabbed a wall for support and asked, “So what are we doing here?”
“I was trying to seduce you.” He frowned. “That wasn’t obvious?” He shifted the cat down to his chest and cradled him like a baby. Louie approved, given his rumbling purr.
“No, I mean… Yes, it was. But why are you here?”
“To see you.”
“With a cat?”
“Oh, yeah.” He checked the time and cursed low. “I need to get to work. I was hoping you could watch Louie for me until the end of my shift. I get off at six then I’d need an hour or so to get out of the park and drive here.”
Nadine eyed Louie. He stared back, his big yellow eyes unblinking. On the one hand, cats didn’t always mix well with dogs. But on the other hand, it’d be a terrific reason to get to see Shohn again.
Shohn shifted. “If you tell me which part of the question is throwing you, I might be able to help.”
“Just weighing the pros and cons.” The con being, of course, that she wanted to see Shohn again and it wasn’t a great idea. “It might be tough to keep Louie separated from the dogs.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. He had the run of the shelter and got along great with all the other animals, dogs included.”
“Really? That’s unusual.”
“He’s an unusual cat.” After opening the door, Shohn put a hand to the small of her back. “Let’s see how it goes before I take off.”
Nadine let herself be ushered to the indoor play area. They had just entered the hallway when Louie heard the dogs. He lifted his head, his ears forward, then leaped from Shohn’s arms and loped forward as if excited to join in.
In one agile move he launched up to sit on the gate, surveying the dogs from his perch. The dogs, somewhat stupefied, stopped to stare.
“Huh.”
Shohn asked, “What?”
“They’re not barking.”
“Maybe they know Louie wouldn’t like it.”
Could be, she decided, when en masse the dogs approached, their noses sniffing the air. Louie was so unconcerned that he lifted one rear leg straight into the air and started to groom himself.
Shohn rubbed his face. “I told him that if he does that too often, it no longer counts as a bath.”
Nadine snickered.
One dog reared back on his haunches and barked. Another turned a circle. An
other jumped. Louie gave up his ablutions and instead jumped down to run and play with them.
“I’ll be.” She turned to Shohn. “Any dog that’s aggressive is kept separate from the others, so these are all social animals. I’m not worried if you’re not.”
“So you’ll keep him for me?”
“Sure, why not?”
He surprised her by grabbing her upper arms, lifting her to her tiptoes and planting a firm kiss on her parted lips. “Thank you.”
No, thank you. Resisting the urge to grab him back for a better taste, Nadine cleared her throat. “Sure. No problem.”
“Give me your number and I’ll check on Louie later just to make sure everything is okay.”
Turnabout seemed fair. “All right, but I also have some papers for you to fill out, including with your number, just in case I need to reach you.”
It was another five minutes before Shohn was finally able to head out. She walked him to the door, wondering if he’d maybe steal another kiss, but a couple was on their way in with their new puppy, so he only thanked her with a smile before jogging out to his Jeep.
This time, telling him goodbye was different.
Because this time, she knew he’d be back.
*
SHOHN WAS MORE than a half hour late, and Nadine began to wonder if something had happened. He had her number, so why didn’t he call if he had a problem? Roxi and Fred went home for the evening, all the dogs settled down to sleep, but Louie watched her with his big yellow eyes as if in accusation.
“I know, sweetie, but he will be here eventually.”
The cat paced the front room, probably wondering why all his friends had been taken away.
All day, Louie had run with the dogs inside, and occasionally in a fenced area outside. She had open runs for the bigger dogs, but the little ones that might look like hawk food were kept in the contained areas, well protected from predators.
Louie went to the door and scratched.
“Sorry, bud. No can do.” She tried to pet him, but he had other ideas—like meowing loudly, which stirred a few dogs. Nadine knew well enough that if one dog started barking, they’d all soon join in.
“Tell you what,” she said to Louie. “We’ll go over to my house to wait for him.” Which meant she also needed to tote over the cat box and bed and a food and water dish… What a bother.
