Page 330 of Small Town Firsts
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Preston gave me a sidelong look. “What?”
The cat buzzed the side of his head along the wires of the carrier before scampering out on three legs.
Well, that wasn’t quite like the cat who had been climbing in and out of my dreams, but he was damn close. Instead of a red tie, he had a collar, but dear goddess. He was a sleek and complete gray without any other patches of color save for a tiny white patch on his remaining front paw and another on the tip of his opposite ear.
“We don’t have a name for him,” Grant went on. “We’ve tried a few, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in any of them. So, you’d have your choice of names. And as you can see, the three legs thing doesn’t really hold him back.”
The cat did a feat of acrobatics around an arched…was that like a mobile for a child? Then he perched nimbly on top of it and started washing his chest.
Delighted, Grant rocked on his heels. “As you can see, not much holds him back.”
Preston had his arms crossed and he was nearly shouting with his closed off vibes, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the cat.
“Miss Moon?”
I turned to the voice at my left. Tracy from the front desk was twisting her fingers nervously. “Could I talk to you for a moment?”
I nodded and followed her, looking briefly over my shoulder at the two men—so completely different and yet equally attractive. My gaze drifted from the wilder, freer Grant Thorn, whom I should have been instantly drawn to, to the taller, stiff, frequently grumpy Preston. I could tell he was practically aching to go meet the cat in the pen.
Yet he held himself back. Of course.
“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath.
“Excuse me?” Tracy’s comedically thick lashes waved at me.
“Nothing. Pretty sure my boss is about to get a cat.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” She frowned.
I pasted a smile on my face. “Nope. Serves him right.” I waved her off when she opened her mouth to ask for more details. “He’s just going to blame me for getting a cat, that’s all.”
“Did you sayboss?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
She seemed relieved. “Oh, that was nice of you to come and keep him company.” She grabbed a clipboard from the slot with my flag’s number.
“Yeah, I’m a real gem.”
“He just always seems so lonely. He comes in a few times a month and then donates a ridiculous sum of money, but he never even asks to visit with the cats.”
Well, that tracked. Preston Shaw lived to be in a repressed state. What I could do if I got a hold of his…chakras.
She pointed proudly at the golden name plate. “We even built on the kitten hospital wing due to his generosity. Allie’s Wing is named after one of our tiny babies we lost. She was a very special case. Mr. Shaw was very invested in her care.”
My eyes pricked. Well, hell. Damn him for being so thoughtful. Now I was the one with the fluttering lashes so I didn’t freaking cry. I cleared my throat. “You needed me for something?”
“Oh, yes. We were going through the applications for the bonded kittens.”
My stomach dropped. “Oh, right. I saw that there was more than one flag on their little enclosure.”
“Yes.” She tapped her pen against the clipboard. “You put on here that you have a small apartment.”
“I do, yes.”
“We weren’t sure you’d have enough room for two very active kittens? Do you think you could care for them?”
