Shooter (Burnout) (26 page)

“Like her mama,” Tex added, cheerfully.

“It’s a demon,” Hawk insisted.

“You were holding chicken,” Chris pointed out. “She’s very aggressive about food.”

“I thought you told her no pets,” Doc reminded him.

“I changed my mind,” Chris insisted.

“Meaning she brought home a cat and you didn’t have the heart to tell her to get rid of it,” Doc replied.

Chris ignored him and intently buttered his dinner roll. “Not exactly,” he muttered. Everyone continued to stare at him.

“You got Slick a cat,” Tex surmised.

Everyone at the table laughed while Chris frowned. “There was an ad for kittens in paper on Sunday. I just went to check it out, that’s all. It’s not like I was really
looking
.”

“Oh man,” Hawk said. “Stick a fork in him. He’s
done
.”

“When’s the wedding? I’m
so
in charge of the bachelor party,” Doc declared.

“Jesus,” Chris grumbled.

“That’s not somebody’s barn cat, all fluffy and long-haired like that. That looks like one of those
expensive
cats,” Tex added.

Chris looked around the table at the shit-eating grins and finally put down his butter knife. “Look. The cat was free, okay? It was the only one left because it’s deaf. They were gonna destroy that cat. Seemed like a waste of a perfectly good cat, if you ask me. I had to take it. Slick loves the thing. Talks to it all the time, even though it can’t hear. But I think…I think maybe it knows she’s talking to it, or whatever, ‘cause it purrs like an engine whenever she does. Cat needed a home, Slick needed-”

“An anchor baby,” Tex drawled, grinning. Chris glared at his friend. “Can’t take a cat on a bus. I see what you did there.”

Chris sighed. “I just thought she might like the kitten. I’m not that devious. I didn’t consider that.”

“Added bonus,” said Tex.

“True,” said Chris, taking a bite of his roll.

“Out of curiosity,” Tex said, “how much were the other cats?”

Chris rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Few bills.”

Tex gaped at him. “Like two hundred dollars?” Chris picked up his chicken. “Like three hundred?” Tex persisted. Chris took a bite of chicken. “Like
four hundred
?!”

“Dollars?” said Doc. “For a cat? There’s a ton of free cats out there. Good God.”

“Yeah, well I realize that now, okay?” Chris snapped. “I get it now that she’d much rather have that free, slightly defective one that was gonna get put down, than an expensive, perfect one!”

“
Peppermint is
not defective
!” Hayley shrieked from the hallway and Chris winced.

He turned in his chair to face her. “I didn’t mean it like that. No, she’s not defective. Christ, the thing’s like an attack dog but stealthier. It’s like living with a poofy, white ninja.”

Hayley’s bottom lip quivered. “They were going to put her down? You said they just didn’t want to keep her inside and have to clean the litter box and so they were looking for someone to take her.”

Chris glared at Tex. “See what you did?”

Tex held up his hands. “Hey, when my lieutenant decides to rescue deaf ninja kittens, I’m gonna have questions. It’s just my way.”

Chris got up and crossed the living area to Hayley and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay. She’s got a home now,” he told Slick.

“Were there other deaf ones?” she asked miserably.

“Honey, if there were, we’d have a whole herd of them tearing up the furniture right now.”

“You swear?”

He nodded. “I’d be outnumbered and hiding in the bathroom, in fear for my life.”

“She’s not that bad.”

“Honey, that kitten of yours could take down a pitbull.”

“She likes you.”

“Pretty certain that’s the only reason I’m still alive. If she could go outside, I’d sic her on Mr. Tibbs.”

“What is it with you and him?”

“It’s his job, woman! He gets paid! He should do it right!”

A little after midnight, the poker game had ended and the boys had gone home. Hayley had exhausted herself cleaning, in direct defiance of Chris’ orders not to do any such thing. The kitten, too, had finally worn herself out after investigating all the Rangers individually, including attempting to gnaw on their boots. Her white, fluffy form curled into the upholstered chair in the living room. Hayley, in a nearly mirror image of the tiny feline, had settled into the couch with her own legs tucked up underneath her. Chris had taken the spot next to her, socked feet propped up on the coffee table, and surfed through channels.

He turned his head slightly to find Hayley asleep, her head tucked into his shoulder. He considered waking her, but she seemed so peaceful that he decided against it. He knew she had her lights on at all kinds of ungodly hours. To say she had some issues with insomnia was putting it mildly. He figured picking her up and taking her to the spare bedroom would only wake her.

He turned off the tv and managed to reach the lamp on the end table next to him, extinguishing the light with a free hand. As slowly as he could manage without waking her, he turned, simultaneously pulling Hayley onto his lap. He leaned back, stretched out on the couch with her light frame on top of him. It didn’t take long for him to join her after he let his eyes close.

Chapter 19

Hayley came to waking and was surprised by a number of things. One, light was streaming in through the slits in the blinds of the front window, as opposed to the usual darkness that greeted her when she came to. So she’d actually slept through the entire night. The next piece of information was slightly more shocking. She was lying
on top of
Chris, who was still asleep. His arms were around her and her head had been resting on his chest. She saw no way to extricate herself from his hold without waking him, she obviously had to.

Why hadn’t he woken her last night? Why hadn’t he just gone to bed if he hadn’t wanted to disturb her?

Gingerly she tried to slide off him, but he made a low noise and his eyes opened.

“It’s still early,” he complained.

Hayley stilled. “How do you know?” she asked suddenly.

“Internal clock, courtesy of Uncle Sam.”

Hayley scoffed. “I have to get up.”

*******************************

Chris frowned. He’d actually slept pretty well with his little tenant stretched out on top of him. He knew she had, too, because it was past dawn. It was pretty early, though, and he’d much rather she lay back down so they could squeeze in another half hour. At least. Hell, he was the damn boss. They could take another few
hours.
And he knew without a doubt that if she wanted to just that, then they’d lay all day on that couch. But he knew he wasn’t likely to convince her.

He stretched his arms above his head, working the kinks out as she got up.

“If we’re both up this early,” he declared, “how about breakfast?”

Hayley picked up the kitten, who started purring immediately. To his satisfaction, he could tell by the look on Hayley’s face that she was going to agree.

“I’ll hurry up and hit the head,” he announced before she could change her mind.

The warm water hit him and roused him further from sleep. In truth he didn’t really care about breakfast. If Hayley wasn’t amenable to continuing snuggling, he still wanted her in the house just the same. He ambled into the kitchen to find the kitten eating from a small bowl on the floor and Hayley at the stove making pancakes. He smiled to himself as he opened the fridge to pull out a carton of orange juice.

On Sunday, Chris had finished mowing the lawns and was showering again. Hayley was in his (bigger) kitchen, roasting a chicken in his oven. Pepper attacked as soon as she saw him rounding the corner, drying his hair with a towel. He winced as she climbed her way up his jeans. He set the little hellcat in the crook of his arm and flopped onto the couch. Chicken settled into the oven, Hayley joined them in the living room. She took the remote control off the table. He scowled as she fired up the DVR. Ten minutes later he’d reached his limit. Chris snatched the remote control away from her.

************************

“Give me that back!” Hayley shrieked, reaching for it.

“This is terrible,” Chris declared, flipping through channels. “They can’t even sing!”

“Because it’s auditions week! It gets better!” she insisted.

“Couldn’t get
worse
,” he mused.

She grabbed at his arm and he raised the remote over his head, out of her reach. She got up on her knees next to him and tried to grab it. When she nearly toppled over his lap, she put a hand on his shoulder to brace herself. She looked down at him at the same moment he was looking up at her. God, the man smelled good, she thought. It wasn’t right that a man should smell that good. It wasn’t even him, his scent. It was whatever soap he’d used in the shower, but still…damn. His hair was still just a bit damp and the way it fell in a thousand different directions made him look more wild, more carefree than he normally did. And men shouldn’t have eyes that color. Not green, not gray, some shade in between.

“Hayley,” Chris said, when she’d been staring at him for far too long. Which was bad because it caused her eyes to drop to his mouth.
What does he taste like?
she wondered. What was underneath that soap scent? Before she could stop herself, she leaned down and pressed her mouth over his. And Oh, God, there was the soap, that was true, but below that, when you got up next to his skin, there was a darker, earthier scent that was all male. And Hayley wanted it. Wanted to wrap herself in it, lose herself in it.

She pushed her hands into that damp mass of brown hair, feeling the strands slide through her fingers. And then she pushed her tongue into his mouth, determined to find the source of that maleness and possess it. She wanted to be able to call up the memory of this moment whenever she wanted, the sweet, dark taste and smell of this man in her hands and in her mouth and pressed up against her.

She threw her knee over his lap and sank down into him, pulling at him, drawing him closer. His lips were soft, his hair was soft, but his body was hard and lean, all muscle and steel and strength. Every part of him would be hard, she knew it, like she knew his taste and his smell. She reached down between them and grasped that velvet steel rod that she knew,
knew
, would be there, hard and waiting. What would it smell like? Taste like? Feel like in her mouth and pressed up against her? She gasped at her own thoughts at the same time he grabbed her hand.

“Hayley!”

Hayley drew back, panting, and staring in wonderment at Chris. She looked down at his crotch. She still had his dick in her hand. Startled she let go and backed away. “Oh, God!” she gasped. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I- I’m-” She shook her head, bewildered at everything, and got up off the couch. Without thinking, she made a beeline for the front door.

“No, Hayley, wait!” Chris called after her.

She ignored him and slammed the door, sprinting to her own house.

************************