Page 38 of Return of the Bad Girl (Rock Canyon, Idaho 4)

“Here,” he said, and she placed the kitten in his outstretched hand. To her surprise, he started rubbing the kitten gently.

“What are you doing?”

“I worked at an animal shelter once and saw the vet do this to a puppy that had stopped breathing.”

“Did it work?” she asked, hope constricting her chest as she held the squirming cream kitten close.

“No,” he said, before placing his mouth over the kitten’s tiny mouth and nose and breathing into its body. He pulled back and began rubbing it vigorously all over, turning it over and over in his hands.

“I’ve got him,” Gabe said, his handsome face shining as the kitten cried weakly and squirmed in his hands.

Caroline watched him cradle the small cat, amazed by his gentleness. “You saved him.”

Gabe glanced up from the kitten, and their gazes locked. Electricity crackled around them, and suddenly, she had the urge to crawl across the garbage and kiss those full lips. Just to thank him.

“Hey, what are you doing in there?”

The connection was broken by a woman’s voice, and Caroline turned to see Gracie McAllister, the jealous woman from last night, racing toward them from the back of the Local Bean.

Caroline cleared her throat. “Someone dumped a litter of kittens into the trash.”

“Oh my God! Bastards!” Gracie looked at both of them and then down toward the ground in obvious horror. Caroline wondered if Gabe had just set the other kittens on the ground and that was what Gracie was seeing. “Here, I’ll take him while you climb out,” Gracie said, finally, holding her hands up to Caroline.

For some reason, Caroline was reluctant to release the kitten. He had called out to her, after all, but in the end, she wanted to get out of the Dumpster. Handing Gracie the little kitten, she crawled out with the help of Gabe’s other hand under her elbow. As soon as her feet were back on the ground, she took the creamy furball back from Gracie, her heart melting a little as he nuzzled her neck.

“The veterinarian is down the street, but she’s probably not in yet,” Gracie said as she pulled out her cell phone. “Luckily, I have her cell number. I’ll let her know you’re coming down.”

“Thanks, Gracie,” Caroline said.

Gracie shook her head and hugged her before Caroline could react. “You are my new hero, Caroline Willis. There are not many women who would climb into a Dumpster—for any reason.”

Caroline had never been called a hero in her life and had no idea what to say as Gracie released her to make the call. With Gracie just a few steps away, Caroline didn’t want to say anything to Gabe that Gracie might hear, but damn it, the man had gone from being a total asshole to the type of guy who gave mouth-to-mouth to a kitten.

It was unacceptable.

That action alone said he had some redeeming qualities, and she didn’t want to think about him like that. From their first meeting, she’d put him down as self-centered and bad-tempered, but he’d followed her outside for some reason. To explain about Kirsten maybe? Had she jumped to the wrong conclusion? Maybe she’d been too drunk to drive, and he’d just taken care of her.

Was she reading too much into his actions? She’d tried too many times to see the good in people that just wasn’t there and learned the hard way that men would screw you and disappoint you every time. It made forming attachments almost impossible, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Okay, she’s on her way to the office and will meet you there,” Gracie said, stepping close enough to stroke the top of the cream-colored kitten’s head. When she spoke again, she was talking to the kitten in a high-pitched baby voice. “I’m sorry people are assholes, but you’re going to be in good hands.”

Caroline glanced over at Gabe, whose expression warred between amused and how fast can I get out of here. Caroline understood what he was feeling as Gracie took her hand and squeezed it. “You come in for coffee anytime you want. It’s on the house.”

Before she could argue, someone opened the back door to the coffee shop and yelled Gracie’s name. As she hurried away, Caroline and Gabe stood alone.

Clearing her throat, Caroline said, “You’re the one who should be getting free coffee. I didn’t do anything but get a little dirty.”

“I didn’t do anything. Hell, I didn’t even think that shit would work,” he said sharply.

“Still, it did, so really—”

“Look, princess, I like animals and all that, but don’t go thinking I’m a hero because I got lucky. I’m no fucking hero.”

Caroline was taken aback at first, but then her temper flared to life. “Of course you’re not. But for a minute there, I thought you might at least be a human being.”

He didn’t say anything right away, and it burned her that she’d actually felt warm fuzzies toward him. He held the kitten in one hand and a box in the other. Since the other kittens weren’t on the ground, she assumed they were in the box, and she held out her hand.

“Why don’t you give me your kitten and the box. I can make it down the street on my own.”

---