clean.
So sweet, and so much fun. Nadine was lucky to have a job she enjoyed that also paid well enough for her to keep her independence. And if the hours kept her single for the entirety of her life, well, that one kiss with Shohn would have to suffice for a fantasy life.
Her thoughts had gone full-circle to him yet again. “Just stop it,” she told herself.
“Stop what?”
Oh, no, no, no. Trying not to grimace, she looked up, and there stood Shohn.
Her heart threatened to punch out of her chest. Her bare toes curled on the linoleum floor, and a vise closed around her lungs.
Oh, for heaven’s sake. The memory of his kiss, of being pressed to that tall muscular body, was good, sure, but it didn’t warrant all that.
Liar.
Shohn looked down at his lap. “Is my fly open or something?”
“What?”
“You’re staring.”
“Oh. Sorry.” She straightened her shirt and used a wrist to try to swipe away the mud on her nose. “What are you doing here?”
Rather than answer, he gave her that cocky, crooked and endearing smile. “What have you been up to? Mud wrestling?”
“No.” She felt a little slow and stupid, but ho boy, he looked good first thing in the morning. He was freshly shaved, his uniform shirt opened at the throat, showing off a little peek of chest hair. He had his hat pushed back, his thick utility belt hanging around his lean hips.
She’d seen sheriffs and cops and military men, but not until Shohn became a ranger had she truly gotten the appeal of a man in uniform.
“No?” he asked. “That’s it?”
“What?”
His smile widened, became intimate and knowing. “Having trouble keeping up today, huh? Me, too.” He reached out to tweak one of her braids. “I asked how you got so messy.”
“Dog bath.”
His attention went to the front of her shirt and a brow lifted. “Did the dog bathe you, or vice versa?”
“Little of both.”
He nodded at her chest. “Nice shirt.”
Remembering the shirt she’d chosen sent heat into Nadine’s face. It read I Like Tiny Wieners and came with a picture of a dachshund.
With a load of suggestiveness, Shohn said, “I hope that doesn’t take me out of the running.”
The running for what? He didn’t want her, not for anything more than a joke or a way to kill time or some equally repugnant motive. She had to remember that.
Trying to switch the topic to something less stimulating than his size, she gestured at the carrier he held in one hand. “What do you have there?”
He twisted his mouth. “Well, see, after being here with you, around all the animals, I mean, I kept thinking about getting a dog.”
“Really?” Her heart swelled with pride. If nothing else, she’d been a positive influence.
“I went to the shelter first thing this morning.”
“Perfect!” Adopting a rescue was always better than buying some fancy little dog with a pedigree or, God forbid, paying a puppy mill.
“The thing is—”
She leaned down to look in the carrier—and a distinct “Meorwwwww” came out.
Nadine straightened. “Funny sounding dog.”
“Yeah, see, I was looking at the dogs...”
She took the carrier from him and moved to the counter, where she could better see. She looked in. Yup. “That’s a cat, Shohn.”
“I know it’s a cat, smart-ass.” He braced a hand on his gun. “His name is Louie.”
She’d noticed that was a familiar stance for him. “Friendly?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Superfriendly, actually.”
“Come on.” Curiosity got the better of her. She loved animals, all of them, and she wanted to meet this wonderful cat that had won over Shohn Hudson.
“Where are we going?”
“To a private room so I can let him out.”
“You’re not going to coax me in there and then lock the door on me, are you?” He followed her in. “I need to head to work soon.”
“Don’t be dumb.” She closed the door to a small waiting room—not the storage closet—and set the carrier on a table. Leaning down again, she looked in and said, “Hi, Louie.”
“Meorrrwww.”
“Yeah, baby, you want out of there, don’t you?” She reached a finger in through the opening, and Louie rubbed his square head against her knuckle. “Very sweet.”
“Yeah,” Shohn said with clear doubt. “Sweet.”
“He looks older.”
“Ancient, even.” He dropped into a chair. “The shelter wasn’t sure of his age, though. They just know he’s mature and kind of set in his ways.”
“That’s okay, isn’t it, Louie? Pets, like people, have their preferences.” She opened the front of the carrier and Louie, who was built like a small scruffy bulldog, shot out. For a thick, older cat, he moved with incredibly agility, darting right past her, down to the floor, up Shohn’s pants leg and to his chest.
Wow. She’d never seen a cat move so fast.
With a great throaty purr, Louie crawled up and over one thick shoulder so that his tail circled Shohn’s neck.
For his part, Shohn didn’t move, he just sighed.
Amused, Nadine crossed her arms and leaned a shoulder on the wall. “Friendly, huh?”
“He freaking loves me.” Shohn held perfectly still, his hands at his sides, his head tipped a little away from where the cat nuzzled against him.
Nadine smothered a laugh. It was just too precious. “What’s the matter, Shohn? You don’t like him?”
“He’s...fine.” Still straining away from the cat, Shohn said, “It’s just that I went into the shelter to look at the dogs, but Louie spotted me and apparently decided I was his or he was mine or whatever. He’s been really clingy.”
The cat purred and turned so that his tail slid just under Shohn’s nose.
That got him moving real fast. Face twisting away, Shohn tried to pry Louie loose, but the cat wasn’t budging. He managed to wrestle down Louie’s butt so that it wasn’t right in his face, then scowled at Nadine for laughing. “The guy that runs the shelter said he’d never seen anything like it.”
“He adores you.”
“I guess. But why me?”
“Who knows. Maybe he realizes you’ll take good care of him.”
“I will, but I wasn’t counting on a cat, you know?”
“In many ways, cats are easier.” She snickered as she said, “They need less attention.”
“That’s not funny.”
But it was, because at that moment the cat was trying to crawl inside the neckline of his shirt.
Again Shohn tried to gently wrestle him back. It wasn’t easy. He’d get one paw loose and Louie would hold on with the other three.
“You could help, you know. This is your forte, right?”
Grinning,