nothing to thank me for. This is a win-win.” He got to help the animals, score points with Megan and spend more time with her to boot.
“But the cost—”
“A tax write-off, remember? Fly animals as far as you need them to go and your time away will be reduced considerably.” This idea just got better and better, not only for the animals, but also by giving him an “in” to see Megan, to figure out where to take this attraction. “This isn’t a one-time offer either. You’re packed with critters here. If there’s help out there, take it and my jet will fly them there.”
“I can’t turn you down. The animals need this kind of miracle if we’re going to find homes for them by the holidays.” She exhaled hard. “I need to get to work placing calls. There are rescues I hadn’t considered before because of the distance and our limited resources. Rescue work happens fast, slots fill up at a moment’s notice.”
“And this little gal?” He stroked the cat’s head and for once the calico didn’t dig her claws in. Perched on the back of the chair, she arched up into his hand and purred like a race car.
“Are you sure you don’t want to keep her?”
He pulled his hand away. “I can’t. I’m at work all the time, which wouldn’t be fair to her.”
“Of course.” Megan looked disappointed in him, even though he’d just offered her thousands of dollars’ worth of flight hours.
But then, hadn’t he said it? Offering his plane was easy. Taking care of another living being? Not so easy.
“I should let you get to work on lining up those rescues.” He pulled a business card from his wallet and plucked a pen from the cup on the edge of her desk. He jotted a number on the back of the card. “This is my private cell number and my secretary’s number. Don’t hesitate to call.”
When he passed her the card, their fingers brushed. He saw the flecks of awareness sparkle in her eyes again. He wasn’t mistaken. The mutual draw was real, but now wasn’t the time to press ahead for more.
“Thank you again.” She flipped the card between her fingers, still watching him with suspicion, their old conflicts clearly making her wary. “Would you like to name your kitty cat?”
“That’s not my kitten.”
“Right,” she answered, a smile playing with her plump lips that didn’t need makeup to entice, “and she still needs a name. We’ve had to name so many this past month, we’re out of ideas.”
He thought for a second then found himself saying, “Tallulah.”
“Tallulah?” Her surprise was a reward. He liked unsettling her. “Really, Whit? I didn’t expect such a...girly name choice.”
“That was the name of my mom’s cat.” She was briefly theirs, but when they’d moved, the cat ran away. Then his father had said no more pets. Period.
“It’s a lovely name.”
He nodded quickly then turned to leave.
“Whit,” she called, stopping him short, “about what happened after you helped me get to Evie that day....”
Was she finally acknowledging the impulsive, explosive kiss? The thought of having her sooner rather than later... “Yes?”
“Thank you for helping me reach my daughter.” She looked down at her shoes for an awkward moment before meeting his eyes again. “I can never repay you for that...and now this.”
“I don’t expect repayment.” The last thing he wanted was to have her kiss him again out of gratitude.
The next time they kissed—and there would be a next time—it would be purely based on mutual attraction.
* * *
The stroke of Whit Daltry’s eyes left her skin tingling.
Standing at the shelter’s glass door, Megan rubbed her arms as she watched Whit stride across the parking lot back to his truck. His long legs ate up the space one powerful step at a time. His suit coat flapped in the late afternoon breeze revealing a too-perfect, taut butt. Her head was still reeling from his surprise appearance, followed by the generous offer she couldn’t turn down.
After six weeks of reliving that brief but mind-blowing kiss, she’d seen him again and would be spending an entire day with him. Somehow, because of that day they’d gone from avoiding each other to.... What? She wasn’t sure exactly.
Maybe he’d gotten the wrong idea from that kiss and thought she was looking for something more. But she didn’t have time in her life for more. She had a demanding job and a daughter, and both had taken a hard hit from last month’s tornado.
And speaking of her child, she’d left Evie long enough. Thank goodness Miss Abigail had been so accommodating about helping with Evie. The retired legal secretary had even babysat a couple of evenings when Megan got called out to assist with an emergency rescue. Evie had been particularly clingy this past month. And she couldn’t blame her. That nightmarish day still haunted Megan as well; she often woke up from dreams of not reaching her daughter in time, of the whole roof of the preschool collapsing.
Dreams that sometimes took a different turn with Whit arriving, of the kiss going further....
Megan watched his truck drive away, a knot in her stomach.
It would be too damn easy to lean on those broad shoulders, to get used to the help, which would only make things more difficult when she was on her own again. Megan turned away from the door and temptation, returning to reality in the form of her precious daughter sitting on Abigail’s lap as they played on the iPad together. Evie’s knight’s armor was slipping off one shoulder, her toy sword on the ground beside her tiara.
Megan held out her arms. “Come here, sweetie.”
She gathered Evie into her arms and held her on her hip. Not much longer and her baby girl would be too big to carry around. This precious child, who wanted to be a “princess knight” for Halloween and cut through tornadoes with a foam sword. Megan had hoped her daughter would relax and heal as they put the storm behind them, but now Thanksgiving was approaching and Evie was still showing signs of trauma.
The holidays were tough anyway, reminding her that she was the sole relative in Evie’s life. She was a thirty-year-old single mom.
And damn lucky to have landed in this small town full of warmhearted friends.
“Thank you, Abigail, for helping out even after the school finished repairs. You’ve been a lifesaver.”
The roof of Little Tots Daycare had been reconstructed quickly, but the dust and stress had taken its toll on the kids and the workers. Some had gotten the flu.
Others, like Evie, had nightmares and begged to stay home. Her daughter conquered pretend monsters in iPad games and dress-up play.
Abigail rocked back in her chair. “My pleasure. She’s a doll.” She pinched Evie’s cheek lightly. “We have fun readin’ books on the iPad. Don’t we, Evie?”
Bringing
