“No need.”
“I don’t mind. And once you let the hellion out in your room, I’ll take the trap back to the department.”
“Stop calling her a hellion. She’s just scared. Her name is Joy.”
He laughed. “Still the most contradictory name in history.”
She glared at him. “Maybe I’m manifesting that she’ll grow into her name.”
“Andthatis the most optimistic thing I’ve ever heardyousay.”
This time when he reached for the cage, she let him take it from her and load it in the back of his Jeep. She climbed back in the passenger seat and twisted to talk calmly to Joy as Cal drove them back to her motel.
Once in her room, she set the cage on the floor and opened the trap door. “It’s okay, baby. You’re safe. I won’t hurt you.”
She reached in to get the kitten, and Joy swatted at her, tiny claws unsheathed. When she picked up Joy and eased her out, the cat continued hissing, wiggling and spitting, a pitiful sound from such a small feline. She cooed some more and stroked Joy’s tiny head with two fingers.
“She’ll need a bath. Living outside, she probably has fleas and ticks,” Cal said.
Jules twisted her mouth, contemplating the task of bathing a wild cat. She angled a glance at Cal. “Will you help?”
“Two against one? Hardly fair odds.”
“But the one has claws,” she said.
“I meant we might need more than two. Have you ever bathed a cat?”
She arched an eyebrow. “No.”
“Brace yourself.”
Thirty minutes and several scratches later, Joy had been cleaned and rid of pests, and she was bundled in one of the motel towels…and was purring.
“Do you hear that?” Jules asked, beaming at Cal.
He studied her smile, one of the few she’d ever given him, and he savored it. Her face transformed when she smiled fromlovely to simply stunning. Heat flashed through his veins, and his breath stuck in his lungs. He nodded. “If I were wrapped up and cuddled against you like that, I’d be purring, too.”
When she lifted her gaze to him, he curled his mouth in a lopsided grin that said,Yes, I meant that just the way it sounded.
Warmth filled her green eyes, and he slid a hand along her cheek to cup her face. “Can I kiss you?”
She swallowed hard, and her smoky gaze invited him in. But after a crackling moment, she blinked, scowled and said, “No. I’m mad at you.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you caved to your brother’s demand that we not pursue Chase Hamilton.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,oh.” She used a corner of the towel to continue drying Joy’s head. When the towel loosened, the kitten wiggled out and scrambled to the far edge of the bed. Before Jules could catch her, the cat jumped to the floor and crawled under the bed.
“Want me to try to get her out?” Cal offered.
Jules considered her answer before she responded, “No. Let her calm down. She’ll come out when she’s hungry.”
She settled back against the stack of pillows and closed her eyes. “Why am I so exhausted all the time lately?” she said, likely more to herself than to him, but Cal answered.
“Stress. Poor diet. Overwork.”
