Page 14 of Vicious Sabotage

“I didn’t see a litter box either.”

“It’s hidden in the side table.” She pointed.

He swallowed hard. The manly action made it hard for her to quit staring at his throat. But the glare he aimed at the cat made Livia clutch Angel tighter out of sheer protectiveness.

“Go to bed, Livia. Take the damn cat with you.”

With a tilt of her chin, she met his stare for two solid heartbeats before twisting on her bare feet and hurrying to her bedroom.

Once she was inside, she set Angel on her bed. The cat immediately went to Livia’s pillow and slipped into her usual spot next to her head.

“Menace,” she gritted out, unsure if she was talking about the cat or Wolfe. That man was a huge thorn in her backside. First thing in the morning, she was going to call Colton and demand that he call off her unneeded, unwanted bodyguard.

Morning couldn’t come fast enough. Even though she was wide awake, she climbed into bed and forced herself to close her eyes.

By lunchtime tomorrow, everything would be back to normal. Her usual bouncer would be back in Badlands, and she could pretend that this pseudo-threat and this thing with Wolfe never happened.

When she drifted into a light doze, she felt Angel next to her, vibrating with a constant purr that always helped Livia fall asleep.

Too soon, sunlight stabbed her awake, and she groaned. Since she worked late nights, she normally pulled the blackout curtains closed to block out the sun. After all that happened the night before, she forgot.

She reached for her cat but didn’t find her sleeping in her spot. When she cracked an eye and looked over the rumpled covers for her white puffball, she spotted the open bedroom door. Apparently the blackout curtains weren’t the only things she’d forgotten to close the previous night. Angel must have slipped out of the bedroom.

Was Wolfe still here? She could only hope he already realized his mistake and left in the night.

After brushing her teeth, she threw on some jeans and an old Badlands T-shirt. Then she walked into the kitchen for coffee and froze in her tracks.

Wolfe had his back to her. Oh god, what an impressive back it was too.

Carved muscle twitched and rippled all the way down to the jeans slung low on his hips, barely clinging to his rock-hard buttocks. Her mouth dried out watching muscles she didn’t know existed roll under his tan flesh.

He let out a grunt, bringing her attention to what he was doing. He made brushing movements over the front of his body.

Should she alert him to her presence? Or ignore his existence? She did need her morning pot of coffee.

Just as she pivoted to step farther into the kitchen, Wolfe threw her a look over his beefy shoulder. “Your cat sheds.”

Livia’s spine stiffened. “How do you know that?”

He swung toward her, and she saw the small tuft of white fur clinging to his carved pec.

Blinking rapidly, she fought to focus her not-yet-caffeinated mind on something besides his impressive expanse of man-chest.

“I woke up covered in hair. That’s how I know she sheds.” He sounded as grumpy as a bear disturbed from hibernation.

A quick glance around the space didn’t reveal her cat. She’d been a pet owner long enough to know that didn’t mean much. Angel was great at slinking off and hiding for hours at a time.

Still, the urge to dispute his claim burned in her. She tilted her jaw. “Angel only sleeps with me.”

“She didn’t last night.”

No way would her pampered princess of a housecat curl up with a big, scary stranger…except that puff of hair on his chest was a dead giveaway.

“Just get dressed. I need to get to the bar. Your buddies can pick you up there.”

He stopped swiping hair off his chest, brows lowering into a sharp V. “Why would they pick me up?”

“To take you back to the ranch.”

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