Page 114 of Reckless Harmony

Fuck. Double fuck.

Hollis’s gaze landed on his. One perfect eyebrow rose a quarter of an inch, and her mouth twitched ever so slightly before her face returned to normal.

“Isaac?”

Please don’t be naked. Please don’t be naked.

He whirled around, ready to keep Rayna shoved behind his back if she was, in fact, naked. To his relief, she wore a long t-shirt, and while he had no doubt she was naked underneath it, at least she wasn’t going full Monty in the hallway.

“Hey! What’s wrong?” Rayna smiled at him. “Why haven’t you come upstairs?”

“Um…”

She cocked her head. “Is that? Is Freddie purring?”

She peered around his broad body, and her face turned an astonishingly bright shade of red. “Well, shit.”

She sighed, and he gave her major props for bravery when she straightened her shoulders and stepped around him. “Hello, Hollis.”

“Hello, Rayna.”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that you didn’t hear what I said.”

A rare smile crossed Hollis’s face. “Would you like me to lie? Because I can if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Shit,” Rayna said again before she stared at Freddie. “Wait, are you… is that Freddie?”

Stark couldn’t help but laugh at the dumbfounded look that Rayna gave the cat in Hollis’s arms. “Yes, that’s Freddie.”

“I don’t believe it,” she said. “Why hasn’t he tried to bite off her face?”

“I don’t know,” Stark said as Hollis frowned at both of them.

“He’s a sweet boy,” she said.

“He’s a demon,” Rayna said.

Hollis’s scowl deepened. “You shouldn’t say mean things about your cat.”

“Oh, he’s not my cat,” Rayna said. “He’s a foster.”

She glanced at Stark, her eyes lighting up with excitement before she turned back to Hollis. “He’s available for adoption if you’re interested. You can fill out an application on our website, and one of our volunteers will contact you to chat about Freddie.”

“I can’t believe no one has adopted this very handsome boy,” Hollis said before rubbing her cheek against Freddie’s. Rayna tensed. Hell, Stark did, too, but Freddie just purred loudly before licking her face.

“He shouldn’t be in a home with kids, though. He stalks and attacks them, so if you have children or are planning on having kids, Freddie isn’t the right cat to adopt,” Rayna said.

“That’s okay, baby boy,” Hollis said in that same sweet, coddling voice as she stroked gentle fingers over the scars on Freddie’s face. “I don’t like kids either. They’re the worst.”

Stark and Rayna watched in silence for at least another three minutes as Hollis and Freddie fell deeper in love. When she finally set him on the floor, brushing the cat fur from her jacket, Freddie made a sorrowful sounding meow before rubbing against Hollis’s leg.

“Don’t cry, baby boy. We’ll see each other again soon,” Hollis said.

She cleared her throat and gave Stark and Rayna a polite smile. “Rayna, nice to see you again. Mr. Stark, I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Thank you again, Hollis,” Stark said.

She nodded, and with one last look at Freddie, she left, closing the door gently behind her. Freddie made another of those sad little meows, and Rayna bent to pet him.

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