let him know it was okay. In the process, she noticed he had part of an ear missing, and a distinct kink in his tail. “He looks a little worse for wear.”
Shohn left his chair and came over to them. “Spent too many years tomcattin’ around, fighting for the ladies, didn’t you, boy?”
The way he stood right behind her, reaching around to pet Louie, was almost like being hugged. She felt Shohn’s chest on her back, and hopefully that was his holster nudging her hip. “Maybe,” Nadine said in a croak.
Shohn’s jaw brushed the top of her head. “I know just how you feel, buddy.”
Nadine snorted. “Like you’ve ever had to fight for a girl.”
“Just you—or don’t you remember Bob?”
It wasn’t easy to remember anything with him so close, stirring up the memory of his kiss and the expanded fantasies she’d indulged all night long. “Bob who?” she asked while continuing to soothe the cat.
“The idiot who teased you when we were kids.” He leaned closer and said near her ear, “He pushed you in the lake, and you got all... wet.”
Nadine stepped away from him so quickly, Louie protested. She tried a laugh that fell flat, but the incident he mentioned was still painful to her. When all the other girls had been tiny and cute, just starting to mature, she’d already been...thick. It wasn’t until she turned twenty that she decided she no longer cared. She was not, and never would be, a skinny person. Not only wasn’t it part of her genetic makeup, but it was just plain too much work to always be exercising and dieting and fretting about it.
She liked herself, abundance of curves and all. And she loved her life, a life filled with activities that made her happy.
Shohn watched her closely. “I didn’t think it was funny.”
No, she hadn’t, either. For three days she’d hidden away and cried. Twelve-year-old girls could be so melodramatic and tenderhearted. “Well, it wasn’t then, no. I was so embarrassed.” More like humiliated beyond endurance. “The lake made my shirt all but transparent and Bob started poking fun at me for being chubby.”
Shohn strolled closer again. “Bob was an immature jerk.”
“We were all immature, you included, Shohn. You were only, what, fourteen?”
“Yeah. Fourteen and eternally horny. When you came out of that lake, I thought my knees would give out.” He smiled and teased a finger along her braid. “You’re right about the shirt. I remember it was so wet that I could even see your nipples. I about swallowed my tongue.”
Nadine could only stare at him. His memory of the day was vastly different from hers. “I’m surprised you noticed that, given how you were eyeing all the girls in their bathing suits.”
“That wet T-shirt on you was far more interesting than any bathing suit could ever be.” He stroked down to her chin then lifted her face. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, now that we’re not kids anymore.”
“I’m still chubby.”
His eyes darkened even more. “You are so damn curvy it’s making me nuts thinking about it.” He started to lean down to kiss her.
Nadine started to let him.
Then with a protesting “Meowrrr...” Louie wriggled free from her hold and butted the top of his head on Shohn’s chin.
Nadine ended up with the cat’s tail in her face.
Talk about ruining the mood.
Relinquishing the cat to Shohn, she grabbed a wall for support and asked, “So what are we doing here?”
“I was trying to seduce you.” He frowned. “That wasn’t obvious?” He shifted the cat down to his chest and cradled him like a baby. Louie approved, given his rumbling purr.
“No, I mean... Yes, it was. But why are you here?”
“To see you.”
“With a cat?”
“Oh, yeah.” He checked the time and cursed low. “I need to get to work. I was hoping you could watch Louie for me until the end of my shift. I get off at six then I’d need an hour or so to get out of the park and drive here.”
Nadine eyed Louie. He stared back, his big yellow eyes unblinking. On the one hand, cats didn’t always mix well with dogs. But on the other hand, it’d be a terrific reason to get to see Shohn again.
Shohn shifted. “If you tell me which part of the question is throwing you, I might be able to help.”
“Just weighing the pros and cons.” The con being, of course, that she wanted to see Shohn again and it wasn’t a great idea. “It might be tough to keep Louie separated from the dogs.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. He had the run of the shelter and got along great with all the other animals, dogs included.”
“Really? That’s unusual.”
“He’s an unusual cat.” After opening the door, Shohn put a hand to the small of her back. “Let’s see how it goes before I take off.”
Nadine let herself be ushered to the indoor play area. They had just entered the hallway when Louie heard the dogs. He lifted his head, his ears forward, then leaped from Shohn’s arms and loped forward as if excited to join in.
In one agile move he launched up to sit on the gate, surveying the dogs from his perch. The dogs, somewhat stupefied, stopped to stare.
“Huh.”
Shohn asked, “What?”
“They’re not barking.”
“Maybe they know Louie wouldn’t like it.”
Could be, she decided, when en masse the dogs approached, their noses sniffing the air. Louie was so unconcerned that he lifted one rear leg straight into the air and started to groom himself.
Shohn rubbed his face. “I told him that if he does that too often, it no longer counts as a bath.”
Nadine snickered.
One dog reared back on his haunches and barked. Another turned a circle. Another jumped. Louie gave up his ablutions and instead jumped down to run and play with them.
“I’ll be.” She turned to Shohn. “Any dog that’s aggressive is kept separate from the others, so these are all social animals. I’m not worried if you’re not.”
“So you’ll keep him for me?”
“Sure, why not?”
He surprised her by grabbing her upper arms, lifting her to her tiptoes and planting a firm kiss on her parted lips. “Thank you.”
No, thank you. Resisting the urge to grab him back for a better taste, Nadine cleared her throat. “Sure. No problem.”
“Give me your number and I’ll check on Louie later just to make sure everything is okay.”
Turnabout seemed fair. “All right, but I also have some papers for you to fill out, including with your number, just in case I need to reach you.”
It was another five minutes before Shohn was finally able to head out. She walked him to the door, wondering if he’d maybe steal another kiss, but a couple was on their way in with their new puppy, so he only thanked her with a smile before jogging out to his Jeep.
This time, telling him goodbye was different.
Because this time, she knew he’d be back.
* * *
Shohn was more than a half hour late, and Nadine began to wonder if something had happened. He had her number, so why didn’t he call if he had a problem? Roxi and Fred went home for the evening, all the dogs settled down to sleep, but Louie watched her