“Neither do I, which is why I didn’t confront them at the mall. Although it ruined my shopping trip, I’m glad I saw them. Like Ashley pointed out, they can’t sucker punch me with this now.” I blinked as Blue leaped onto the back of the sofa. I hadn’t even realized she’d left the shelf.
I felt my mouth curve as she rubbed the side of her neck over Dane’s head, leaving her scent on him. “She really does like you.”
Looking unimpressed, he said, “Only because I got her out of the cage.”
“Ah, the power of hero worship.”
I slowly reached up and stroked her, smiling when she didn’t pull back. “I always wanted a cat.”
“Didn’t you ask Melinda and Wyatt to get you one?”
I shook my head. “It may sound melodramatic, but I didn’t trust that Heather wouldn’t have harmed it. She often damaged, broke, or stole my things. Maybe she wouldn’t have gone as far as to hurt a living creature, but I didn’t want to take the risk.”
“It was probably a good call on your part.”
“Did you ever have any pets?”
“My grandfather had a dog. A Basset Hound. It was the laziest fucking creature you can imagine.”
I stilled in surprise. He’d never spoken of his extended relatives before. “Did you see much of your grandfather growing up?” I asked, half-expecting him to blow off the question.
“No, he wasn’t welcome at the house. Barron hated him because he felt that Hugh was ‘the favorite.’” Dane shook his head. “Barron actually smiled all the way through my grandfather’s funeral. I was only a child, but I remember it well.”
“What about your paternal grandmother?”
“She died before I was born.”
“Your maternal grandparents?”
“My mother had nothing to do with her family. They contacted me about five years ago, claiming they wanted to ‘connect’ with their grandchildren. I told them to fuck off. So did Kent and Travis. Because we knew from Hugh that they tossed our mother out at fifteen after forcing her to have an abortion.”
I felt my upper lip quiver. “A person’s family should be their safety net.”
“But you and I both know it doesn’t always work that way.”
Blue sprung onto Dane’s lap and butted his hand.
“I’d be jealous that she likes you better than me if the whole thing wasn’t so adorable,” I said.
He shot me a withering look and placed the cat on my lap. “Hungry yet?”
“I am actually.”
“Will stir fry noodles work for you?”
“Yeah, I can get behind that.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Walking up the path toward my foster parents’ front door, I blinked my watery eyes. God, I felt like shit. I’d woken with a bitch of a hangover from my girls’ night in. Even though I’d taken pain relief pills three times during the day, my head hadn’t stopped throbbing until an hour or so ago.
Hanna had thrown the get-together at her house last night and invited both Ashley and Melinda. Wyatt had insisted on coming, saying he felt “left out.” As I’d anticipated a simple evening of drinking wine, watching movies, and having fun, I’d said he was welcome to stay.
If I’d known it was a lingerie party, I’d have urged him to stay home. Hanna, the minx, didn’t warn him or anyone else. He’d gotten the surprise of his life when a woman entered the house with a rack of sexy lingerie and an array of sex toys. He’d left so fast I was surprised his shoes didn’t leave skid marks on the floor.
We’d had a ball—ate, drank, laughed, and sifted through the lingerie and sex toys. Dane had picked me up afterward, refusing to let me get a taxi home. Then he’d fucked me silly in bed. All in all, it had been a good night.
Melinda had texted me earlier, asking me to pop in on my way home from work. She hadn’t said why, but she had assured me that nothing was wrong. Hoping that was true, I used my key to open the door and called out her name.
Moments later, she walked into the hallway and beamed at me. “Hi, sweetheart.” Her brow creased. “Dane isn’t with you?”
“He’s at a meeting, but it’ll finish soon. Sam’s gone to collect him. He’ll bring Dane straight here.”
Junior came rushing out of the living area with a playful battle cry and hugged my leg. “Did you bring your new cat?”
Smiling, I ruffled his hair. “Can’t. She’d probably claw Ranger. My girl has attitude in spades.”
He pouted and released my leg. “I want to see her.”
“I’ll bring her to visit one day. Promise.”
“How is Blue?” Melinda asked as we strolled into the living area.
“Oh, fine,” I replied. “She’s all about Dane, though.”
Her mouth quirked. “I noticed that when we visited you Monday evening. He doesn’t seem to know what to do with all that feline affection.”
“He grumbles about her, but he likes her. I can tell.” I’d worked from home Monday and Tuesday so that Blue wouldn’t be alone in the house. But she was never completely alone anyway. The cleaning crew came daily, and the women fussed over her.