She sits across from me and crosses one leg over the other. It’s an automatic position, but she looks so effortlessly fluid, otherworldly. A queen.
A black headband holds her curls off her face, and I let my gaze roam over her freckles. How did I not notice she had so many?
It’s like here, in her domain, I see new layers of her.
I’m about to produce my gift, when a furry creature comes from somewhere and glares at me. Hair stands up on my neck, and I fight the need to recoil. The cat hisses a few times.
While my mouth goes dry, Cora seems immensely entertained. “That’s Clooney; you’re sitting in his favorite spot.”
The cat glares at me, and I glare back.Let’s see who wins, fucker.I blink a few times because another cat saunters in, joining Clooney, and fuck, I can see they are cats, but their glower turns them into pumas. No, lions.
I scoot to the other side of the sofa, and the two jump up, giving me a shrug, I swear.
Cora giggles, and the sound breaks my silent war with her felines.
“You have two cats,” I say, like a complete idiot.
“Maybe I have ten.” She shrugs.
My eyes dart around, and she laughs again. Fuck, but I’m still not sure if she’s teasing me.
“Ten?” I croak.
“Oh my God, the unflappable Xander Stone is freaked out by kittens.” She seems unreasonably pleased with the situation.
“They don’t look like kittens.” I eye the two beside me, and to my horror, one of them places its paw on my thigh.
I tense. It’s not that I hate cats. Or fear them. Okay, fuck it, I’m terrified of them. It’s completely irrational, rooted in an unfortunate incident with a feral, rabid cat that Lottie brought home once when I was seven or eight. I shudder at the memory, sweat erupting on my skin.
The cat stretches, protracts its claws, but then it deflates into a tight ball and starts purring. I try to push the discomfort aside. The purring isn’t all that bad. Ever so slowly, I lower my hand to its fur.
I caress its back cautiously, and the purring intensifies. “It’s like a helicopter.”
When I look up, my gaze collides with Cora’s, and my stomach flips. She’s never looked at me like that.
Like she likes what she sees, an enigmatic smile lingering on her lips. I’m captivated by it, and for amoment I forget I’m in the vicinity of a potential predator.
“That’s Pitt, and it looks like you bonded.” She stands up and comes to give both cats a scratch.
Her citrus scent immediately reminds me of her naked body in that robe in the spa. Not that I saw what was covered under the plush material, but my imagination offered enough to replay that moment more often than I care to admit.
She looks up, and life pauses. Bent over like that, I get a glimpse of her white bra. It’s just a suggestion of the lace, but I still fidget, adjusting for the pressure behind the zipper of my jeans.
But it’s not just the sexual calling of her scent and looks; it’s her face tonight that is somehow different.
Like she sees me in a different light. Like she shifted her perspective. Like she is open to possibilities.
Her heat warms my skin, and I itch to move my caress from Pitt to her. Our gazes locked, she licks her lips, and my eyes drop.
She is close enough for me to kiss her. Is that why she came over? Those luscious lips part slightly, the air between us crackling.
I’m about to lean forward and claim her mouth when she straightens. “Sorry, I need to pee.”
She scrunches her face in what I interpret asregret? Apology? Like she wanted to lean into the moment, but nature’s call was too strong.
“Be my guest,” I say, as if this were my place.Idiot.
She narrows her eyebrows, her latent grin still present, and disappears behind me. I glimpse the closing door I haven’t noticed before.
