Chapter 6
Six
Rhodes
I knew it was a mistake to give in to Chloe.
I knew it.
But, fuck, her face when those kittens had curled up in her lap…
It wasn’t even a question.
She doesn’t ask for a lot, and she’s lost so much, and—
Finn.
Her face had gone soft too.
And I knew that even though she wouldn’t say it outright, Finn wanted to take the kittens home too.
It’s dumb to even care.
She’s leaving at the end of the season.
She’s temporary.
She’s…nothing.
And yet as I watch her set the carriers down in Chloe’s room, I know she’s also…more.
There’s something special about her.
Something that makes me want to hold her close, coax out her secrets, take away the shadows that sometimes linger in her hazel eyes.
“Okay,” she says, jarring me out of my thoughts. “So, we’ll set the litter box up in your bathroom, Chloe, and try to keep the door to the hallway closed for a few days. The house is big and the kitties are small, so they’ll need some time to get used to everything.”
“’Kay.” Chloe nods seriously and when Finn’s eyes come to mine, I nod in agreement. “I’ll go close the other—”
But before I can finish telling her I’ll shut the door to the hall, Chloe reaches for the carriers.
“Wait—” Finn begins.
Too late.
Both kittens spring out like furry missiles.
Chloe squeals with delight. “Olive went under my bed!” The other shoots into the hallway. “Pear!” Chloe cries. “Come back!”
Too late.
The kitten is long gone.
I still, my hand on the doorknob, hoping the fluff ball will have changed her mind and reappear. When that doesn’t happen, I glance at Finn, who’s straightened, plunked her hands on her hips…and is clearly fighting laughter.
“Your fault,” I accuse softly.
She giggles. “I’m not the one who opened the doors.”
“No, I opened them,” Chloe says proudly, her voice muffled because she’s shoved her head under her bed to look for Olive.
My gaze locks with Finn’s and we both laugh. “That you did, kiddo,” she murmurs, crouching down beside my daughter. “That you did.” She reaches an arm out and—
A flash of fur as Olive sprints by her and into the hall.
Because I still hadn’t closed the door.
Christ.
“They’re fast,” Chloe says, her eyes wide.
“They sure are.”
From downstairs comes the unmistakable crash of something hitting the floor.
I close my eyes, sigh again.
I only have myself to blame—for the open door and the kittens.
“Let’s go get ‘em!” Chloe runs past me, and I follow her…to find Olive halfway up the family room curtains and Pear atop the coffee table swatting at the basket of Finn’s fabric.
“Wow, kitties,” Finn says calmly as she walks over to the table and snags the basket, stowing it away. “You two sure got comfortable fast.”
“Too comfortable,” I mutter, heading for the curtains.
Only…Olive is already out of reach.
Sighing, I snag the ottoman, drag it over.
“Pear!” Chloe calls, rushing over to the coffee table.
“Gentle, baby,” I warn as I climb up.
She slows, crouches, and stretches out her hand. “Here, Pear. Here, pretty, pretty Pear…”
Pear darts off the other side and zooms into the kitchen.
I reach for Olive, but she leaps down, landing softly on her feet and sprinting after her sister.
I curse softly, but it’s Finn’s laughter that stops me from getting frustrated, that has me laughing too.
This is ridiculous.
It’s madness and it’s my life and…
They’re two tiny balls of fur creating chaos.
While looking adorable in the process.
I step down from the ottoman, trail Finn as she heads into the kitchen.
The kittens are beneath the table and she drops to one knee. “Here, kitties,” she murmurs and clicks her tongue softly.
Olive pauses.
Blinks.
Then trots right toward her.
“Whoa,” Chloe whispers.
I just smile.
Because of course Finn can wrangle cats too.
She scoops Olive up, cradling her against her chest, and Pear follows, climbing into her lap and purring like she’s known Finn her entire life.
“Traitor,” I mutter.
Finn winks. “You just have to know how to ask nicely.”
Chloe nods sagely then yawns widely.
“I think it’s bedtime,” Finn murmurs, climbing carefully to her feet, both kittens in her arms.
“But—”
“The kitties are tired, pumpkin. They’re little and need a lot of rest.”
She does too, but I leave that part out of it.
We head upstairs and Chloe goes into the bathroom to change into her pajamas while I veer off to close the door I should have shut earlier.
I’m moving back across the bedroom just as Finn is bending to set the kittens down onto bed. But at the last minute, Pear decides to throw an audible, leaping free and…knocking over a framed photo of Anna on the nightstand.
My heart stutters and I lurch forward—
But Finn catches the frame just before it hits the floor.
“It’s okay,” she whispers.
I nod once. It’s jerky and I know she doesn’t miss it, but she doesn’t say anything.
Probably because Olive chooses that moment to launch herself free too.
This time straight at me.
Instinct has me reaching out and catching the wriggling handful of fur and claws against my chest. “Troublemaker,” I accuse softly.
Finn chuckles, but I don’t miss the careful way she replaces the picture frame, how she nudges it back from the edge so it’s not at risk of falling.
I notice…and maybe it means too much, the care she takes.
Before I can really process that, Chloe’s coming out of the bathroom, and Finn is making sure the kittens have what they need before slipping away. Then I’m reading books and tucking Chloe in and turning on her nightlight.
“Best day ever,” Chloe murmurs sleepily.
“Yeah?” I lean down and kiss her forehead.
“Yeah.” She smiles, rolls onto her side, and barely two heartbeats later, she’s asleep. I tiptoe out, close the door and turn, intending to head downstairs and clean up the mess the little demons made—
And run directly into Finn.
“Shit, sorry,” I murmur, catching her shoulders to steady her.
It’s barely a touch.
But it lights up every nerve ending in my body, sending bolts of sensation shooting into my palms, along my arms, through…my heart.
She freezes, those pretty hazel eyes on mine.
And for one long moment neither of us moves.
Then her body tilts—ever so slightly—toward mine, and the urge to kiss her, to draw her close, to feel her body flush against me is so intense that I bend toward her.
Fuck.
I yank my hands back so quickly she teeters.
But before I can steady her again, she skitters away. “I, uh, should clean up the mess downstairs.”
“I can get it.” My words are rough.
“That’s okay. I—” A shake of her head. “I need to work on my blankets,” she says before she turns and hurries down the stairs.
I want to follow her, but I know I shouldn’t.
No. I know that I can’t.
Not when my palms still tingle.
When my pulse still pounds through my veins.
When my body wants—
Finn catching Anna’s photograph as it fell.
I clench my teeth together so tightly pain shoots through my jaw, my neck, my heart.
So instead of going downstairs, I head into my room, get ready for bed…
Then lie there in the dark staring up at the ceiling.
Because instead of sleep, what comes back to me is that moment in the hallway.
That feel of Finn’s body beneath my hands.
The urge to follow her.
Her smile. Her laughter. The way her hair shines in the sunlight.
And the knowledge that I am in so much fucking trouble.