that spinning thing.”
“You gonna be sick?”
She laughed softly. “Told you. I don’t do that.”
“Not even when you get stomach flu?”
“Nope. And by the way, technically that’s not the flu.”
“Technically, I don’t much care what it’s called. And how do you not throw up?”
“Sheer willpower,” she said, except the words seemed a little frayed around the edges. Eli crossed his arms, trying not to think how soft and vulnerable she looked, all sunk into those deep cushions with her eyes closed like that. “Comfy?”
“As comfy as one can be when your brain’s on the puree setting.”
“So you are drunk.”
“Maybe. A little.” Finally, she opened her eyes, frowning at him. “I didn’t expect you to be…nice.”
Eli frowned. “I’m always nice—”
“I mean really nice.”
“What that’s supposed to mean?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” Tess snuggled farther into the corner of the sofa, letting out a shriek when the mass of fur that owned the place jumped up onto the sofa arm beside her. “Dear God—what’s that?”
“A cat. What’s it look like?”
“Something from a ’50s horror movie. After the radiation experiment went horribly wrong. Wait—” She shifted her frown to Eli. “You have a cat?”
“Got a problem with that?”
“Geez, touchy much?” she said, then looked at the cat again. Leaning back a little. “He’s bigger than my two-year-old.”
“She. And big is a definite advantage when you live in the woods. Chased a bear up a tree once.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Wanna see the video?”
“No, I’ll take your word for it. Does she have a name?”
She would have to ask. Warmth prickled his cheeks. “Maybelline.”
Tess’s wide-eyed gaze flew to his; a moment later, she snorted out a very unladylike laugh. “You’re not serious.”
“I didn’t name her, okay? Some lady we were working for, it had been her mother’s cat, only the old lady died and her daughter was allergic. Damn thing glommed on to me from the moment I walked into her house, so she asked me if I wanted her.”
“And you actually said yes.”
“She’d already asked, like, ten people. It was me or the pound. Anyway, look at that face—how could I say no to that face?”
Another laugh. “And you actually call her Maybelline?”
“Actually, I call her Belly. For obvious reasons.”
Sitting on the arm of the sofa and purring loud enough to rattle skulls in a five-mile radius, Belly shot an offended look in Eli’s direction, although with one eye partly closed and her snaggleteeth on full display the effect was kinda lost. One ear was half-bitten off—Eli didn’t want to know what she’d tangled with, or what condition she’d left the other guy in—and it’d been a while since she’d let him brush out the knots in her fur. He supposed maybe she didn’t give the best first impression.
Now, sensing some lovin’ in the offing, she jumped down and trotted over to Eli, her saggy belly swaying from side to side. In one swipe, Belly coated the bottom of his jeans with a half inch of cat fur. Eli scooped her up to roughly scratch under her chin, getting her motor going full throttle. Cat did love her chin rubs.
“You. With a cat. Unbelievable.” Tess grinned, for a second looking almost like the girl he used to know. A moment later, though, she swiped the red Netflix envelope off the end table next to her, slipping out the sleeved disk. “Bond, huh?” she said, and Eli thought, Why are you still here?
Because she was making him feel maybe not so protective, which was in turn making him twitchy. He scratched the cat harder.
“Not just Bond. Craig’s Bond.”
“I’m a Brosnan girl, myself.”
“Get out.” Please.
“What can I say?” she said, pushing herself to her feet. “I like suave…oh, hell—”
Cat went flying when Eli lunged forward to catch Tess as her knees buckled. She molded herself to his chest—what the hell?—only to immediately shove away again, shaking her head. Good call.
“You need to sit,” he said, trying to make her sit.
“I don’t need to sit. I’m fine, I’m—”
Tears bloomed in her eyes before she pushed past him to the door. Except she wobbled again, crashing into an armchair.
“For God’s sake, Tess—!”
She wheeled on him. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve watched a movie with another adult?”
That thud he heard in his head would be any hope of getting her out of his house before one of them did something stupid. Because clearly whatever she’d been keeping locked up inside her was only now lurching to the surface. And, since she was there to begin with at his insistence, dumping her now probably wouldn’t be cool.
Yeah, this would be a good time for the evil, scum-sucking side of his personality to kick in. If he’d had one. “You’re more than welcome to stay and watch—”
“That’s not the point!” Tess cried, charging him. Flailing a bit. “The point is…” She stopped, shaking her head, looking a little wild-eyed. “The point is, that there is no point! To any of it!”
She’d started pacing his living room like she was fixing to lift off any moment. Maybe not the best time to interrupt the flow.
“You know what I felt when Ricky said he wanted a divorce? Relief. That I could finally stop holding my breath, because it was over. He was officially no longer my responsibility! No more lying awake at night, worrying…no more wondering when he’d be home, if he’d even make it home…no more going around with a fake smile plastered across my face, pretending that everything was just hunky-dory when all I wanted to do was hit something, somebody, only to find out he’d fallen out of love with me! All that worrying for nothing, Eli! Nothing!”
She closed in on him, fists raised; although she couldn’t have hurt him if she tried, Eli grabbed her wrists, then wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as all hell broke loose, as she railed against her husband for leaving her and the kids for months on end, for coming back from Iraq only to leave her for good. Then, somehow, they were on the couch, and he was holding her in his lap—just
