“I think you need a better name for her thanbird,” he said, leading the way through the back room of the clinic to a small staircase, and then upstairs. “Somethingbadass.”
“Really?” I trudged up the stairs tiredly. “I’m planning to release her back into the woods, not keep her as apet.”
“I should hope so.” He reached the top landing and turned around. He was taller than me now, and he’d taken off his oversized lab coat at some point so he was only wearing a pair of surgical scrubs and a t-shirt that showed off his lean strength. I wasn’t sure why I’d thought he was slight before. The man was slender but fit. “I’ve found that giving an animal a name is… I dunno. Life-affirming.” In the dim light from the lamp over the stairs, it looked like he might be blushing. “It could be superstition. I mean, there’s no scientific reason why itworks…”
“Or maybe thereisa reason it works, and scientists don’t know it yet?” I said, quoting his words fromearlier.
His eyes widened and he stared at me like I was some kind of animal he’d never encountered, but he was clearly pleased.Sopleased. And I hadn’t even had totry.
He unlocked the door and led me inside. The living room was small and decorated with approximately the same style as my cabin—hand-me-down chic. But it was cozy and tidy, with particleboard shelves full of books covering everywall.
He pointed at a blue futon. “Make yourself comfortable. I need to shower, but it literally takes me thirty seconds.” He whipped off his shirt as he walked away and I averted my eyes, though I wasn’t sure why I felt the need. It wasn’t weird for another guy to take his shirtoff.
A second later, I heard the waterrunning.
I wandered over to one of his bookcases and ran my finger along the spines. Mystery, thriller, mystery, mystery, spy thriller, urban fiction, mystery… I sensed a theme. And then my finger coasted over one familiar spine and I retracted it quickly, like it had burnedme.
It kindahad.
“So, badass names?” he prompted, stepping back into the room. His wet hair curled slightly around his ears. He wore a pair of lounge pants and a dark t-shirt that made his eyes look evenbluer.
“Wow. That was super fast. You weren’tlying.”
“I never do,” he said. He looked down at my shirt and frowned. My eyes followed his gaze and I saw that I was still wearing the bloody t-shirt fromearlier.
“My brother Con’s about your size. Let me see if he left something here.” He rummaged through a closet and emerged with a shirt a minute later. “Here, you can put thison.”
I took it and quickly changed shirts while he went into the kitchen to makecoffee.
“I was thinking Trixie,” hecalled.
“What?”
“For the owl.Trixie.”
“No!” I protested. “That’s a name for a…” I coughed, not finishing the sentence. “Just,no.”
“You were going to say porn star, weren’t you?” He handed me a cup of coffee and took a sip of hisown.
“I…maybe.”
“Hmm. Well, not the kind of porn Iwatch.”
“Really?”
He gave me a small smile. “I can’t think of a single guy on Cockyboys namedTrixie.”
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “That… would makesense.”
He smiled again, more fully this time. “I was going for Trixie Belden,Girl…”
“Detective?” I said. “Right. Should’ve guessed.” I pointed to his shelves full of mysteries. “It’s not a terrible name. But I was thinking something more warrior-esque. LikeBoudica.”
He blinked, then scowled. “The whatnow?”
“Boudica was badass. When theRomans—”
He held up a hand. “I’m familiar with the whole sordid story. Ugh.No. Happy endings only, Daniel, for the love ofGod.”
I ducked my head andlaughed.
“Trixie it is, then,” I agreed. I figured he deserved the honor of naming her, since he’d worked not one but two miracles thatnight.
Julian Ross had saved the owl’slife.
He’d also made me think that there weresomehumans worth knowing and maybe, possibly,trusting.
