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noises and smells coming from all directions. And the party. A whirlwind of new sights, new sounds. And
Nicholas, even Nicholas. It was nice to have a break from the tingly, tight, anxious way she felt every
time she thought about Nicholas.
Stretching every muscle until she took up the width of the couch, she dangled her paws off the edge
while Hoop idly stroked her belly. As a cat, she knew she loved Nicholas. She felt warm and nice and
safe in his lap. Her cat feelings weren't all jumbled and confused. Her love was there, and it was strong.
But it was mostly in her head.
But as a human, her love for Nicholas burned through every bit of her her head, her heart, her body.
And the feelings weren't calm at all. No matter what else she was doing, her human body, her human
soul, longed for Nicholas. Waiting for his touch. Imagining his caress. As a human, she knew in her head
that she loved him. But she experienced it with her being, too.
As a cat, the way she felt when he scratched or brushed her, the way his warmth spread through her
when she curled up on his pillow at night, didn't come close to comparing to the sensation of being
around Nicholas as a woman. She wanted, needed, the way he made her feel. But at the same time,
being human loving Nicholas scared and confused her. Confused her so much that she hadn't
pounced on and kissed him last night, hadn't begged him to forget Angela and love only her. Instead
she'd stood back, not crying out and demanding what she wanted as if it was tuna fish or a furry mouse
toy.
Human emotions were all mixed up inside her. But scary as it was, she couldn't bear the thought of
only feeling safe and loved as his cat, of never feeling passion, or the giddy tease of his touch against her
human skin. That just felt wrong.
She rolled out from under Hoop's hand and stole away to the far side of the sofa, curling up into a ball
in the corner. What torment had she brought on herself? If she didn't make Nicholas love her, she'd stay
a cat forever. Nine lives spent knowing what she was missing, never again able to experience that
wonderful, magical touch of love. She closed her eyes tight, wishing upon whatever stars could hear. She
had to make him love her. She had to.
But even that wouldn't be enough. Not really. Nicholas had to do more than just love her. He had to
tell her that he loved her. And Nicholas was too honorable to do that while Angela was around.
Thinking of Angela, Maggie hissed.
"Hey, Maggie-girl. Calm down." Hoop reached over to smooth her fur as Maggie sulked.
Eight more lives with no Nicholas. All because of Angela.
With a twitch of her tail, she uncurled. That simply wasn't acceptable. Time to get moving. Days and
nights were slipping away.
She slunk back over to Hoop and stretched out next to his thigh, trying to think. The only question
was, what could she do to make Nicholas love her more? Or to otherwise solve the Angela problem?
Hoop again ran a hand along her back, then wiped his fingers on the sofa. "Jeez, Mags. Where's your
brush? You're shedding something fierce."
Shedding? She rested her head across his thigh. Shedding. What a perfectly delicious idea!
When he reached over to give her another pat on the head, she nipped his thumb. Just a little love bite
to let him know she appreciated the help.
Then she hopped off the couch and, tail held high, headed for Nicholas's bedroom. If she remembered
right, the Angela female kept quite a few clothes hanging on the bottom rod in the closet. And Angela did
like fur coats. So maybe it was time to bless Angela with the wonderful gift of cat fur.
Nick wasn't himself.
He wasn't real sure who he was, but the fellow sitting in his office, wearing his clothes, and staring at
his computer screen was definitely not workaholic, organized, always-on-top Nicholas J. Goodman. He
gave a quirky grin. Maybe he'd been kidnapped by aliens and no one had bothered to tell him.
But no, that was the easy explanation. The real reason was about as off-the-wall as aliens, but a lot
more difficult to accept Maggie. Somehow, when he wasn't looking, she'd sneaked into his head and
taken up residence there.
All afternoon he'd been trying, without success, to concentrate. He'd logged onto his computer and
pulled up the latest SEC filings of a company he was investigating, but something in the dull little rows of
numbers and paragraphs of notes reminded him of her, and he had to put the project aside. After lunch,
he'd walked down the hall to the library, half-expecting to find her spread across the table like some
sultry piano bar singer. By the time he turned the corner and realized that no Maggie would greet him,
he'd forgotten what he needed.
In the eight hours since he'd arrived, he'd only billed two hours to a client. The rest of his day was
pretty much a write-off. Certainly no client was going to pay him to daydream about his houseguest.
Then again, one client did have a vested interest in him keeping Maggie happy Palmer Enterprises.
For a split second, he wondered just how much leeway Angela really would give him in the quest to keep
Maggie smiling. Lord knew, he'd had no doubt last night about how to reach that goal.
His body tightened as he remembered the way she'd looked, lips parted, eyes bright. What would
have happened if he'd taken her mouth to his, run his hands along her back, pressed her body close to his
own? He shifted in his chair and groaned, then began to list the companies on the NASDAQ, hoping
such mundane thoughts would cool his rising body temperature.
"You okay, Goodman?"
Nick looked up to see Larry frowning at him from the doorway.
"You look a little pained."
Shaking off the last remnants of his Maggie thoughts, Nick picked up a stack of documents and
banged it lightly against the desktop to straighten the edges of the pile of papers. "I'm fine. I'm getting
nothing accomplished today, but I'm fine."
Larry's shoulders rose and his face lit up, as if he'd just discovered that the more he played on the
Internet during office hours, the bigger his bonus would be. He dropped his satchel in the doorway, then
balanced on the arm of one of Nick's chairs and leaned forward, eyes wide. "So? Tell. Don't leave me in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]