Fuck, he had to stop thinking like that. Magnus rubbed a palm over his forehead.

“Headache?”

Wrong head. “Something like that.”

She rubbed Cujo’s head for a bit longer, and the cat began to rub up against her leg, happy as a clam. Edie’s expression was utterly peaceful as she picked up the cat and put it in her lap. “She’s used to people,” she commented when the cat immediately curled up in her lap. “Maybe it’s just you she doesn’t like.”

“Ha-ha,” he said sarcastically.

“Cat’s got high standards,” she teased.

Yep. She would definitely be pushy in bed. He liked that.

Her hands moved over the cat’s back, then stroked down her sides. She paused, and then began to move her hands over the cat’s belly even as it hissed and scratched at her, then ran away.

“Way to go. She clearly doesn’t like that.”

“No, she didn’t,” Edie said thoughtfully. “And it’s definitely a she, so you’ll need a new name.” She got up from the floor, awkward and avoiding use of one leg.

He was so distracted by watching her movements that he didn’t catch what she was saying. “New name? Why?”

“Because she’s female,” Edie said, limping back toward him. “And pregnant.”

His eyes widened in horror. “You’re shitting me.”

“I’m not. My guess is that because she’s a Savannah cat, which is a pretty rare breed, she probably belonged to a breeder once. I’m thinking she was in heat, got out, and the owners couldn’t find her. You could always put up flyers to see if someone’s going to claim her. But I’m guessing that her kittens will be part alley cat, so that will have to be dealt with.” She tilted her head up at him. “Do I need to give you the spay-and-neuter pep talk?”

“Isn’t it a little late for that?”

She rolled her eyes. “After the fact, dummy. After she’s had the kittens, have her spayed.”

“Right.” Shit. What was he going to do with kittens? He barely knew what to do with a cat. He was lucky Jenna had showed up to feed the damn thing. The urge to choke Levi was growing by the minute. He thought one cat was bad. Now he was about to have more.

Edie looked up at him expectantly. “Other than that, continue to give her places to nest and hide. If she’s pregnant, she’s definitely going to need lots of hiding spots. More boxes, more blankets. You want to make her feel comfortable here. Keep her in your room, secure, until she has the kittens, or else you might find them in unexpected places.”

“Mmm.”

She moved toward him, her limp pronounced as she crossed the floor. Then, she stood in front of him and put her hands on her hips. “So, you want to tell me what this is about?”

“About?” He noticed that when he gazed down at her, she just barely reached his chin.

“Yes. You have a new cat you know nothing about, so you hire me. And while I’ve run into my share of horrible cats, this one isn’t. Has she crapped on your bed again?”

“Once.” And not after he’d gotten her litter.

“I’d ask if she was clawing up your furniture, but there’s nothing for her to claw. Which reminds me, you should probably get her a scratching post.” She tilted her head at him again. “So I guess that just makes me wonder why you want me here, Mr. Sullivan?”

Magnus stared down at her. She was perceptive, he’d give her that. It was on the tip of his tongue to blurt out that Levi wanted to fuck Bianca, and that was why they were going through this whole song and dance. That Levi wouldn’t work until he got what he wanted, and so Magnus was stuck as well. Because a very big, very prestigious business deal was hanging on the line and his flake of a brother wouldn’t budge until he got his nut off.

But he didn’t say any of that. Instead, he said, “Go out with me.”

She looked shocked. “Are you serious?”

All right, that wounded his ego a bit. Usually when he asked a girl out, they were pleased. He wasn’t fucking hideous and he had money. He sure didn’t warrant that level of disbelief. “What’s so terrible about that?”

“You don’t even like me!”

He liked parts of her. He liked it when she smiled, and he liked that she was clever. He liked that she was unafraid. And he really, really liked that bright red mouth of hers. Clearly it was time to do the hard press. “Sure I do. We just started off on the wrong foot.”

“You mean like when I caught you all mocking my friend and her choices of bridesmaids?”

“You mean the part where I said she’d have a cat lady in the mix? Huh.” He pretended to scratch his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder where I got that idea.”

“Oh, fuck off,” she said, but she was smiling.

“Let me share something with you, my little cat lady. Guys that get together? Talk shit about three things: sports, games, and chicks. None of it should be taken as gospel.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Except the sports.” After another moment, he added, “And maybe the gaming. But not the shit about the chicks. That’s just guys talking crap to other guys.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t believe you. This is a setup, isn’t it?”

It was, but he didn’t want her to know that. “It’s not a setup,” he lied. “I like you. I do.” When she remained skeptical, he said, “If I didn’t like you, would I do this?”

And he leaned forward, put his hands on the sides of her face, and pressed his mouth to those full, red lips.

She stiffened underneath him, clearly surprised. Hell, that made two of them. Magnus hadn’t expected to kiss her. But when she’d pursed that pretty mouth in a sarcastic expression, he felt determined to prove her wrong. To show her that yes, he could like someone like her, and here was what he had to offer.

So he kissed her.

It was a quick kiss, his mouth simply pressing against hers for a moment, and Edie too startled to part her lips under his. Out of habit, his tongue grazed the seam of her mouth before he pulled away, and then they were both left blinking and staring at each other.

“You kissed me,” she said softly, and she sounded shocked.

“I know. I . . . kind of want to do it again.”

“Okay.” She blinked up at him.

Good enough. He pulled her close again and this time, when he pressed his mouth to hers, those lush lips parted for his tongue. He wanted to groan when he felt her tongue brush along his, a hot snake of desire ripping through him. Then her mouth opened wider for him and they were locked together, tongues melding as the kiss grew deeper and more passionate, and she was clinging to his shirt and he was holding her and slanting his mouth against hers over and over again, licking her like he would if he was between her legs and she had her thighs on his shoulders and—

Magnus pulled away again, and Edie gazed up at him, completely dazed. “Go out on a date with me,” he pressed again. He released her.

She wobbled and took a step backward to regain her balance. He almost reached out to catch her—almost—but he stopped himself. Edie hated being treated like she needed help. So he watched while she straightened her jacket and smoothed her hair, noticing her lipstick was smeared on that pretty, pretty mouth. He wanted to reach out and fix it with his fingers, but he was afraid if he touched her again, he’d grab her by the hips and fling her down on his bed.

Date. That was what they needed. Just a date.

“Date?” he asked again when she remained silent.

Her fingers fluttered to her mouth. “I . . . I’ll think about it.”

Magnus grinned, because that wasn’t a no. In his book, that was as good as a yes. “You do that.”

Chapter Five

As Edie lay in bed that night, she stared up at the ceiling and kept thinking about that kiss.

Cats climbed over her, trying to get comfortable on her crowded bed. There were cats on each side of her leg, one curled up by her head, and one currently kneading her breast and purring as she absently stroked its fur. Most of her cats tended to be elderly and sick, the last-resort cats at the shelter. She took them in and gave them a home and loved them, because no one else wanted them. She knew how that felt. She could relate to that.