As he shifted into Park, he checked his rearview mirror and saw nothing in the street. His sudden stop had wakened Nicholas, and the little boy rubbed his eyes and whimpered.
Could he leave Nicholas in the car alone long enough to fetch Pen? He didn’t dare. Not at night in this questionable part of town. But he didn’t want Pen out on the street unguarded, either. He opened his door and leaned out. “Pen, come on! What are you doing? Get back in the car.”
He peered through the darkness down the street in time to see Aaron’s Mercedes make the turn onto a side road a few blocks ahead. If Penelope didn’t get back in the car pronto, he would lose the butler and his wife. “Pen, now!”
*
Penelope crept around the Range Rover, peering under the vehicle and calling quietly, “Kitty? Here, kitty.”
She could hear Reid yelling for her to return to the car, but until she knew the kitten was safe, she couldn’t in good conscience walk away. Her love of animals and soft spot for homeless animals was one of the things she’d shared with her mother. One of the things she always knocked heads with her father over. Before her mother died, Pen and her mom had kept a continuous stream of rescued dogs, cats and even a rabbit and ferret over the years.
“Jeez, Pen. At least answer me!” Reid shouted, his voice rife with frustration and...worry?
“I hear you, but it’s going to be below freezing tonight.” Not finding the kitten under the car, she moved across the street toward the opposite sidewalk. “The poor thing could die. Not to mention the fact it’s running into traffic and could get hit.”
“What traffic? Besides Aaron, we’re the only car out here!” Reid had climbed from his Range Rover and stood in the V of the open front door.
A dilapidated truck rolled past at that moment as if to prove Reid wrong, chugging clouds of exhaust behind it. Reid waved away the fumes with his hand and coughed. “Pen!”
“Stay with Nicholas. I’ll just be a minute.” She lifted a crushed cardboard box that leaned against a brick wall and heard a scurrying sound. “Kitty?”
“And what do you plan to do with a kitten?” Reid called.
She waved him off and crouched to look deeper into the pile of trash, praying she didn’t encounter one of the sewer rats Reid had mentioned. What would she do with the kitten? She didn’t know, beyond taking it back to the lake house tonight and giving it the TLC it deserved.
“Kitty, where are you?”
A tiny mewl answered her, and she zeroed in on the kitten’s location. When she moved another crumpled box, a white and orange kitten scrambled out. “I won’t hurt you, honey. Calm down.”
As she neared the frightened kitten, it tried to bolt away again, and she made a grab for it, just catching its tail. Not ideal. She didn’t want to hurt the poor thing, but it stopped the cat from getting away. With her free hand she scooped the kitten under the belly and lifted the squirming, terrified feline to her chest. She held its back feet together to keep it from clawing her as she nestled it against her. She hurried back to the Range Rover crooning, “Easy, baby. I won’t hurt you. You’re okay.”
She hurried back to the Range Rover, and when Reid saw her coming, he climbed out of the car and ran around to open the passenger door for her.
“What in the hell do you plan to do with that?” he said with a meaningful glance to the kitten clutched to her chest.
“I’m taking it back to the house with us.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue, but he could apparently see in her expression her mind would not be changed, and he said nothing. Releasing a small sigh, he helped her buckle her seat belt, since her hands were full with the wiggling cat.
“Pull my scarf off me,” she said when he’d returned to the driver’s seat.
He did, then helped her wind the wrap around the kitten, effectively trapping his scrabbling paws wielding needlelike claws. Once she had a secure hold on the kitten, he pulled away from the curb with a disgusted look on his face.
“You’re wearing the same sour expression my father used to wear when my mother and I rescued animals.”
Her statement clearly rattled him, and he shot her a stunned glance. “I don’t like that comparison in the least.”
“I know you’re mad at me, but—”
“Not mad...exactly. Just...” He blew out a lip-buzzing breath of exasperation. “I know you have a soft spot for animals. And I know your soft spot includes underdogs of all sorts. It’s one of the reasons I love—” He cut himself off and blinked rapidly, his expression growing briefly stunned...or panicked?
Love. Had he been about to say he loved her? The notion made her heart swoop and her pulse twitter.
“One of the things I admire most about you,” he said in a measured, careful cadence and tone.
“Reid,” she murmured while stroking the kitten’s nose with her thumb, hoping to soothe the frightened feline. And maybe seeking a little calming comfort herself. Why did Reid’s almost-confession have her so jumpy, so...prickling with expectant energy? Maybe it was just a post-adrenaline reaction to her chase after the cat, but suddenly she was hyperaware of everything about Reid. The sounds of his exaggerated breathing, his wide hands gripping the steering wheel, his subtle musk scent. His brooding countenance as he navigated the streets of downtown Dallas, and the tension in his square jaw.
“You know that I don’t have any food or litter or anything for a cat at my house.”
She nodded. “So would you make a quick stop so I can buy all those things?”
He rolled his eyes and twisted his mouth into an I-should-have-seen-that-coming frown. “You also realize that your cat rescue expedition means we lost track of Aaron.”
She sent him a remorseful moue. “I’m sorry about that. What do you suppose Moira was doing here?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I guaran-damn-tee you I’m going to find out.”