Page 5 of Ballrooms & Blackmail

And ocean sounds.

I think about those too.

Especially as they soothe me into the first full night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks.

Two

Thorn

“Meow?”

I scowl at the kitten. “Don’t look at me,” I mutter. “You’re the one who decided you wanted to live here.”

“Meow.” She butts her head against my ankle, and though I try to retreat—knowing exactly what’s coming next—I’m not faster than a cat.

“Shit. Fuck. Dammit!” I jump and wince and jerk as Violet does her favorite thing?—

Uses my legs and torso as a climbing post.

“Meow,” she says proudly as she settles on my shoulder, rubbing her jaw against my throat.

“Yeah,” I grumble, settling my hand on her back so she won’t fall as I make my way to the fridge and pull out a beer.

I pop the cap, take a swing…and apparently do it too quickly because Violet digs her nails into my shoulder. “I’ve got you,” I grumble as I head for the couch, my open laptop, and my waiting (and overflowing) inbox.

“Meow,” she protests as I walk, claws pricking my skin.

“I said, I’ve got you.”

“Meow.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter as I sink down onto the couch. “You’re grumpy and unhappy with me. Join the club,” I say, sitting back and picking up my laptop. “But don’t worry, I have so many emails to deal with, I won’t be moving for a good long while.”

“Meow,” she replies, as though she understands me.

And I don’t know what’s crazier—thinking there’s a possibility, however slight, that she actually does, or carrying on a conversation with her knowing that she doesn’t.

Regardless, I take another sip of my beer.

Quiet the voices.

Keep myself busy so I’m not talking to animals who can’t understand me.

Clear my inbox.

But it’s not easy, not when my mind keeps drifting toward a certain prickly woman with a painful past and shadows clinging to her guarded blue eyes.

Like it has for the last week.

Hell, like it has from the first time I saw her, months ago.

Violet chirps softly before making several circles on my shoulder and settling down for a nap.

Her purrs rumble against my neck, her tail curling forward to drape down my chest.

Cute as fuck.

But a pain in the ass.