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A flicker of movement caught his attention. The music sputtered as he choked up on the neck of the guitar. Sheba froze in the opening of the living room, her blue eyes wary.
Quickly, Sully dropped his gaze back to the guitar. His fingers strummed. The music flowed again. He ignored his practice sheet. Instead, he glanced up through his lashes at the cat. The lamp light played across the rich umber hues in her coat as she slowly crept through the room. Sheba kept her belly down, nearly touching the ground, and her muscles coiled, as if she were ready to spring away at a moment’s notice.
Sully repeated the chords, keeping the music soft and smooth. Sheba moved to the newly erected cat condo. Her nose quivered as she sniffed the cat nip Sully had liberally sprinkled onto the first three platforms.
Sheba circled the condo, then sat on her haunches as if considering her next move.
That’s it,Sully thought.It’s yours. Give it a try.
The orange-and-white cat hopped onto the first platform.
“That’a girl,” Sully whispered. Sheba’s head snapped toward him, and Sully quickly lowered his gaze back to his guitar. He resumed his strumming. Sheba sniffed the perch, then rubbed her cheek into the gray carpeted surface. She flopped onto her side, then rolled onto her back.
Sully smiled, his fingers growing clumsy on the chords. Maybe when she calmed down more, he could move closer to the condo. Maybe she’d let him pet her without the distraction of food.
Inch by inch,he thought.
The doorbell rang.
Sheba tore out of the room, a flash of white and orange speeding across Sully’s visual field.
“Damn,” he hissed. It was probably a delivery person. He’d ordered a number of supplies for his growing list of cat-related renovations, but nothing was scheduled to arrive today. Had something come early?
Sully swung open the front door and came face to face with hell in a sexy handbasket.
“Hi,” said Alanna Sandoval.
Ch. 31 Alanna
Holysmokingmoley!As if the handyman weren’t cute enough, Sully answered the door in a faded t-shirt and that sleek, acoustic guitar hanging from his neck once again.
His honey-colored eyes widened in surprise, and no wonder. Alanna had put a lot of thought into her “apology" ensemble. A sky-blue Valentino silk blouse complimented her dark, straight-legged Guess jeans combined with blood-red Gucci stilettos. If she had to grovel, at least she’d look good doing it.
“I was an ass the other day,” she started. “So, I wanted to come over here, and…” her eyes shifted over Sully’s shoulder. She could have sworn there hadn’t been a monstrous cat condo taking up half his living room the last time she’d been making a hopeless fool of herself on his front porch. Sully glanced back and followed her gaze.
“I made that,” he said, “well, with the help of a friend.” A smile of pride twitched on his lips.
It was fucking adorable.Hewas fucking adorable.
“Sheba,” he said.
“What?”
“The cat. Her name is Sheba.”
Alanna grimaced. Why was that name following her everywhere? “I didn’t know you had a cat,” she said.
“It’s a relatively new situation,” he answered. “Sheba’s really shy, though. She’s probably hiding under my bed.”
The thought of a cat under a bed constricted Alanna’s throat. With effort, she pulled her gaze away from the cat condo. Sheba was one hell of a lucky cat.
“So,” she began again. “I was…”
“…apologizing for being an ass?” Sully helped her out. “Your words, not mine.”
She had to smile at that. Their eyes met. She’d expected anger from him, along with suspicion and a whole lot of pissed off. Instead, his gaze was curious, warm, and something else that tantalized her girly parts.
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” she said, licking her lips. “I was, uh, dealing with some things and I took it out on you. You didn’t deserve that.”
