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“I am. Right now.”
She was taken back by the remark. “What?”
He grinned.
She changed the topic. He was probably was just playing games with her. “I’d love to take care of baby kittens, but I can’t.”
Another silence. Then, quietly, “C’mon, Hannah, I really got nobody else to ask.”
“So pleased I can be considered as a last resort.”
“Yeah, yeah. Only because I knew I’d have to put up with this kinda guff just to get some cooperation.”
“It’s not that. And I’d to help you out...but...”
“So. Is it a done deal, or not?”
Her protests were growing weaker, worn thin by his blatant browbeating. “Since when did you get cats anyway? You strike me as...”
“I was comin’ home from seein’—uh—a patient the other night, and found the three of ’em huddled together under a bush near my house, tryin’ to survive the cold. So what could I do but stuff the skinny little things into my coat and bring ’em inside to warm up?” He paused, considering. “What do I strike you as?”
“What? Oh.” Hannah finished her own tea and straightened. “I don’t know.”
“Tell me, please.”
She laughed. “A dog lover.”
“I love all animals.”
“And...”
“Yes?”
“You’re someone that makes me smile, I suppose,” she admitted.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“And I’m not boring.”
She smiled again. “And yes, that too. That’s why I didn’t want you to leave.”
For a minute, he hunched forward, staring down at his linked hands. Big hands, powerful hands, that had cut into living flesh to remove foreign matter; sensitive hands, infinitely gentle hands, that had soothed the crying of a sick child and eased the pain of a birthing mother.
He drew in a breath. “So. You gonna play nursemaid to my cats while I’m gone, or what?”
She stared into those beautiful eyes of his. “I’ll do it. If you can talk your way around Florence McKnight, that is.”
“Excellent!” His face lit up with the glow of a thousand candles. “Okay. You’re done here, right? C’mon.” Whether she was done seemed to make no difference; he grabbed her elbow and yanked her upright. “I’ll walk you home, and then I’ll go get my furry little charges and bring to your room. Good ole Flo can chaperone and listen to me explain all about what you’ll need to do.”
“If this works out, then I’m happy I could help.”
“You just want to pet the kittens.”
She smirked. “Yes.”
“I knew you had a compassionate heart.”
