Page 58 of The Rescuer

Something foreign and unpleasant spiked inside Reece—jealousy or possessiveness or some other emotion he didn’t recognize—throwing him off balance. He bit back the urge to tell Shane that he and Neve were married.Thatimpulse was even more out of place than the flare of anger.

“Thanks.” Her reply came out in a small, defeated voice that tugged Reece in a wholly different way. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and carry her off someplace safe, far from this scene that fractured her livelihood. Her spirit. Herlife.

He opened her door, and as she climbed into her SUV, she looked up at him with clouds in her blue-gray eyes. “You don’t have to baby me, you know.”

“I know that, but I want to. So let me do this, okay?”

“I appreciate it.” A glimmer of a smile twitched her rosy mouth, and his heart ballooned inside his chest.

He followed her to Luanne’s house and pulled the cat carrier holding Mr. Whiskers from his back seat before joining her on the stoop, where her fist was poised to knock. The cat meowed, and Neve looked down. “What are you doing with him?”

“Well, since I can’t leave him at the apartment and your clinic is out, I thought I’d see if Cade wants him. After all, he found the damn thing and is always asking about him, so I thought, why not? This might be a goodtime to relinquish my fostering duties.”Especially since I won’t be able to take care of him much longer.

“Luanne’s allergic to cats, you know.”

His stomach took a plunge. “Well, shit. I need to go back to the drawing board.”

“Why can’t you keep him with you?”

“Uh, because I’m homeless right now?”

Neve lowered her hand and turned toward him. Her mouth did that thing where it moved side to side, a telltale that her brain was working overtime. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but why don’t you and Mr. Whiskers stay with me?” Her hand shot up. “Temporarily. Like, a few days, tops. I’ll spruce up the guest room, and you can sleep there. It’s only a queen, but if you sleep diagonally—”

His jaw firmed. “No.” A little voice hollered at him that he was an idiot not to accept. Sure, he could always stay at Shane’s, but his buddy lived in a one-bedroom with a couch that had more springs in it than a toy store full of Slinkys. Or he could stay at the Grand Majestic. Or the seedy motel on Fall River’s outskirts.

Yeah, no.

Neve smirked. “I guess the parents’ house it is, then.” The impish smile slid from her face, and her eyes grew wide. “Oh no! We’re supposed to go over there tomorrow for a belated Thanksgiving. What do we tell your folks? What if they find out what we did before we get there?”

He was on the verge of suggesting he stay with her after all—maybe he could help smooth out her world somehow—when the door flew open, revealing a grinning Luanne. “Whatdid you two do that makes it so Reece has to stay with you, Doc?” Her eyebrows traveled up and down her forehead. How much did she know?

Neve’s mouth thinned. “Nothing. Um, is Pearl ready to go?” On cue, the pit bull came tearing around a corner and nearly slipped on the hardwood floor when her claws couldn’t find purchase. When she reached Neve, she capered at her feet, her meatloaf-shaped body taking tiny leaps to reach Neve’s face. Neve dropped into a crouch and let the animal slather her chin. Reece stood back to take in the heartwarming scene, but Pearl broke off her greeting and made a beeline for him. When he bent down to pet her, Pearl danced aroundhislegs.

Neve shot him a fake glare.

“What can I say?” he chuckled. “She’s an attention hound.”

“No, she’s smart,” Neve hmphed. “She knows you’re a sucker, and if she prances around you, you’ll give her extra pets.”

“What’s with the cat?” Luanne sneezed, spewing the word “cat.”

“Never mind. I’ll take him back to the truck,” Reece mumbled.

They loaded the dog and her stuff into her Tahoe, and she turned to him. “It’s been one hell of a time, hasn’t it? I’m sorry Luanne turned out to be a dead end.” She leaned against the door of her Tahoe and crossed her arms. “You sure you don’t want to crash at my place for a day or two? We’ve established Pearl likes you and wouldn’t mind having you around. And clearly,I’mnot allergic to cats. Besides, you’d be helping me out by staying over. I’m … nervous about what I’ll find when I get there. I mean, if someone was as pissed as Shane says, what’s to keep them from trashing my house too?” She canted her head. “I promise we won’t have a repeat of this morning.”

“You mean I don’t get to wake up next to you naked? Damn. I might as well stay with Shane.” Her face transformed into a thundercloud. “Lighten up. That was a joke.”

“Not feeling it right now.”

“I get that.” Pearl stuffed her head through an opening Neve had left in the window, and he obliged the dog with a scratch. She gazed up at him with adoration pouring from her golden eyes. Why had Neve never looked at him like that?

Wait. What the hell am I saying? I don’t want Neve looking at me with hearts in her eyes.

Do I?

Neve unfolded her arms. “Look, Reece, much as I love shooting the breeze with you in fifteen-degree weather, I need to get home and rest up so I can face my life.”

“What are you going to do about your stethoscope?”

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