Her eyes slid down from his face, taking in the broad shoulders and the hard planes of his chest, barely disguised by his tight T-shirt. He had this aura of protection, as though he could just stand in front of you and shield you from a blast, like some kind of superhero in a comic.
‘Are you OK?’ His eyes scanned down from her face, to the excited puppy next to her. He frowned slightly, taking it all in. But he didn’t seem angry. Not this time, thank goodness.
‘I hope so,’ Kitty said, following his gaze down to the black furry dog. ‘I have a bit of a problem.’ She inclined her head to the puppy. ‘Can we come in?’
He licked his lips slowly, his eyes blinking faster than usual, lifting his hand up to rub his bearded jawline. Then he stepped aside, gesturing for her to come in, closing the door behind her. She scooped the dog into her arms, walking into his warm, welcoming living room.
‘I’m not exactly prepared for company,’ Adam told her. ‘I can’t offer you anything unless you like either coffee or beer.’
The thought of a beer after the day she’d had was like nectar to the soul. ‘I’d love a beer,’ she said, trying to hide just how desperate she was for it. ‘And a bowl of water for the puppy would be great.’
‘What’s his name?’ he asked, walking into the small kitchen at the end of the living area and pulling open the fridge.
‘He hasn’t got a name yet,’ she said, wondering if she should have remedied that. How long could she go on calling him ‘the puppy’?
‘Where’s he come from? Is he yours?’ Grabbing two brown bottles of beer from the refrigerator, he popped the caps off and passed one to her, lifting the other to his lips and taking a mouthful.
Kitty took a long sip of her own beer, letting the liquid slide down her throat and warm her stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a bottle of honest-to-God beer. It tasted better than ice-cold water on a summer’s day.
‘You want to sit down?’ Adam gestured at the old sofa and chairs that surrounded the roaring fire. The whole room looked cosy and rustic, with hand-carved furniture and lived-in upholstery. It made her want to curl up and relax.
He filled a bowl full of water and placed it down on the tiled floor. Seeing it, the puppy began to wriggle in Kitty’s arms, until she placed him down. He ran straight over and lapped furiously. Adam’s face softened as he watched the little bundle of fur drink from the old china bowl, and he squatted down, stroking the puppy’s back. His hand was almost as big as the animal itself. The puppy stopped drinking and began to furiously lick at Adam’s palm, causing a smile to break out on his face. It was crazy how good-looking the man was, especially when he was smiling. Kitty tried to remind herself that this same man had spent most of the week shouting at her.
Yeah, tell that to her racing heart.
Leaving the puppy by his bowl, the two of them walked over to the chairs beside the old inglenook fireplace. Unlike the rest of the cabin, the fireplace was clad with stone, with orange flames dancing in the cast-iron grate. Kitty was desperate to feel its warmth seeping into her bones. They sat silently for a moment, sipping at their drinks, and it felt somehow peaceful. For the first time that day, she felt herself starting to relax.
Funny how quickly things changed.
Though the chair was big, Adam’s body dominated it, with his thick, rippled chest and long, lean legs. He took another sip of beer, regarding her silently. He didn’t seem at all embarrassed at his scrutiny of her, and didn’t seem in a rush to end it, either. She could feel her cheeks flush, and not from the warmth of the fire. There was something about the way he was looking at her that made her feel exposed.
Clearing her throat, she glanced over at the dog. He was sitting patiently next to his bowl, his tail wagging. So much happier than when he’d been in the car. Maybe he really was just travel sick.
Finally, she broke their silence. ‘Um, I need somewhere to hide the puppy, and Annie suggested that you might be able to help.’
Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘Why on earth would you need to hide a puppy?’ His voice was deep and smooth – the same voice she’d heard in the clip she’d watched on her laptop last night. The kind of voice you paid attention to.
‘It’s a Christmas present for Jonas, and we can’t let him see it. Otherwise the surprise will be spoiled. So I need to find somewhere that we can hide him without Jonas finding him, and this was the only place we could think of.’ Her words tumbled out of her mouth as if she couldn’t stand their taste.
‘So I’m the last resort,’ Adam said drily.
‘No! Not at all.’ Kitty’s tongue tripped over her words in an attempt to form them. ‘It’s just that there are no outhouses and if I put him in the attic Jonas is bound to get suspicious and go up there to investigate. And Annie said you liked animals. So…’
Adam leaned back in his chair. His long legs were sprawled out in front of him. Kitty couldn’t help but admire the firmness of his thighs and the way they filled out the denim of his jeans. Out of his bulky coat and thick beanie – and most importantly without a furious look on his face – he seemed a different person.
She shook her head as if to get some sense into herself. This was the man who’d shouted at her twice, and told her she was a terrible nanny. She needed to take hold of herself.
‘Is he house-trained?’
Kitty side-eyed the puppy, remembering the steaming pile she’d had to clean out of the car. ‘I think so.’ It wasn’t really a lie, was it?
‘What does he eat?’
There was no way she was going to tell him the dog was a vegan, not when Adam seemed almost willing to helping her. ‘Oh, anything. Beef, chicken, rice. Whatever you happen to have in your cupboards.’
He turned to stare at the dog again, his gaze steady as he took him in. ‘What kind of breed is he anyway?’
‘A Portuguese Water Dog. Like the Obamas’ Bo.’ She didn’t know why she bothered to add this. It wasn’t as if his similarity to the ex-president’s dog was a selling point.