Page 3 of Interference

He cleared his throat and went on, “If she doesn’t get along with cats, there’s enough room to separate them. If we—”

“No, no, she’s…” I shook myself. “She’s good with cats. But…” I blinked. “You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t,” he acknowledged. “But if she shouldn’t be sleeping out there, then neither should you.”

I held his gaze a moment longer. “Are, um…” I looked down at myself, shame twisting in my stomach because I wasn’t stupid—I knew what people thought when they saw me. No one who’d been living like I had for any length of time looked or smelled pleasant. Meeting his gaze again, I raised my eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

I didn’t spell it out because he could probably put the pieces together well enough—did he really want someone like me in his house?

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’m sure.”

The dark-haired woman who I assumed was the veterinarian cleared her throat. “Has the dog been around cats before?”

I nodded. “Yeah. The, um… The lady who trained her had cats. She made sure every dog she trained was socialized to be around them.” I managed a near soundless laugh and gestured at Lily. “She might try to play with them more than they’d like, but she won’t hurt them.”

The receptionist gave a quiet, nervous chuckle. “Well, his cats aren’t exactly lightweights, so…”

I turned to the man, and that was the first time I really noticed his two cats. I think they’d registered vaguely, but only now, as my panic was receding in favor of cautious relief, did I truly take them in.

Holy shit. Those cats were huge.

I stared at the one sitting beside him. Its head was above his knee, and he wasn’t exactly a short guy. It was gray and fluffy with long tufts on the ends of its ears, and its yellow eyes were fixed on—I assumed—Lily. It wasn’t growling or giving any signs of being hostile—ears up, posture relaxed—though its long tail twitched slightly.

When I lifted my gaze, I had to laugh at the equally huge black cat, who was perched on the man’s hip like a toddler and straining to bat at the corner of a framed photo on the wall. “Oh my God. I knew Maine Coons were big, but they’re… big.”

The guy laughed, patted the black cat, and leaned down to set it on the floor. The cat tried to cling to his shoulder, but finally gave up, twisted around, and went to the white linoleum beside the gray cat. It gave Lily a puzzled glance, then started stalking the other cat’s tail.

“They’re chill around dogs, I promise.” He gestured at the gray cat. “Moose might bully her a little to let her know who’s boss, but he doesn’t play too rough.”

I managed a smile. “Well, if they’ll play with her, she’ll be thrilled.” I was warming up to this idea even as cold skepticism tried to hold on. There was no way he was actually going to go through with this, right? This was like when someone said, “Hey, anything you need, give me a call!” but didn’t actually expect a person to call. He was probably still expecting me to insist that, no, I couldn’t possibly take him up on that offer. He was generous and kind, but no, no, I couldn’t.

The part of my brain devoted to self-preservation wanted to do exactly that, and it wasn’t because I was worried about his enormous cats. Would me and Lily be safe with him?

But between us, we might be able to fight off and escape a psycho who tried to hurt us. Lily was protective. I was combat-trained. We could hold our own.

No amount of biting or hand-to-hand combat would save us from the temperatures expected tonight. Not when what little cold weather gear we’d had was gone.

Please, please, don’t be doing this just so you can feel good about yourself.

Please don’t be hoping I’ll say no.

Unaware of my thoughts, he leaned down and patted the black cat, who was currently trying to eat the gray cat’s tail. “I won’t complain if she wants to play with them.” He tousled the black cat’s ears, earning him a swat with a giant paw. “She can wear this one out so he’ll actually sleep.”

I nodded at the gray cat, who’d flattened his ears, yanked his tail out of his brother’s range, and was currently trying to murder him with his mind. Trying not to sound too hopeful, I asked, “That one doesn’t need to be worn out?”

The guy chuckled and pointed at the black cat. “He has Bear for that.” Meeting my gaze again, he smiled. “Moose will play with her too. If he’s had enough, he’ll just glare at her until she wanders off.”

I imagined Moose and Lily having a stare down. Him watching her coolly while she cocked her head and tried to figure out why the gray lion wouldn’t play with her. My chest actually got tight imagining her spending the evening doing that instead of shivering inside my jacket while I mumbled apologies to her.

Please, please, let us be talking about something that’s really going to happen.

The veterinarian cleared her throat. “Okay, well, it sounds like the three of them would be safe in the same environment. I would still suggest introducing them carefully, though. Either through a door, or here, where they’re all on neutral territory.”

The man and I both nodded.

“Sure,” he said. “I mean, as long as we’re here… Probably better to let everyone sniff noses than wait until we’re all in the car.”

In the car. You’re… Are we really doing this? Oh, fuck, please tell me we are…

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