Page 39 of Only Her (K2 Team)
What did that mean? No doubt he was better off not knowing. The three cats were curled up asleep on various parts of Riley’s body. He knelt in front of his dogs. “Here’s the deal. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a cat in your life, but I do know that your first instinct’s going to be to chase them. You will not do that, or you will be banned from here forever. Got it?”
He was clueless why he wanted Sally and Pretty Girl to make friends with Riley’s cats. It was in his head that he might—hopefully might—be spending some time at her house, and he didn’t like the thought of his dogs being left alone when he was only across the street.
Although they didn’t understand his words, both tilted their heads as if trying hard to get his drift. “Just do what I tell you and we’ll be good.” He stepped back into her living room. “Come.” Apparently, they sensed his concern, because they crept up next to him. He put his hands on both their heads. “Stay with me.”
He moved to a chair near Riley, his dogs slinking along with him. They sat at his feet. “Have either of you seen a cat before?” he whispered to keep from waking Riley. He didn’t know their backgrounds, but considering their country of birth, it probably wasn’t a good one. If they’d never run across a cat before, no telling what their reaction was going to be if one of the felines decided running was the best response to seeing two large, scary dogs.
Merlin was the first to blink open blue eyes, his gaze landing on the invaders in his home. Cody forced himself not to tense so that his dogs didn’t pick up on his apprehension at what might happen next. Merlin yawned, and then stuck his nose back under his tail, apparently going back to sleep.
Sally and Pretty Girl had lifted their ears, their sights on the black cat. When Merlin ignored them, they both deflated as if totally disappointed they’d been deemed not worthy of attention.
“Pelli,” Cody said. When the kitten didn’t stir, he called to it again. Pelli sat up, eyed him, and then his Siamese crossed eyes fell on the dogs. He rose to his toes, the hair on his back sticking straight up. Cody pressed his hands harder onto his dogs’ heads. “Easy. Friend.”
The kitten hissed, then hid himself under Riley’s hair. At Pelli’s warning, Arthur awoke. He stretched his orange striped body, reaching a paw into the air. His yellow-orange eyes looked first at the sleeping Merlin, then to where Pelli had disappeared to, and then his gaze settled on Cody and his dogs. If Cody wasn’t mistaken, the cat appeared delighted at what he saw. He jumped off the couch and marched toward the dogs.
“Friend,” he said again, hooking his fingers around their collars to hold them in place while he waited to see what Arthur would do. The cat stopped a foot out of their reach, plopped down on his back, and peered at them upside down.
“You’re a clown,” he told Arthur. Still keeping his hold on the dogs, he let them stretch out enough to touch noses with the cat. Pretty Girl licked a slobbery tongue over Arthur’s face. The cat purred. Not to be outdone, Sally belly crawled closer and gave the other side of Arthur’s face a bath.
Riley slept on. He took the dogs into the kitchen with him and inventoried Riley’s food supply. For a woman who lived alone, she had a ton of food on hand, both in her pantry and in her freezer. He rifled through the contents of the freezer, finding a container that had “chicken noodle soup” written on the lid.
“A cure all,” he said, used to talking to his dogs. He put the soup in the microwave, punching the Express button several times until it was defrosted and starting to bubble. There was a loaf of wheat bread in the pantry, and he toasted some slices, slathering them with butter after they popped up.
After waking her, he helped her sit up. She ate half the soup and a slice of toast before her eyes slid closed. He picked her up and carried her to bed, liking how she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Are you staying with me?” she asked as he pulled the covers over her.
“Try to get rid of me, darlin’. Back in a minute.” He made a pit stop, went to the kitchen, rinsed and stacked the dishes in the sink, then collected his dogs from the corner where he’d ordered them to stay. In the bedroom, he showed them where they could sleep. Stripping to his briefs, he climbed into the bed and spooned her, dislocating the cats that were using her as a bed.
She snuggled against him. “Not quite how we planned our first time in bed together, is it?”
Her hair smelled lemony from the shower she’d insisted on taking as soon as he’d brought her home. “No, it isn’t, but now we have something to look forward to.”
“That we do.”
She wiggled some more, and he groaned, putting his hand on her hip to still her. “You’re killing me here, darlin’. Stop moving around.” Her little giggle was cute, and he smiled into her hair. When she grabbed the hand he had on her hip and pulled it around her, tangling their fingers together, warmth curled its way around him. He experienced something he’d not felt in a long time. Good. He felt damn good.
It wasn’t long before her breathing settled into the rhythm of sleep. He stayed beside her, holding her, thinking about her. He couldn’t see a future for them, believing she would be the one who would be the first to say she’d had enough of him. What he did know was that for as long as she wanted him he was hers. He just had to make sure he didn’t fall in love with her.
She had laughed when he had warned her not to fall for him, and at the time, his message had been intended for her, but he was beginning to fear that the laugh was going to be on him. She was feisty, caring, and fit perfectly in his arms. If he were smart, he’d run for the hills before he got any more attached to her, because something told him that in the end the joke would be on him.
When his eyes burned from keeping them open, he eased out of bed, snapped a finger at his dogs, and slipped out of the room. One thing he wouldn’t do was fall asleep next to her and risk having a nightmare. If he woke up with his hands around her neck, he’d never forgive himself. He fell asleep on her sofa with Sally and Pretty Girl on the floor next to him.
Yelling startled Riley out of sleep, and she sat up so fast that her head protested the sudden movement by sending a sharp pain down the back of her skull. The cats scrambled off the bed and dove under it.
“Nooo!”
Cody? Puzzled, she slid her hand over the sheets. There was no lingering warmth from his body, and she remembered that he’d said he wouldn’t spend the night in her bed because of his nightmares. She switched on her bedside lamp, then went into the living room and turned on a lamp in there.
“Don’t. Please don’t hurt her.”
Pretty Girl sat near his head, her body shaking. Sally pawed at his chest, apparently trying to wake him. Cody had the afghan she’d left on the couch tangled around his legs as if he’d been fighting its confinement. He twisted his body from his side to his back.
Taking him at his word that he might try to hurt her if he didn’t realize who she was, she was at a loss as to what to do. If she went up to him, would he grab her or fight her? If he did anything to her, he would hate himself. That much she knew about him already. He fisted a hand and aimed it for Sally. The dog dropped his belly to the floor before he was knocked across the room, and Riley let out a relieved breath, wondering if Sally expected Cody would come at him and was prepared for it.
That was so sad that tears pooled in her eyes for both of them, and for Pretty Girl as she cowered in fear. When Cody yelled again, Sally sat up and licked his face. He kicked off the afghan, giving Riley a view of his magnificent body. The man was all muscle from head to feet, and if she weren’t watching him in the middle of a nightmare, she’d take the time to admire the hottest male physique she’d ever seen.
He grumbled something and pushed Sally’s face away, and then turned onto his side with his back to the room. Since he seemed to be over his nightmare, and since he’d presented such a perfect view, she let her gaze roam over him, up his long legs, pausing at his butt, which unfortunately was hidden by his briefs, then over a broad back that she couldn’t wait to get her hands on.
