Wild on You Read Free Page B

point not to look his way. He chuckled as he walked around to the passenger side. Maybe she was in denial. A more intriguing thought popped into mind.
    As soon as he got in and buckled up, she set the cat in his lap and shoved a bottle at him. “Feed her until the bottle’s gone. Then you can put her in the crate in the back.”
    Three crates separated the horse and some other creature tied off on the other side. He raised his eyebrows. “Please?”
    “Sorry. When I’m at my father’s house, I’m used to requests being worded as orders.” She gave him a gut-tightening, genuine smile. “Please.”
    Anything, doll
. Yeah, those words had just about slipped out.
    He looked at the kitten, which had sharp-as-shit teeth; he knew personally because it had thought his finger was the bottle’s nipple and clamped on. He bit back acurse and shoved the nipple at the cat. “What is this thing? A tiger?”
    She shot him a playfully derisive look. “It’s a bobcat kitten. Too much for you?”
    He took in the adorable face of the suckling cat. Then the puncture wounds on his finger. Yeah, as docile as the woman sitting next to him. He gave her a pointed look. “I can handle her.”
Both hers
.
    “That remains to be seen.” She gave him a challenging look and buckled up. “Her name is Freedom. One of my supporters found three kittens on his land, no sign of the mom. They were emaciated and covered in fleas. I found a cat sanctuary that will raise them so they can be returned to the wild, but the habitat won’t be ready for another week. I’m in charge of them until then. The other two are with a different foster mom.”
    Freedom was kneading Risk with her claws, purring away while puncturing his thighs. If the critter shifted a half inch, things could get dicey. Literally.
    “She likes you,” Addie said, staring at the kitten.
    “You say that like you’re surprised. Females love me.” He gave her the smile that made every woman he’d used it on smile back. And sometimes more. Heck, even grandmas responded.
    She frowned instead. “I’ll bet you use that smile as your pickup line.”
    He felt the smile fade. “Okay, I believe you. You’re gay.”
    Addie started the engine and pulled out. She handled the vehicle like a pro, taking corners efficiently without sending the van into tilt. Her arms were toned, though he doubted she did curls at a gym. She kept her attention on the road, studiously ignoring him. He wasn’t about to let her get away with that.
    “Have a girlfriend?” he asked.
    Her eyes shifted to him briefly. “Shirley. She’s my partner in Animal Huggers.”
    “Shirley.”
    He attached a hot redhead to the name and sank into a fantasy about the pinup girl and Addie tangling in the sheets of one of those outdoor beds by the sea. He walked up the steps into the private cabana and gave them the smile. Addie whispered something to Shirley, who nodded, and both women looked at him with hungry eyes. That samehunger he’d seen in Addie’s eyes earlier. Addie crooked her finger at him.
    “Oh, stop that.”
    Her snapping voice jerked him right out of the scene. “Stop what?” Good thing the cat was on his lap, even with its claws.
    “You’re fantasizing about me and some fictionalized version of Shirley, aren’t you? And we’re inviting you to join us, I bet.”
    Damn, no wonder he always lost at poker. No point in denying it, he supposed. “And you interrupted before I got to the good part.”
    “If two women are interested in each other, what makes you think they’ll want some guy pushing in on their action?”
    “Good question. But hey, it is a fantasy, after all.”
    She let out a breath, which made her bangs bounce. “I’m not gay.”
    Something in his chest twanged. Something lower twanged, too, and he realized that it was much better to see her as unavailable. “I won’t fantasize about you and your girlfriend anymore. It was disrespectful.”
    Her eyes widened. “I’m
not
gay. I