Page 114 of Just One Fake Date

Shannyn smiled. “Oh, he has a lot to say. He’s lord of the manor and he knows it.” She excused herself and got up to open a can of cat food, then put some in the cat’s bowl. When she put it down on the mat, Fitzwilliam moved closer, about three feet away from both Tyler and the bowl. He sat there, eyes narrowed, considering the situation, and Shannyn doubted he approved of another male on his turf.

“More spoils of war?” Tyler asked when Shannyn sat down again.

“No. I got him when the neighbors moved away. They left him behind.”

He froze in the act of taking another bite. “They abandoned a pet?”

Shannyn nodded, avoiding his gaze. “He was hiding under their porch. He’s not an outside cat, so he was hungry. The other neighbor was calling the SPCA to capture him. I knew that since he was an adult and not a kitten, that might not end well for him.”

Ty was watching her so closely that she got goose bumps. The man didn’t miss a thing. “So, you took him in.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy. He had to be convinced. It took me about a week and countless tins of tuna. Once he moved in, though, he started to tell me all about it. He hasn’t stopped talking since.”

Fitzwilliam yowled as if to agree and stalked his dinner. He seated himself as usual, wrapped his tail around himself, then bent to eat.

Shannyn was well aware that Tyler was watching her, assessing her mood.

“I guess some people would say it’s just a cat,” he said finally.

“Just a cat?” Shannyn echoed. “He was abandoned and alone, cold and wet and hungry, dumped just because he wasn’tconvenient. What kind of a person would leave him? Anyone with a cat has to know how many strays there are and how many of them are being euthanized in shelters. It was wrong.” She jammed her fork into her pasta. “It was wicked.”

“You saved him because you understood,” Tyler said quietly.

Shannyn nodded. “I know what it’s like to be dumped and forgotten, and I don’t think anybody should ever have to put up with that, even a cat.”

“Fair enough.”

As usual, the way he actually listened prompted her to admit more. “When I went to try to get Fitzwilliam out from under the porch, he was terrified. He clawed my hand so badly that I needed stitches. But I understood him. He’d trusted someone who hadn’t kept the faith. He’d been betrayed. He didn’t want to be tempted to trust again. I knew exactly where he was coming from. So, I came back from urgent care and I put on a pair of heavy gloves and I went back to that porch, just as determined to bring him home as he was to stay there.”

“Maybe more,” Tyler said. “He’s here.”

“He was not going to a kill shelter on my watch.”

Tyler looked up, and Shannyn was so surprised by the way his eyes sparkled that she fell silent and stared. “I had it right the first time,” he said. “Fierce, idealistic, romantic and very, very cute.” With that, he put down his fork, leaned across the table and kissed Shannyn breathless.

Oh,

The rules were broken, the barricades were burning and, for the moment, Shannyn didn’t care one bit.

And then Tyler’s phone rang.

It seemedto Shannyn that she and Colleen were in violent agreement about the prospects of Shannyn and Tyler’s relationship. Even distance didn’t disguise the sound of Tyler’s voice rising in annoyance.

When he strode back down the hall, he looked grim and he chucked his phone back into his jacket pocket with a dismissive gesture. “Now, where were we?” he asked, as if he intended to ignore the interruption.

Shannyn didn’t.

“She’s right, and you know it.” She folded her arms across her chest as if that would make any difference in protecting her from this man’s appeal.

“She’s not right,” Tyler said. “How dare she even suggest that you and I should break up? It’s not my mom’s business who I date.” He sat down and looked at his pasta as if his appetite had been spoiled.

Shannyn’s certainly had. “She’d probably argue that your happiness is her business.”

He gave her an intent look. “She did.”

“And you told her she was wrong.”

“Of course, I did.” Tyler was impatient. “Relationships aren’t necessarily about marriage and marriages aren’t necessarily about babies. There are lots of options available, including the pursuit of whatever the hell makes those involved happy.”

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