She nods her head but she’s chatting with the little kitten and a jarring shot of jealousy ripples through me. Which is ridiculous. It’s a helpless little kitten and I’m a grown man. One that doesn’t want a woman.
Right?
CHAPTER 8
Posy
Stone walks me up to my door and I juggle my keys until he takes them with a soft curse. He opens the door and I slip inside, holding the little kitten.
He comes back with a litter box and litter and even some small cans of kitten food and some dry kitten chow.
“I hope that thing is litter trained or you’re gonna have a rough few days.”
“I’ll manage. She’s so good that I’m sure she’ll do exactly what she needs to do.” I hold the kitten up and the glowing golden eyes study me seriously then she yawns and her little baby teeth gleam in the dim light.
I can’t help but laugh. Stone grins at me. Then he leans on the wall. “I think we should stay engaged. What do you think about that?”
“Why?” I ask, not daring to look up from the kitten.
“Well, it suits me to keep ma happy for right now. And it keeps the gossips from going after you anymore. We’re just an engaged couple. Nothing to see here.”
Studying him under my lashes, I watch him closely. He doesn’t seem annoyed.
“Are you sure? You said you don’t want a fiancé or any other woman really. How does this help you?”
“It gets my mom off my back for a little bit. And maybe she’ll focus on my brother or my cousin instead.”
Laughing, I lift my head. “You’re scared of your mom!”
“Hell yeah!” He snorts. “She’s scary as hell. You don’t cross her.”
“What if she finds out that this is fake?”
“She won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
My breath catches when he stalks closer, his hand coming out to run one of my red curls through his fingers, a smile curling his firm lips. Then his eyes come up and desire curls through my belly at the hunger in his emerald eyes.
I can’t breathe. His head comes closer and his lips brush mine, soft and clinging gently. His breath lightly caresses my mouth and I moan softly.
Then his hand comes up to the back of my neck and he’s holding me so tight that I don’t know where he ends and I begin.
“Shit!” He jerks away and curses.
My eyes follow his and I grin. The little gray kitten spits at him and he pushes at a tiny hole in his shirt. One that looks exactly like a tiny claw caught it.
Snorting, I pull her up to my cheek and she purrs like a rusty train engine. “Didn’t you like being squished, baby? Poor thing,” I whisper and cuddle her up to my cheek.
“That thing needs a bath.”
Glaring at him, I walk to my bathroom and start running a little water to wash her gently with some dish soap. “She’s not a thing. She’s a little, scared kitten.”
He raises a brow at the kitten that’s glaring at him angrily. “She doesn’t look scared to me.”
“She knows she’s safe.”
Rolling his eyes, I undoes the buttons on his shirt and pushes the sleeves up his arms. “What are you doing?” I ask.
