Page 14 of His Wild Attraction

The kitten made Sammy happy, so I was keeping him.

Even if I had to wear pads because I was constantly sneeze-peeing.

And if Andres said yes to my proposal, then he would have to keep him, too.

CHAPTER SIX ELLIE

The intercom buzzed just as I yanked my tank top over my head. Fluffing my hair quickly, I slid across the floor in my sock-covered feet and pressed the button.

“Ellie? There’s someone downstairs for you, dear. A Mr. Ramirez?”

Mrs. Stevens’ voice sounded fuzzy through the intercom speaker. Each floor had one right by the newly installed, double locked doors Meredith had the construction crew put in.

She’d managed to create five units out of one house, and the result was literally perfect for the people who would be staying there. So far, it was just me and Sammy and Mrs. Stevens.

“Ellie?”

Shit. I forgot to answer. Unsure of what to say. I settled on keeping it simple.

“Um, thank you. Mrs. Stevens. Can he come up, please?”

“He is on Mrs. Aziz’s approved visitor list, so yes, he can, but I wanted to check with you first.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Stevens. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, dear. Don’t forget we have a strict eleven PM curfew on visitors.”

“Yes, Mrs. Stevens. I won’t forget,” I said honestly.

I wouldn’t forget.

I had half an hour to talk to Andres about my preposterous idea. A full thirty minutes with which to make a total ass of myself.

Shit.

How was I supposed to forget that?

Speaking of time, how the heck did he get here so fast?

I ran my hand over my messy hair. It was still damp from my shower, and longer than I’ve had it in years.

I had on zero makeup, and a tank top over baggy flannel pants with little pumpkins all over them. I never did get any of my wardrobe back after leaving Gary’s condo.

Of course, he lied when the lawyers asked about it. He said I took everything of Sammy’s and mine with me.

As if I could have done that with a broken arm. No, the sonofabitch destroyed it all.

It didn’t matter.

Stuff was just stuff, and I was happier in my Walmart PJs than I was in the long silk gowns he insisted I wear to bed.

Nightgowns sucked. Long ones did, anyway.

I was not a restful sleeper and all that tossing and turning meant I’d get tangled up in the skirts of those gowns.

Another thing I did that annoyed Gary, by the way, which was another reason he started using a separate bedroom.

I never saw the evil in him until the end. He was good at making it seem like everything was my fault.

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