Page 27 of Hidden Resolution
During the car ride home, she berated herself. Why had she relented so easily? What manner of sorcery did he possess tobend her to his will? No protests had been anywhere near falling out of her mouth. Where was her self-preservation?
Her brain suggested she beat her head against the steering wheel. It might be the only way to knock some damn sense into it.
9
Shonda greeted her cat and skimmed the note from her pet sitter.
“Jannaya said you were a good boy and no trouble at all,” she praised, scooping him into a hug. “That’s my sweet boy.”
From across the room, Mason was vaguely irritated by the amount of affection she lavished on the cat, but refused to comment. Maybe it was the smug look on the beast’s face as it stared him down. The one that said, “She’s mine, asshole.”
“Dinner at Luigi’s sound good to you tonight?” Mason asked, attempting to redirect her attention.
“Luigi’s? Over in Springdale? How do you plan to get a reservation this late?”
Fair question. He hadn’t thought past the incredible food after the slim pickings all day, but a smile and a fifty could usually move mountains.
“I have my ways,” he said with a cocky grin. “How about a quick shower before we head out?”
She snorted. “Since when have our showers been short?”
He laughed. She wasn’t wrong. On vacation, they’d only managed to leave the bathroom because the hot water gave out.
“We’ll set a timer,” he assured her.
As he stepped forward to pluck the cat from her arms, the little gremlin hissed and swatted at him. Unfazed, Mason reached for the scruff of its neck.
“No!” Shonda snapped. “Don’t even think about picking Loki up that way. What’s wrong with you?”
He raised a brow but said nothing. While he knew next to nothing about cats, he was pretty sure he’d seen a mother cat pick up her kittens in the same fashion. He kept quiet as she soothed Loki’s hurt pride.
With a roll of his eyes, Mason hauled their suitcases to the larger of the two bedrooms with the assumption it was the primary. He didn’t see himself making fast friends with her pet.
Correction,pets.
At the center of the queen-sized bed lounged another feline. One decidedly bigger and clearly more pissed off than the first. The malevolent glare could’ve turned a lesser man to stone.
Jesus. How many of them were there?
The beast was enormous, thirty pounds if an ounce.
Mason half worried it might attack him in his sleep. Or sit on his chest and crush him.
What the hell was she feeding these animals?
He dropped his garment bag on the chest at the end of the bed and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of black trousers and a white button-down. He considered placing them on the mattress, but one look at the abnormally round menace nixed his idea. The monster cat had an air of ownership about its surroundings, and Mason’s clothes didn’t stand a chance.
Assuming steam would smooth the worst of the wrinkles, Mason started the shower, adjusted the temperature, and stepped under the spray. As hot water streamed down his back, he questioned why he chose to continue their affair. Not being a complete and clueless tool, he saw the way Shonda looked at him. She’d caught feelings. And he wasn’t able to handle thataspect of a relationship. He’d been prepared to walk away. Had spent the entire flight staring at the back of her glossy blonde head and telling himself it was better to end it cleanly.
Yet hearing her car start and watching her prepare to leave had triggered a panicked reaction.
Mason scrubbed a soapy hand over his scalp and blew out a cleansing breath. Yeah, a closer examination of his deeper emotions wasn’t going to happen. He’d give them a few extra days, max, intending to enjoy them to the fullest.
Shonda knew the score and wouldn’t push. It counted for a helluva lot, allowing him to remain and draw this, whateverthiswas, out.
But in the unguarded moments when he caught her speculative look, the one debating if she could change his mind, he grew worried. If things became sticky, he’d bolt. He’d have no choice.
He was so distracted, he jolted when her hand landed on his back.
