It would be too easy to fall under his spell. I got the feeling he was the kind of man that a woman would throw her whole life away for. Kind of like what Shelby did. She’d been on the fast-track to partner. Only five more years between her and the inevitable conclusion when her life had taken a U-turn.
She’d quit the prestigious firm of Williams, Phelps and Harmon, taken an internship with an old retiring lawyer in Deer Springs, and then announced that she was moving there permanently after she met the “supposed” love of her life.
That’s what had caused our falling out.
I’d claimed she was having a youthful mid-life crisis, if you can have one of those in your twenties. She’d accused me of selling my life in exchange for work and told me she was hopping out of the rat race to live areallife, whatever the hell that meant.
But looking at Hudson while a kitten slept on my chest, I could almost see what she’d been talking about. It would be easy to fall for the glamor of a sexy mountain man.
His lips quirked. “No kitten today? That’s all right. Someone will come along and give her a home. Isn’t that right, Leona?”
“Who’s Leona?” I asked.
“The kitten. The shelter hasn’t named her yet, so I chose a name for her. It has a nice ring, don’t you think?” he said as he started to pry the sleeping kitten off my chest.
A reckless impulse overtook me, and I grabbed the kitten, holding her close.“Wait!”
“Maybe youdowant a kitten.”
I did. But that was the twelve-year-old girl part of me. The one who used to like purple unicorns and dream of having a pet.
That girl had disappeared a long time ago, trading in pipe dreams for pencil skirts and matching suit jackets, cutthroat deals, and eighty-hour work weeks.
Unlike Shelby, I wasstillon track to be a partner.
“I can’t. A cat doesn’t fit in my life. I work… a lot.”
“Cats are very self-sufficient. They don’t mind having some quiet time. Do you travel for work?”
“No.”
“So you’re home most nights?”
Every night. My love life was nonexistent, and I didn’t go out on the town much. I was too tired to enjoy the benefits of city living after working such long hours.
“Yeah.”
He shrugged. “Sounds like a cat would work. If she got lonely, you could get her a friend.”
“Two cats! You’re a dangerous man to be around. You’re trying to turn me into the quintessential crazy cat lady.”
He laughed, his eyes sparkling. “It would take more than two cats to get that designation. Anyway, if you want to make it to the wedding, you either have to hand over the kitten or adopt her. Those are the rules.”
The woman working at the shelter today—a slim, pretty brunette who obviously had eyes for Hudson—piped up, “Actually, we’re overrun right now. And this one’s older. She’s the last of her litter and never got adopted. Now we have a dozen younger kittens that will get adopted out before her. You know how it goes. If you wanted to foster her, Hudson, that would help us out, even if it’s just for a few days.”
Hudson glanced at me. “What do you think, Elizabeth? Should we foster Leona for a few days?”
The way he said that made it seem like we were a couple, making one of thosecouple decisionstogether.
I knew he didn’t mean to, but the man could charm the skirt off any lady he ran across.
And he probably has too.
Something that felt like liquid fire rolled through me, electrifying my entire system. It had beenwaytoo long since I’d been with a man.
Weighing the decision about the cat, not the man, I asked, “I can bring the kitten back?”
The shelter employee nodded. “Yep. That’s how fostering works. It helps take a load off our resources.”
