Animal Attraction. Maisey Yates

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      In one agile move he launched up to sit on the gate, surveying the dogs from his perch. The dogs, somewhat stupefied, stopped to stare.

      “Huh.”

      Shohn asked, “What?”

      “They’re not barking.”

      “Maybe they know Louie wouldn’t like it.”

      Could be, she decided, when en masse the dogs approached, their noses sniffing the air. Louie was so unconcerned that he lifted one rear leg straight into the air and started to groom himself.

      Shohn rubbed his face. “I told him that if he does that too often, it no longer counts as a bath.”

      Nadine snickered.

      One dog reared back on his haunches and barked. Another turned a circle. Another jumped. Louie gave up his ablutions and instead jumped down to run and play with them.

      “I’ll be.” She turned to Shohn. “Any dog that’s aggressive is kept separate from the others, so these are all social animals. I’m not worried if you’re not.”

      “So you’ll keep him for me?”

      “Sure, why not?”

      He surprised her by grabbing her upper arms, lifting her to her tiptoes and planting a firm kiss on her parted lips. “Thank you.”

      No, thank you. Resisting the urge to grab him back for a better taste, Nadine cleared her throat. “Sure. No problem.”

      “Give me your number and I’ll check on Louie later just to make sure everything is okay.”

      Turnabout seemed fair. “All right, but I also have some papers for you to fill out, including with your number, just in case I need to reach you.”

      It was another five minutes before Shohn was finally able to head out. She walked him to the door, wondering if he’d maybe steal another kiss, but a couple was on their way in with their new puppy, so he only thanked her with a smile before jogging out to his Jeep.

      This time, telling him goodbye was different.

      Because this time, she knew he’d be back.

      * * *

      Shohn was more than a half hour late, and Nadine began to wonder if something had happened. He had her number, so why didn’t he call if he had a problem? Roxi and Fred went home for the evening, all the dogs settled down to sleep, but Louie watched her with his big yellow eyes as if in accusation.

      “I know, sweetie, but he will be here eventually.”

      The cat paced the front room, probably wondering why all his friends had been taken away.

      All day, Louie had run with the dogs inside, and occasionally in a fenced area outside. She had open runs for the bigger dogs, but the little ones that might look like hawk food were kept in the contained areas, well protected from predators.

      Louie went to the door and scratched.

      “Sorry, bud. No can do.” She tried to pet him, but he had other ideas—like meowing loudly, which stirred a few dogs. Nadine knew well enough that if one dog started barking, they’d all soon join in.

      “Tell you what,” she said to Louie. “We’ll go over to my house to wait for him.” Which meant she also needed to tote over the cat box and bed and a food and water dish... What a bother.

      Where was he?

      She decided to make two trips, taking Louie over first so he wouldn’t get the dogs riled, and then coming back for all the other stuff. She was loaded down and crossing the yard when a vehicle pulled in.

      She paused to look, and Amber hopped out of her big truck, Rookie with her.

      “Amber?” Nadine stood there until Amber spotted her. Rookie ran over first to greet her.

      “Hey there,” Amber said, already reaching for half of Nadine’s load. “Everything is fine, but Shohn’s held up at the park.”

      Bummer. “For how long?”

      “Right now he doesn’t know. Could be all night.” She looked from Nadine’s house to the office. “Where is this stuff going?”

      “My house.” She started that way. “So what happened? Is anyone hurt?”

      Amber shook her head. “Some idiot got lost. A group of guys were drinking too much and they got into an argument and one of the knuckleheads wandered off. Now they can’t find him.”

      “It’ll be getting dark soon.” She peered in through the screen, didn’t see Louie anywhere, so she held it open with her shoulder while Amber went in first, followed by Rookie.

      “I know. I hate when stuff like this happens.” She lifted the cat bed stacked with a food dish and a bag of food. “You got a cat?”

      “No, Shohn did.”

      Incomprehension filled Amber’s bright blue eyes before she grinned. “A cat, huh?”

      “A very unusual cat.” Nadine looked around. “He must be hiding somewhere.” She nodded at Rookie. “Does he like cats okay?”

      “Rook likes everyone, don’t you, buddy?”

      Alert, the dog thumped his tail hard on the floor, his expression hopeful. Amber smiled. “You want to find the cat?”

      Ears up, Rookie gave a loud, positive “woof!”

      “Go on, then.”

      He took off like a shot, running from the main room and down the hall. At Nadine’s bedroom he slid to a sudden halt that sent his tail past his head. His nails wheeled on the floor until he grabbed some traction, then he launched into the bedroom.

      In a fast walk, the ladies followed and found the dog sitting at the ready beside Nadine’s full-size bed, staring at where Louie curled up, nose to butt, on her bed pillow.

      Rookie seemed very pleased that he’d so easily located the cat. For his part, Louie lifted his head, seemed to give a mental shrug, and after a long stretch and toothy yawn, he lazily got up to greet Rookie.

      Amber and Nadine both stood in the doorway.

      At almost the same time, Amber said, “That’s Shohn’s cat?” while Nadine said, “Looks like they’ll get along just fine.”

      Slowly Amber went in and sat on the edge of the mattress. Louie glanced at her, sniffed her outstretched hand and jumped down to play with Rookie.

      “His reaction to Shohn is very different.”

      “How so?” Amber rejoined her and they followed the animals back to the main room.

      “He adores Shohn. It’s something to see.”

      With a coy look, СКАЧАТЬ