Guy pretended not to notice anything amiss when she turned to face him again, and the way her shoulders relaxed in immediate relief was telling.
Jilly had a hard time keeping herself still. The truth of what was happening had finally started sinking in, and she felt like fainting and melting all at the same time.
Guy de la Rocqwas inside her house.
Guy! De! La! Rocq!
His face card alone was just...
I have no words.
It was the kind of face that launched a thousand fan clubs, 'Nuff said.
And those beautiful ice-ice-baby-blue eyes.
She could drown in those eyes, and die happily.
And oh, the way his crisp white shirt molded to every muscled inch of his chest.
She could die with a smile on her face right now, abso—
"It seems Poppy misunderstood."
The words brought Jilly back to her senses, and she had to give herself a quick mental shake so she could refocus. Guy was stilllooking around, and what was that he said? Something about Poppy not understanding...something?
Guy glanced back at Jilly, saying in a deadpanned tone, "What you really need is a zookeeper—"
Oh!
A startled laugh escaped Jilly. She had been a fan of this man since the beginning of his career. Had bought every magazine that featured him, watched and listened to every interview of his regardless of the platform. So how was it that none of those things contained even the slightest hint of his humor and how incredibly funny he could be?
"I'm sorry." Jilly's tone was sheepish, with his words having worked as an icebreaker of sorts, and she now actually found herself relaxing despite being in the presence of Hollywood royalty. "It's a little too much to take, isn't it?"
"Not at all."
His tone was so, socourteousshe knew what he meant was the opposite, and it had her laughing and wondering helplessly at the same time as to why...
Why was this man so, so perfect?
Surely it wasn't right that a man as beautiful as him be this charming, too?
A flash of orange fur darted between them at that moment, and Guy watched with interest as Jilly's features softened with affection that the actor in him knew right away was impossible to fake. There was a bond between Jilly and the cat, and he saw that bond mirrored when a dachshund with gray around itsmuzzle padded up to her and started rubbing his head against the wide-legged pants covering her legs.
"Do you really take care of all of them on your own?" Guy asked with genuine curiosity.
The chance to talk about her babies worked the way it always did, with Jillian forgetting all of her inhibitions as she asked Guy if he wanted to be introduced to them.
"I would love that."
His immediate response had Jilly biting back a sigh.
So, so perfect,just like her babies.
But anyway...
"That's Mack," Jilly started off as she pointed to the sleek black cat lounging on a window perch. "I named him so to remind myself that we met each other in a McDonald's parking lot. He's five years old now, and he's really,reallygood at enslaving foolish humans into giving him treats."
And as if on cue, Mack lazily stretched on his perch before looking straight at Guy—