Page 21 of Desperately Seeking Kitty

“I’m not on drugs. I rarely drink. Don’t smoke. Haven’t had sex other than with my hand in a while. I’m boringly devoted to my work.” His phone went off, and he tipped back his head on a sigh. “Speaking of…”

Though he seemed absolutely exhausted, he tugged out his phone, scanning the readout with concern. “I hate to ask you for this.”

“Go,” I replied without thinking.

“But Lucky… I don’t know what he might be doing in the other room. You don’t have plants, do you?”

“Just an old Christmas cactus. But that won’t kill him if he’s nosed into it.”

“There’s a relief. He has a tendency to nibble on green things. Handily, I have ten black thumbs so I don’t have any plants.” He rose to his feet and frowned. “I can’t do this to you. You don’t know my cat.”

“No, but he’s disagreeable, so I think we’ll be fast friends.”

“He’s really not—okay, yes, he is. Sometimes.” He frowned again, activating all the delicious crinkle lines beside his eyes. “Are you sure? I don’t know long I’ll be. I could pay you—”

“You are not paying me. I can handle your cat, Clint.” In truth, I could handle his cat far better than I could deal withhim.“Now get out of here.”

He made it to the door before he turned and raked a hand through his hair again. “I owe you big time. It’s an emergency involving a dog and a car, and I don’t know how bad it is, and if I had to gather up Lucky and take him back home before heading to the clinic—”

I stood and went to him, surprising myself by cupping his jaw and shifting his mouth to mine. At the last moment, I air-kissed his cheek instead of his lips.

That mouth wasn’t one you could kiss and survive, I was fairly sure.

“Just worry about work. I hope it isn’t bad.”

“Me too. Thanks. Though, sorry, that won’t do.” He cupped my cheeks in both hands and kissed me hard enough to make my knees drop out from under me. I remained standing through some force of nature, but I was free-falling with nothing to catch me.

My only tether to this Earth was a firm, hot mouth pressing into mine with a sense of possession I’d never known before.

He didn’t try to delve inside. No, he rocked my world with a chaste meeting of lips that made me pant as I stumbled backward.

Clearly going too long without sex was bad for your health.

“I’ll be back.”

Then he was gone, and I was still breathing so hard that spots danced at the edges of my vision.

And who the hell was Jackson Galaxy?

SIX

My night was utter shit.And yet it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared it would be when I’d walked out of Kitty’s place.

Stray dog, possibly hit by car. Under further investigation, his limping and substantial bleeding was due to trauma to his paw. He’d gotten a foreign body in it and removing the large thorn and stitching him up had been messy, exacting work. Nothing I hadn’t handled before, just not usually at three a.m.

My eyes were burning and my head ached like a bitch. Advil hadn’t touched the headache. My next hope was the bottle of cheap liquor I’d picked up at the closest all-night convenience store, although I’d just told Kitty I didn’t really drink.

But if I didn’t do something, I’d keep hearing that poor sweet dog’s whimpers in my mind. At least he’d be safe in the clinic while he healed under the watchful eyes of our dedicated vet techs and assistants. But knowing he didn’t have someone waiting to take him home just about killed me.

You don’t have anyone waiting for you at home either.

Except tonight I did.

Okay, she wasn’t waiting for me in a way that implied her all warm and relaxed, curled up between satin sheets. Candlelight, sexy music. Her soft, giving lips. Soft, giving everything, all the parts of her hidden beneath thick layers of terrycloth. She’d seemed very tightly wound, more likely to wrap her arms around herself or draw her legs in close to her body than to reveal much of anything. The vibe she gave off was the opposite of welcoming.

So why was I almost desperate to know more about her?

Obviously I was sexually frustrated. She was gorgeous with her big eyes and uncontrollable hair. And just a little bit odd, which made her even more attractive to me, since I mostly tucked away my own streak of oddness.

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