Chapter Two
When the kitten hissed at him and arched its back in a show of dominance,Dominic Pantarius let a low, rumbling growl. A moment later, he chuckled when the kitten went belly up. Who was the big, bad feline now?
He kept the small white furry kitten cradled to his chest as Keeland drove them back toward town. It really was an adorable kitten, even if it did need a good bath and some food…maybe a lot of food.
“How old do you think he is?” he asked to break the heavy silence in the cab of the truck. Keeland had refused to say a single word after telling him to buckle up his seat belt.
“I’d saysheis six or seven weeks old, give or take a few days on either side.”
Oh, it was a girl kitten.
“Well,sheis a cute little thing.”
The slightest of smiles cracked the grim line of Keeland’s lips as he gazed over at the kitten for a moment. “Yes, she is.”
Hmm, talking about the kitten seemed to be the only way to get Keeland to open up. So be it. Dom could talk kittens until the sun went down if it meant he had Keeland’s attention. The man intrigued Dom unlike anyone had in ages, if ever.
“Do you think she’s going to be okay?” Dom was worried. He didn't know much about kittens despite learning recently that he had a lot in common with the feline breed.
“I need to examine her just to be sure,” Keeland replied, “but I think she should be fine. She also needs her shots soon.”
“And you can do that?”
“I’m a licensed veterinarian. I can do that. But if you would feel more comfortable, there’s a clinic in Carlton, just on the other side of the county line.”
Dom frowned. That was over sixty miles away. “Do you like working with animals?”
“I do.” Keeland turned his gaze to look back out the front window, which was good since he was driving. But the smile slid off his face and Dom didn’t like that. Keeland was so much cuter when he was smiling. “It’s people that I don’t like.”
Okay.
Dom found himself in a unique position. He didn’t know quite what to say to Keeland, and that was something that had never happened to him before. He always knew what to say to a man he was interested in, and it always worked. He hadn’t been turned down since he was a teenager just learning the ways of the world.
Keeland didn’t seem to want to give Dom the time of day. Maybe it was the crash that had Keeland rattled. Maybe Dom needed to do something to get Keeland’s mind off the crash and onto him.
He could do that.
“You’ll like me,” Dom said with more confidence than he felt. The words were playful, but the meaning was not. Keeland was going to like him. Dom planned to do everything he could to make sure that happened.
Dom chuckled when the truck suddenly swerved. Keeland’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he glanced at Dom. Keeland’s mouth opened as if the man was going to say something, but he snapped it closed and continued driving.
Dom just leaned back in the seat and gently petted the kitten cuddled against his chest. He suddenly had a very good idea on how to get, and keep, Keeland’s attention. He just needed to put that idea into a plan.
“So, what’s going to happen to this little girl after she’s given a clean bill of health?”
“I’ll need to find her a good home.”
