protective myself at times.” After all, he was the oldest. He’d learned responsibility at a young age. He’d not only learned it but accepted it. Taking care of those around him came naturally to him.
Suddenly Hadley put her sandwich down and looked over her shoulder.
“What is it?”
She put her finger to her lips to shush him, and seemed to listen intently. Then she got to her feet and was careful to step softly toward the shelves to the rear of the tack room.
“A field mouse could have made its way in here,” he began.
But Hadley paid no attention. Instead she bent over to the lowest shelf, moved a box of grooming equipment and scooped up something. When she turned around, in her arms she held a kitten.
At that moment, Eli knew he was in big trouble. Hadley Strickland standing there with a kitten in the crook of her arm was a sight that made his blood run fast and his heart increase its rhythm. Just what he didn’t need—an attraction to a well-educated woman who probably considered ranch life foreign to her. He had to get his libido under control and do it fast.
Hadley walked toward Eli, and for a few seconds he thought about backing up. But he couldn’t. He was mesmerized by her and the kitten in her arms.
As she stood in front of him, she handed him the kitten. “Can you hold her? I think the mom is back there, too.”
What choice did he have? Along with catching Hadley’s vanilla scent that was so different from the perfumes women usually wore, besides being close enough to think about touching her hair that looked even softer than he originally thought it might be, besides staring at her lips for a nanosecond and imagining—
Coming back to reality with a jolt, he took the kitten and nestled it on his forearm. It was adorable with colors split on its face. One side was tan, the other dark brown into black. All shades from gold to brown melded in its coat.
Hadley’s gaze met his, and they seemed locked in the moment. Then her focus went to the kitten. She brushed her thumb under its eye.
“She’s too little to be separated from her mom, so if we make friends with one, we have to make friends with both.” With that she swiftly turned and went back to the shelves. In another minute, she had another cat in her arms, a lighter tortoiseshell, one that hardly looked old enough to have a litter of kittens.
“Do you think they’re hungry?” Eli asked. “There’s cat food in the cupboard.” He motioned to the storage units near the shelves.
“Stray cats are usually always hungry,” Hadley agreed. “The little one should be old enough to eat a bit of cat food mixed with water. You haven’t seen them around before?”
“Barn cats come and go. My guess is they hide whenever humans come in. If I see them, I feed them.” He gave a shrug. “But I haven’t seen these two before.”
“They probably took shelter in here from the cold and the snow. They need to be tested, and the little one looks as if she might need eyedrops.”
“We can do that,” he said. “They’re not going to get out of the barn now, that’s for sure.”
Hadley settled the momma cat on the chair. Instead of scampering away like Eli might have expected she would do, she sat there and looked up at Hadley, as if grateful for the company and the attention.
“What about the kitten?” he asked. “Should I just put her down?”
“Do you have a box and maybe an old blanket? We can make her a better bed. After she eats, she might sleep there, depending on the mom.”
“You said they need to be tested. What are you testing for?”
“Feline leukemia and FIV.”
“And if they have it?”
“We’ll talk after they’re tested. No use jumping the gun.”
Eli handed Hadley the kitten, understanding that she dealt with this every day—clients bringing pets for her care, clients losing pets, clients hoping Hadley could make everything better. He found the food, then emptied a box that held old tack that needed repair. In no time, he’d created a bed with a fleece saddle pad.
Eli searched for something they could use for dishes. He borrowed the lid to a jar that held organic cookie treats for the horses. It was big enough that both mom and kitten could eat from it.
Handing it to Hadley along with a bottle of water from a case on the floor, he said, “This is the best I could do.”
“This will work great. Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
When their eyes met, Eli thought he caught a flash of attraction in Hadley’s brown gaze. He knew he was feeling it. Maybe it was just the idea of being cooped up during a snowstorm that made their awareness of each other so intense.
“I’ll check on Amber,” he said gruffly and exited the tack room to do just that.
Hadley told herself to focus on what she was doing while Eli checked on his horse. Why did her gaze want to follow him? Eli drew her eyes to him like he was a magnet and she was the weakest piece of metal. It wasn’t just his broad shoulders, though they were broad. It wasn’t his slim hips and his flat stomach under his vest, though she could imagine a six-pack under his flannel shirt. It wasn’t his long legs encased in jeans that fit oh, so well. How often had she seen cowboys in jeans? Eli’s jeans looked as if they were comfortable, worn white in some places. She had to stop sneaking peeks at him.
Focusing on the cat food and the water, she mixed it together in the lid. As soon as she lowered it to the floor, momma cat was there instantly and so was baby. Only baby seemed to be having a hard time of it. Not used to eating food from a dish? That was easily fixed.
Hadley dipped her finger into the mixture and held it to the kitten’s nose. The kitten’s little pink tongue snuck out and lapped at her finger. The hairs on the nape of her neck prickled, and she felt Eli’s presence as soon as he was near. It wasn’t his shadow. It wasn’t the soapy leather scent that seemed to surround him. It was just...him. He was back and watching her.
Hadley knew about the cowboy kind. She’d dated a few. They were hardworking, but often narrow-minded, never looking at the world around them, only at the world they knew.
Eli hunkered down next to her and lifted the cat food can. “It looks like she needs a little more.” He forked more food into the lid, his arm bumping hers.
Hadley poured more water from the bottle and almost spilled it. Being this close to Eli made her feel a bit shaky. How crazy was that?
“Do you really think they’ll sleep in the box?” he asked.
As she turned to face him, her body was close to his. She took in the details of his face, the lines around his eyes, the slight furrow in his brow. There was
