Page 34 of Ask for Moore

The possessive gleam in his dark eyes sent a feminine thrill up my spine. My lips curved into a grin as I grabbed a Northwestern sweatshirt and tugged it over my head before following Ryland into the living room. He had already answered the door, and his cousin’s gaze darted back and forth between us as he strode inside.

“So you’re Waverly.” Finn gave me a quick hug, making Ryland grumble something about him being a pain in his ass. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard good things.”

My mind went completely blank. I had no idea what to say in response to that. “I…I…”

Ryland slapped the back of his head and muttered, “Quit it. She’s already rattled by Gracie being sick.”

“Sorry.” Finn offered me a sheepish grin. “I’m too used to poking fun at my cousins.”

“That’s okay,” I whispered, jerking my thumb over my shoulder. “Gracie is in the bedroom I’ve been using.”

Ryland and I followed him into the room, staying close to the doorway while he crouched down to examine Gracie. Ryland wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I leaned most of my weight against him, my back resting against his chest.

I was too busy worrying about Gracie to stop and think about how the embrace would look to Finn. Although we’d had sex twice, we weren’t officially in a relationship or anything like that. At least, I didn’t think we were since we hadn’t discussed being in one. But I wasn’t experienced enough with dating to be one-hundred-percent certain about how it all worked. Especially since I hadn’t seen many healthy relationships growing up.

Not that he was even paying us much attention. All of his focus was on Gracie as he looked her over.

I heaved a deep sigh of relief when he finally said, “Good news. She just has an upper respiratory infection. There don’t appear to be any complications, so you can expect her symptoms to last for about seven to ten days.”

I’d had respiratory infections before, but I wasn’t sure if the symptoms were the same in cats as humans. Either way, there hadn’t seemed to be anything wrong with Gracie until now. “Was there something I did wrong?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s a common illness in cats. Odds are good she picked it up before you found her. Living on the street, it would have been easy for her to come in direct contact with another infected cat or to be exposed to something that had been contaminated with infectious secretions.”

My shoulders slumped in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“Since the majority of infections are viral, I’d like to hold off on giving her antibiotics unless you don’t see any improvement in the coming days. It looks as though you caught it early, so you should just need to take some steps to make sure Gracie is comfortable.”

My fingers itched to grab my notepad to take notes, but I didn’t want to move from the comfort of Ryland’s embrace. “What kind of steps?”

His instructions mostly included things I was already doing, with the exception of bringing Gracie into the bathroom with a steamy shower running if breathing became a problem. Thinking about what I’d done in a hot shower with Ryland, my cheeks burned as I croaked, “Will do.”

Finn’s knowing gaze darted between his cousin and me. “I’m sure Ryland will be more than happy to help if needed.”

“And on that note, I’ll see you out.” Ryland brushed a kiss against the top of my head before dropping his arms and stepping away. Then he nudged me toward Gracie’s kitty bed so Finn could more easily pass me in the doorway.

Feeling a deep sense of relief, I made little cooing sounds and pet her soft fur while Ryland walked his cousin out. When he returned, I was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the cat bed. Crouching down, he slid his hand down my back and asked, “You’re going to stay up all night worrying about her, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, probably.” I sighed.

“It would be easier if you had someone else to trade off kitten duty with,” he suggested.

I glanced over at the king-size bed. “You’re welcome to stay if you’d like. I could use the company.”

“I was thinking we should go with my suggestion from earlier today.” Straightening, he tugged me to my feet. “Come home with me. I have plenty of room for Gracie, and you can bring everything you’ll need to get ready in the morning.”

We’d had lunch together earlier today—after he’d lost his motion for summary judgment—but we’d parted ways afterward because he needed to be in court for another client. A child support case that he’d told me he won when he called later in the day and asked me to come over for dinner. I’d been sorely tempted to take him up on the offer, but the firm’s investigator had emailed me some information I needed for my case against the commission, and I spent my evening reading it instead.

“I don’t have any appointments until the afternoon.”

“Then sleep in and let me pamper you, queenie.” Cupping my cheeks with his palms, he bent his head to claim my lips in a deep kiss. “Please don’t make me leave you here alone and upset, knowing that you won’t get any sleep.”

There was only one answer I could give. “It looks as though you’re going to have two houseguests for the night.”

17

Ryland

Waking up with a naked Waverly wrapped around me was the best way to start my day, even when neither of us had gotten much sleep the night before. Instead of taking turns checking on Gracie, we ended up awake at the same time. It hadn't been an efficient way to care for a sick kitten, but at least we had gotten the chance to get to know each other better.

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