Her guilt resurfaced when she saw Peggy’s truck pulled up by the booth, and Peggy putting away the last of the cages. She hurried forward, releasing Magnus’s arm (that she might have been clutching all afternoon) and rushed to help her put away the last few. “I’m so sorry! I should have been here to help!”

“No, it’s perfectly all right,” Peggy said with a pat on Edie’s shoulder. She brightened. “Actually, while you were gone, we managed to adopt all of the cats except one!”

“You . . . did?” Edie was dumbfounded. “Really?”

“Yep! It was wonderful.”

Magnus leaned in behind Edie. “It’s because you weren’t scowling at everyone,” he mock-whispered.

She elbowed him and focused on Peggy. “So which cat is left?”

“The Persian,” Peggy said, smiling. She pulled out the cage and hefted it for Edie to see. Sure enough, there was that sad, smooshed face surrounded by all that white fur. “Back to the shelter with her.”

Edie suppressed a shudder at that poor, sweet cat returning to those cold metal cages. “Actually I want to take her home with me—”

“I’ll take her,” Magnus said, interrupting Edie.

“You will?” Peggy’s face lit up as if she’d been given a gift. “Truly?”

Edie frowned at him. “You already have one cat you barely know how to handle, dude. I’m not sure a second one will be the answer. You—”

“You can come by and help her settle in,” Magnus said, grinning. He reached over and plucked the Persian cat’s cage out of Peggy’s hands.

“But . . . what about your other cat? You can’t just throw them together!”

“I’ll keep Lady Daredevil in the office until they’re ready to interact.” He wiggled a finger at the cage. “I know you said you always have room for another, but I’m guessing your sister will bitch, right?”

He had a point. “Well . . .”

“And you don’t want her to go back to the shelter, right?”

Edie licked her lips, hesitating. She didn’t want the cat to go back to the shelter, no. But she couldn’t help but feel like there was an ulterior motive here. Like if she gave in, things were going to suddenly go out of control. “I guess not.”

“Then I’ll take her home with me,” Magnus said. “I like her.”

“If you’re sure . . . Getting a cat is a big commitment,” Edie said. “And this is number two in a week. I just don’t know—”

“I need to go,” Peggy said. “You two figure it out.” She shut the tailgate of her truck and moved to the front. “Thanks for volunteering, Edie.”

“Sure,” Edie said lamely, and then Peggy drove off. Now it was just her and Magnus and the cat. She glanced around awkwardly, watching vendors pack up their booths and people heading back to their cars. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Bianca anywhere, have you?”

“Nope,” he said, looking rather pleased at that. “You need a ride home?”

“I’ll just text her,” Edie said, pulling out her phone.

“Before you do, you wanna come to my place?” Magnus held up the cage and gave her his most winning smile. “Help me tuck Lady Daredevil into her new house?”

Chapter Seven

Did a gorgeous man just ask her to have an adult sleepover? Edie hesitated. “It’s a bit of a long drive.”

“A few hours. Not so bad when you have good company.” When she arched a brow, he held up the cat cage. “I refer to feline company, of course.”

“Of course,” she said, smiling. He was hard to resist when he was like this, all playfulness and fun. “But I really can’t. It’ll be too late at night to drive back—”

“Then stay at my place,” Magnus offered. “Like I said, you can help me settle the cat in, and you can check on Lady Cujo.”

“And have a sleepover in your bed?” she mocked. “I don’t think so.”

“You can sleep on the couch.”

“I saw your couch. It’s shaped like a pair of lips.”

“Then I’ll sleep on the couch. Come on. Just as friends.” His expression didn’t seem to be that of a lecherous seducer. “We’ll settle the cats in, have a couple of beers, play some video games, and shoot the shit. Think of it as a sleepover, minus the hair braiding. Don’t girls like those sorts of things?”

It was the most ridiculous thing she’d heard of. She shouldn’t go. She really shouldn’t . . . but at the same time, she wanted to make sure the cats settled in well. This would just be an extension of her job, wouldn’t it? As a good cat behaviorist?

Oh, who was she kidding? A hot guy with forkloads of money was asking her to come hang out for the evening. Even in a platonic sense, it was a date. And she kind of hated herself for being so weak, but she wanted to go.

But still¸ Edie hesitated. She reached through the cage and scratched at Lady Daredevil’s ear. “I don’t have a change of clothes.”

“You can sleep in something of mine.”

“I have to be back at my house at noon.” The cats would need their meds and it was an easy out for her.

“I’ll have my driver come and pick you up first thing in the morning. Any other excuses?”

He made it sound so innocent, but she knew Bianca would have a fit. This wouldn’t work with Bianca’s utterly careful plan on how to manipulate a man. And that decided it for Edie. Because it had been so nice to be so utterly carefree for a few hours that afternoon that she wanted it to continue on into the night. “All right.”

“Excellent,” Magnus said, and gave her another one of those face-splitting grins.

“Let me text my sister before we go,” Edie said. She pulled out her phone and quickly sent Bianca a message. Hey. Going with a friend to a movie & to play some cards. Back super late, don’t wait up. XOXO.

So it was a tiny white lie. It wouldn’t hurt anything. Once Bianca heard cards she’d run for the hills. She hated Edie’s friends and thought they were boring.

Bianca’s response was immediate and brief. K.

Whew. No questions asked. All right. She was really doing this, then. Edie gave Magnus a nervous smile. “Good to go. Where’s your car?”

He gestured. “Driver should be somewhere over there.”

“Driver, huh?” She looked askance at Magnus as he moved to walk next to her, cat between them. The poor thing gave a confused meow and settled at the back of the cage. “You made a driver wait on you while you went and had fun at the festival?”

Magnus shrugged. “He’s paid to wait on me. Paid really well, I might add. And he could have had a corn dog if he wanted one.” Magnus paused and held out the cage. “Can you hold this for a moment?”

She took it and watched silently as Magnus texted for a moment, scanned the parking lot, and then texted again. Then he took the cat back from Edie and they both stood there awkwardly while they waited on the car.

It pulled up a moment later, a black sedan with tinted windows. A driver got out and, as he did, Magnus offered him the cat carrier. “Put this in the passenger seat, please.”

“Of course, Mr. Sullivan,” the driver said. He barely glanced at Edie, and gave her a nod, then opened the door for her.

She wondered if he saw Magnus take a lot of women home. Then she decided it didn’t matter, because this was about the cats more than anything else. Right? Right. So she got in the back of the car and winced as she slid over, the action hurting her knee.

The back seat was more cramped than she cared for. A normal person could fold their legs and have plenty of room, but Edie needed to stretch her leg, especially after today. Even as she sat, her muscles screamed. She clenched her hands tightly in her lap, determined to ignore it as Magnus slid into the back seat next to her.

Moments passed, the car pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, and all was silent except for the occasional confused yowl of Lady Daredevil. After what felt like an eternity, the driver glanced in the rearview mirror. “I’m going to shut the partition and give you privacy, if that’s all right.”