He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t accept it, for one. For another, it was Chrissy and the others. I had no part of it.”
“A donation to her charity then.”
Those blue eyes come to mine. “I heard you gave a big one at the event.” Amusement begins to trickle into his expression. “Though we do have a litter of kittens that need?—”
“No.” I put my hands up. “Absolutely not.”
That mischief grows as he calls, “Buttercup?”
My brows fly up at the non sequitur. Then further when Tiff turns toward him with a shy smile. “Yeah, honey?”
Buttercup.
Huh.
“Brooks has good news.”
Her eyebrows drag together in confusion.
As do mine.
Mostly because I’m still stuck on the billionaire shouting endearments across the room as easily as he discusses security measures and business deals.
“What’s that?” she asks, gaze flicking to mine.
“He and Briar are going to be foster parents.”
Briar jerks, hot chocolate sloshing over the rim of the mug in her hand. She hurriedly sets it down, starts mopping up the mess, but her eyes are on mine.
And they are clearly saying,What the actual fuck?
And all I can silently communicate back is,I have no fucking idea what this man is talking about.
Which is fine—because we don’t have long to wait for an explanation.
Rory squeals and hops to her feet. “Dogs or cats?”
“Cats,” Chrissy says. “We just got a new litter in this morning.”
Rory narrows her eyes at her best friend. “My foster system is nearly full.”
“And mine is overflowing.” Chrissy plunks her hands on her hips. “It’s kitten season.”
Marie leans back in her chair and sighs, not getting involved, just watching the standoff.
Likely this is far from the first (and the last) she’s seen.
Tiff, meanwhile, is eyeing the friends with concern, and a glimpse of her nanny skills come out as she tries to negotiate a solution. “Maybe this isn’t the best time for Brooks and Briar to take on?—”
“Cats would be preferred.”
All eyes go to Pascal, where he seems to have emerged from thin air to stand by the couch.
Last thing I knew, he was checking the sensors near the windows.
The man moves like a shadow.
Thank fuck he’s on our side.
