Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
He pins me with a bossy look as he opens the door to the kennel and gently gathers Clyde under the ribs with one big hand. “Do you want to hold the cat or mop up the vomit with the blanket? Your choice.”
I hesitate for a second, but find myself reaching for the cat, and not just because I find vomit repulsive. I actually want to cradle the tiny creature in my arms and promise him everything is going to be all right.
“I’ll hold him,” I whisper, fear and wonder churning in my chest as Matty gently passes the cat over.
As soon as he’s cuddled against me, Clyde lets out another soft burp before exhaling a shuddery sigh and resting his head on my chest. Instantly, the last of my fear is banished by a wave of adoration so powerful, it doesn’t entirely make sense.
But I think it has something to do with the fact that this tiny, vulnerable thing has decided to trust me.
Right away. No holding back.
“I’m never washing this boob again,” I murmur as I stroke the angel soft fur atop Clyde’s head. I add a few gentle scratches between his ears. A beat later, a soft rumble vibrates my ribs. Elation swelling inside, I whisper-shout, “Purring! He’s purring! He likes me.”
I look up to find Matty watching me with a fond, crooked smile that makes me feel things. Things like the way I felt the night we slow danced in the dark and I prayed our first kiss would never end…
“Why wouldn’t he like you?” Matty murmurs. “You’re very likeable. Irresistible, some might say.”
Before I can work up the guts to ask him why he has such an easy time resisting me, then, he’s turned his back and is mopping up cat vomit. When he’s done, he closes the trunk and tosses the ruined blanket on the grass beneath a nearby tree.
“You’re not going to leave that there, are you?” I ask, following him as he circles around to the driver’s side and pulls a bottle of hand sanitizer from a storage area in the door.
“I am.” He squeezes the liquid onto his hands and rubs it in, winching slightly as it makes contact with his raw knuckles. “I can’t drive with a puke blanket in the car.”
“But that’s littering,” I say, cuddling the cat closer when he mews in agreement. “See, even Clyde knows that’s wrong.”
“Then Clyde should have kept his breakfast inside his tiny belching body and not all over his kennel,” Matty shoots back, nodding toward the backseat of the SUV. “You can sit back there with him. Maybe he won’t get sick again if you’re holding him. The windows are tinted, so if we run into someone we know on the way out of town, they won’t be able to see that you’re with me.”
I snort and shake my head. “I can’t leave town with you. I have to get home to Gram tonight.” I curse beneath my breath as I remember what else I had on my agenda that I’ve completely forgotten about in all the hubbub. “I also have a date. Like…right now. Sam is probably already at the trailhead, wondering where the heck I am.”
“And Sam is going to keep wondering,” Matty says, his tone decidedly grumpier than it was before. He opens the back door and nods inside. “Strap in. We’ve got a drive ahead of us, and I’d like to get there in time to hike to the bunker for supplies.”
My brows shoot up. “The bunker?”
“Yes, the bunker. I’m not sure how much of the food in the treehouse has expired.”
“Treehouse?” I emit a strangled yip of a laugh. “I’m sorry, but I don’t do bunkers.”
“The bunker is only for storage. I don’t sleep there.”
“I don’t do treehouses, either,” I hurry to add. “I’m more of a climate-controlled room with a soft bed, big windows, and a pretty view type of girl. I won’t even go glamping. I tried one time, but there were no windows, so when something wild and furry started rubbing up against me through the tent in the middle of the night, I couldn’t see what it was. My friend, Sissy, said it was probably a raccoon or a possum or something harmless. But are animals that carry rabies really harmless? Especially if their teeth are sharp enough to pierce canvas tent material? And what if it had been a bear? We probably barely escaped with our lives, and I absolutely sustained heart damage of some kind. It literally almost beat through my chest. So, I can’t do a treehouse. Raccoons, possums, and bears can all climb trees.”
I gulp in a breath, but Matty remains unmoved by my speech. He’s still standing there, holding the door, clearly waiting for me to get my butt inside.