Page 41 of The Guy Who Fake Dated Me

“Not helping,” I murmured. I wanted this to work more than anyone else could know.

A bullet point on a list that stated my future wife needed to like animals might not mean much to some people, but the one time I hadn’t followed my own protocol for relationships it had ended with Courtney walking away without a second glance.

It hurt to think that Victoria might not be the girl for me, but I couldn’t discount the signs.

Although, for Victoria, I’d be willing to bend the requirement from “she has to like animals” to “she doesn’t hate animals.”

The cat watched as Victoria slowly approached. Her hand shook as she raised her fingers to the metal bars, and she held her breath as the feline sniffed.

Every muscle in Victoria was taut, and after a second, she looked away and closed her eyes as if expecting the animal to take her hand off with one bite.

The cat did nothing of the sort but kept sniffing. Victoria must have had something really interesting on her fingers.

Then, out of nowhere, Victoria shrieked and jumped away. Only there wasn’t anywhere to go but into me. I let out a grunt and had to give up ground or go down.

“It bit me!” Victoria screamed.

Greta chuckled while I tried to keep Victoria from knocking me off my feet as she pushed against me to get out of the room. “She touched you with her nose.”

Victoria shook her head. “No, I felt teeth.”

I reached out and brought her fingers near my eyes. After a brief inspection I said, “No wounds.”

“Because it was the cat’s nose,” Greta said.

The poor creature had retreated to the far side of the cage and now watched us with wary eyes.

“What happened to you as a child?” Greta asked Victoria.

Victoria studied the ground. “I had a bad experience.”

Maybe she was too afraid to get close to any of them, but that wouldn’t stop us from at least taking a picture. “What if I hold the animal and you stand behind me? Will that work?”

Victoria shot me a look that said I was insane.

“Hear me out?you don’t have to touch the cat, and I’ll have her under control the whole time.”

A clank sounded, and Jenni came back into the room. “Have you decided?”

Greta pointed to the first orange beast. “Let’s start with that one.”

Jenni nodded. “I’ll get the harnesses and then we can go outside.”

Chapter 11

-Victoria-

Why hadn’t I taken Logan up on the offer to go back to the hotel? I didn’t need a photo with an animal. Kyle had given me an out. He’d forgive me. After all, my fear of dogs, and then cows, had come from him.

But for some stupid reason, I wasn’t willing to give into my weakness. I didn’t know if I was trying to show off for Greta, Logan, or the other random people in the limo.

Not that it mattered now, because I was being led out into a small, fenced area with grass, two trees, a couple of benches, and what looked like an animal playground.

Logan kept his hand on my back and steered me forward which is the only reason I hadn’t bolted. We went out first, and I got as far away from the door as I could so that I didn’t have to be near the cat. Or whatever else might come through.

Greta, who walked with Jenni, was chatting like the two were old friends. I couldn’t focus enough to make out the words, so I took a deep breath and let it out.

“You okay?” Logan asked.

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