Page 84 of The Rescuer

“Charlie’s taking care of the lights. I’m staying here with you. While you’re trying to figure out what to ask me, tell me what kind of tea you like.” He opened a cabinet and pulled down an assortment of boxes.

“You know where everything is now, don’t you?”

“Almost. I still haven’t figured out where you hide the good bourbon.”

“I don’t have any good bourbon.”

“Must be why I can’t find it.”

She laughed and immediately let out a little mewl. “Don’t be funny. It hurts.”

“That’s what they told me when I tried to do stand-up.”

“Is she the reason you’re going to Vermont?”

Nothing like zooming from Point A to Point Z. “I think we covered that one already.”

She squirmed in her seat as she rearranged the coat so it fit her shoulders more snugly. “Well, I didn’t get a satisfactory answer.”

“I’ll try to find one for you. In the meantime, I want to know what happened at the clinic today.”

“You go first.”

“Should we decide with rock, paper, scissors?”

“Never mind,” she huffed.

“I take it Chelsea was the one who contacted you about Mr. Whiskers?”

“She was. And it was a complete ruse. She used the cat to get toyou. Or to get informationaboutyou.”

“Did she say anything about us … about what happened in Vegas?”

“Oh yeah. She wanted—no, demanded—to know if it was true. When I reminded her that you told her when she called you, she insistedyoucalledher.”

Reece shook his head. “I didn’t call her.”

“You don’t have to defend yourself to me. I know you didn’t,” Neve agreed. She slumped forward with an extended exhale. “Once I figured out who she was and what she was up to, I told her to leave. She said she wanted me to give you a message, so I handed her a pen and some paper and told her to write it down, but she didn’t. So I’m sorry, I have no idea what she wanted to say to you.” Neve sat stone-still for a few beats. “Are you going to ask her what she wanted?”

“Nope.”

“You’re not even a little curious?”

“I don’t have the slightest speck of curiosity.” Maybe because he already knew what Chelsea wanted: to rekindle a fire that didn’t exist. And even if it had caught, her view of fidelity would have doused it like a Rocky Mountain thunderstorm.

He glanced over at Neve as he added tea bags to two cups. “That’s something I’ve always liked about you.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “What?”

“You say what you mean. You don’t play games, and you don’t hold back. You don’t let anyone push you around, even when you’re wrong.”

“Excuse me?”

He chuckled. “C’mon, you’re not rightallthe time. Like trying to knock me down today. You wanted to take out your frustration onmeafter Chelsea turned out not to be the cat’s owner.” The kettle whistled, and he filled their mugs with steaming water. “That’s really what got you fired up, wasn’t it? It wasn’t that she showed up looking for me. It was about Mr. Whiskers.” Neve’s blush told him he was on the right track.

“Do you always have to be so damn …perfect?”

He let his surprise show. “Perfect? No way. Anything but.” But it gave him a ridiculously warm feeling that she might possibly think so.

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