things tightly professional. But as she came closer he could see she looked flustered and upset.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked as she stopped right in front of him.
Her grey-blue eyes were shiny and moist with tears. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she said. ‘My landlord has flatly refused to allow me to have Mittens in my flat. He’s threatening to have me evicted if I don’t get rid of him immediately.’
‘Mittens?’
She indicated the box she was carrying. ‘Mittens the cat,’ she said, ‘the one that got hit by a car on my first day? I had to take him otherwise the vet would’ve sent him to the cat shelter and he might’ve been put down if no one wanted him.’
‘Didn’t the owner come and claim him?’ Lucas asked.
‘It turns out he doesn’t have an owner, or none we can track down,’ she said. ‘He hasn’t got a collar or a microchip. He’s only about seven months old.’
He angled his head, his gaze narrowing slightly. ‘What were you planning to do with him?’
Her expression became beseeching. ‘One of the nurses mentioned you lived in a big house all by yourself. She said you had a garden that would be perfect for a cat. She said you’d—’
Lucas held up his hands like stop signs. ‘Oh, no,’ he said. ‘No way. I’m not having some flea-bitten cat sharpening its claws on my rugs or furniture.’
‘It’s only for a few days,’ she said, appealing to him with those big wide eyes of hers. ‘I’ll find another flat, one that will allow me to have a cat. Please?’
Lucas could feel his resolve slipping. How was he supposed to resist her when she was so darned cute standing there like a little lost waif? ‘I hate cats,’ he said. ‘They make me sneeze.’
‘But this one is a non-allergenic cat,’ she said. ‘He was probably hideously expensive and now we have him for free. Well … not free exactly …’ She momentarily tugged at her lower lip with her teeth. ‘The vet’s bill was astronomical.’
‘I do not want a cat,’ he said through tight lips.
‘You’re not getting a cat,’ she said. ‘You’re babysitting one.’
Lucas rolled his eyes and took the box from her. His fingers brushed against hers and a lightning strike of electricity shot through his body. Her eyes flared as if she had felt it too, and two little spots of colour pooled high in her cheeks. She stood back from him and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear, her gaze slipping from his. ‘I don’t know how to thank you,’ she said.
‘My place is just along here,’ he said gruffly, and led the way.
Molly stepped into the huge foyer of the four-storey mansion Lucas owned. The house was tastefully decorated with an eclectic mix of modern, art deco and antique pieces. Room after room led off the foyer and a grand staircase to the floors above. There was even a ballroom, which overlooked the garden, and a conservatory. It was such a big house for one person. It would have housed three generations of a family with room to spare. ‘You don’t find it a little cramped?’ she asked dryly as she turned and faced him.
The corner of his mouth twitched, which was about the closest he ever got to a smile. ‘I like my space,’ he said as he shrugged off his coat and hung it on the brass coat rack. ‘I guess it comes from growing up in the outback.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Molly said with feeling. ‘I’m starting to feel quite claustrophobic at that bedsit and I’ve barely been there a week. I don’t know why Simon suggested it.’
‘Does he live there with you?’ he asked.
‘No, he’s renting a place in Bloomsbury,’ she said. ‘He offered me a room but I wanted to keep my independence.’
‘Are you sleeping with him?’
Molly frowned to cover her embarrassment. She had only slept with Simon once and she had instantly regretted it. She couldn’t help feeling he had only slept with her as a sort of payback to his ex Serena because he’d been so hurt by her leaving him. Molly had mistaken his friendliness as attraction, but now she wasn’t sure how to get out of the relationship without causing him further hurt. ‘I can’t see how that is any of your business,’ she said.
His eyes remained steady on hers, quietly assessing. ‘You don’t seem the casual sleep around type.’
She felt her cheeks heat up a little more. ‘I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you’re suggesting. And there’s nothing wrong with casual sex as long as it’s safe.’
His gaze slowly tracked down to her mouth.
Something shifted in the air—an invisible current that connected her to him in a way Molly had never felt quite before. She felt her lips start to tingle as if he had bent his head and pressed his mouth to hers. She could almost feel the warm, firm dryness of his lips against her own. Her mind ran wild with the thought of his tongue slipping through the shield of her lips to find hers and call it into erotic play. Her insides flickered with hot little tongues of lust, sending arrows of awareness to the very heart of her. She ran the tip of her tongue out over the surface of her lips and watched as his hooded gaze followed its journey.
The mewling cry of Mittens from inside the box broke the spell.
Lucas frowned as if he had completely forgotten what he was carrying. ‘Er … aren’t we supposed to rub butter on its paws or something?’ he asked.
‘I think that’s just an old wives’ tale,’ Molly said. ‘I’m sure if we show him around first he’ll soon work out his territory. I don’t suppose you happen to have a pet door?’
He gave her a speaking look. ‘No.’
‘Oh, well, he’ll soon let you know when he wants to go in or out. Maybe you could leave a window open.’
‘No.’
Molly pursed her lips in thought. ‘How about a kitty litter box? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about him getting locked inside while you’re at work.’
‘Read my lips,’ he said, eyeballing her over the top of the box. ‘I am not keeping this cat. This is an interim thing until you find a pet-friendly place to stay.’
‘Fine.’ She opened the folded over lid of the box. Mittens immediately popped his head up and mewed at her. ‘Isn’t he cute?’
‘Adorable.’
Molly glanced up at him but he wasn’t looking at the cat. ‘Um … I brought some food with me,’ she said, and rummaged in her handbag for the sample packs the vet had given her.
Mittens wound himself around Lucas’s ankles, purring like an engine as his little cast bumped along the floor.
‘I think he likes you,’ Molly said.
Lucas glowered at her. ‘If he puts one paw out of place, it will be off to the cat shelter.’
She scooped the cat up into her arms,
