Page 83 of Burn Bag

“Yeah, about to sue us for a million dollars, plus damages.”

“Not if you had let me boil him.”

“Fox, you can’t kill every person you don’t like.”

His head snapped to glare at me. “There’s a difference between not liking someone and needing to rid them from this earth because they’re evil. He was going to make the cats fight!”

I was about to argue when Daphne ran up to Fox and threw herself into his arms, pressing a kiss to his lips. “You’re my hero!”

I scowled at her, and Fox tore her from his body, grinning at her. “Well, I appreciate the thanks, but I’m a married man, and these lips are only for my wife.”

“Sorry about that. You can tell her it was out of extreme enthusiasm and I lost my mind.”

“I’ll do that.”

“And maybe you could show me more about throwing knives when we get home. What you did was absolutely?—”

I’d had enough of and gripped her by the arm, jerking her away from Fox, who I was now considering tossing in my own vat of acid for daring to allow my wife to kiss him.

“There will be no knife throwing. There will be no fucking kissing other men. And there will absolutely be no more contact between the two of you!”

“Oh, relax,” Daphne grinned. “It was purely friendly. Besides, he just saved all these cats!”

“Yes, and now I have to pay for them so the company doesn’t get sued,” I argued. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with a million dollars’ worth of cats?”

Daphne spun and opened her mouth, but I cut her off immediately, already knowing where she was going with this. “We are not adopting all these cats.”

“But they’re so beautiful!”

I stepped forward, getting in her face. There was a lot I could deal with, but ten more cats was too fucking much. I would not be cowed by her sweet smile or those gorgeous eyes. I was the man of the house and I fucking knew when to put my foot down.

“No. More. Fucking. Cats.”

I heldmy drink in the air as a cat leapt over my lap, nearly knocking my glass from my hand. The damn leopard cats were a lot more feisty and playful than the other kittens, and somehow, they all liked to be around me. One was curled up at my feet, and another was behind my head on the back of the chair.

“Daphne!” There was no fucking way I could deal with this. I’d fucking told her no more cats, yet here I was with another ten cats in my house. We had seven robot litter boxes and litter by the twenty-five-pound bag. Food was stacked in my garage in large containers, which was the only way to keep the cats from tearing into the bags for more food. Apparently, the massive amount they inhaled each day wasn’t enough.

“Good morning!” she said cheerily, bending over to kiss my cheek. Her warm breath caressed my skin, sending tingles through my body that I had no right to feel after what this woman put me through.

Yet, here I was, smiling up at her instead of yelling at her for the damn cats running all over me. I found myself inhaling her sweet scent—peaches—and wondering if she tasted just as good.

“Stupid fucker,” I muttered as she sauntered into the kitchen, rubbing one of the kittens who had jumped up on the counter. “Can we keep the cats out of the kitchen?” I snapped, angry that I was allowing myself to fall under her spell like this. Yes, I wanted aloving wife. But what I didn’t want was a woman who could wrap me around her finger like this.

“Sure, sweetie,” she smiled, picking up the kitten and carrying him out of the room. Not that it fucking mattered. The moment she walked back into the kitchen, he scampered along after her, nipping at her heels to play.

I was supposed to be taking the day off, yet all I could think about was getting the hell out of here. Why did there have to be so many fucking cats? One of the Ashera cats rubbed against my leg, purring loudly. I was about to yell at him when he jumped into my lap, then climbed up on my chest and curled up in a ball. I had to lean backward so he didn’t slide down my body.

But he didn’t seem to care at all. He was perfectly content right on my chest.

“Aww, look at you!” Daphne cooed. “Looks like you made a friend.”

“I did not,” I argued. “He sat on me. It’s not like I had anything to do with this.”

“He likes you. Cats sleep on their humans when they trust them.”

That was a load of horseshit. I was going to toss the damn cat off my chest, then we’d see how much he liked me.

“Daphne, I know I said we could keep the cats here temporarily, but?—”

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