Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer
Page 13He pulled up close behind the car, killed the engine, and leaped out. The rear window was completely white, and the driver’s side window was steamed up. He rapped his knuckles against the glass. “Come on, get out of there!” he called out, and the words seemed to be carried away on a gust of icy wind.
“Stop shouting and hold the cat,” she yelled back as the door swung violently open. He jumped back to avoid being slammed backward into a snowdrift.
He grabbed the cardboard box she thrust into his arms and almost dropped it as the feline thrashed about inside. “Jesus, you sure this is just a cat?”
“She’s deeply unhappy.” Piper lunged back into the car, took the keys out of the ignition, and grabbed her purse. “And that doesn’t look much like a Porsche.”
“That’s because it isn’t. You got grouchy about that, remember?”
Her eyebrows snapped together accusingly. “I so did not get grouchy.”
“Well, you sound grouchy now.” He turned toward the Land Rover. “Get in quickly, we shouldn’t be hanging around out here. It’s getting hazardous.”
It was a relief to get back into the muffled warmth of the car after a few moments out in the biting cold. Even the cardboard box on the backseat seemed a little calmer strapped neatly against the soft upholstery. “So are you going to tell me what you’re doing out here with a box of cat in a snowstorm?”
“I was taking her to the drop-in vet clinic a couple of miles farther on, but now you are.”
“I am?” He looked across at her and was captivated by a tiny snowflake clinging to the tip of one of her eyelashes. It melted within seconds and dripped onto her cheek.
There was no point sitting there arguing about it. Another few miles wasn’t going to make too much difference, or at least he hoped it wouldn’t. He started the engine and she seemed to wilt back into the seat with relief. She looked even more shattered than she had this morning. “I know where it is, we’ll be there pretty soon. What’s up with your pussy?”
Piper threw him an acidic look. “The cat has an injured tail that needs seeing to.”
“What happened to it?”
“Someone shut the bathroom door on it by the looks of things.” She shrugged irritably. “My clumsy sister, I suspect, but she fled back to our parents before I could interrogate her.”
“That’s one problem off your hands in that case. Dump the cat and we can go to Antigua for a week.”
“You seem to have conveniently forgotten about your launch campaign and the fact you need me to pose for the camera a few times.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “I’m not dumping anyone or anything. Besides, we may all freeze to death before the airports reopen, and I fully expect my sister to come rolling back after a few days back in Mommy’s strict, clean, organized domain.”
“A mom who cleans and cooks? You don’t know how lucky you are.”
“You sound bitter. Or am I imagining it?”
Was he bitter about his mother? Possibly. He felt pretty sour about the fact he’d only met his musician father once and his mom hadn’t seemed to do anything to keep him in his life, but she insisted it was for the best in the long run. Perhaps his mom had been right, but she’d been far from maternal herself; it wouldn’t have hurt to try and cook a Thanksgiving dinner just once.
To his surprise, she laughed. “She is, but you don’t get to choose your family, do you?”
“Hell no.” A yellow road sign was just visible under a layer of white frosting and she let out a long breath beside him. “We’re here,” he said. “Everything’s going to be fine now.”
“I forgot to thank you.” There was a throaty edge to her words. “I was stressed, and I’m sorry for being rude back there.”
“I was raised on rude, don’t worry.” He turned to see a soft smile on those plump pink lips and his belly quivered. How badly did he want to kiss them again? So much it made his teeth ache. “Let’s get inside.”
The lobby of the veterinary clinic was deserted apart from the receptionist and a harried-looking man carrying a parrot in a cage.
“How can I help you?” the petite blonde said sweetly, a twinkle behind her half-moon spectacles as she looked from one to the other.
“It’s my cat,” Piper said quickly. “She’s pregnant and somehow all the fur has been stripped off the end of her tail.”
“Ouch,” said Blondie. “Poor thing, we’ll get her in to see a vet right away. Now what’s her name?”
Piper’s cheeks flushed as both Matt and the receptionist waited on her reply. “Her name? Well, we never really got around to giving her one. We just call her cat. Or kitty.”
“Reilly. Piper Reilly. And she’s not really mine, that’s why she hasn’t got a name. We found her on our back step, cold, wet, and very bony apart from her big fat tummy.”
“I see. And that will probably mean you have no insurance coverage?”
“Well, no, but—”
Matt saw Piper’s face drop and a look of hopelessness veil it. “We can cover the fees,” he said firmly. “It’s not a problem.” The look she gave him was all the thanks he needed.
The receptionist flashed a receptionist’s smile and slid over a set of forms. “Then Dr. Uvi, our on-duty vet, will see you right away. You can fill these out while you’re in there. I’m sure you’ll be the last patient he’ll see today. I’m going to head home before this weather gets any worse.” She flicked off her computer screen. “Good luck with Cat Reilly.”
“Thanks.” Matt bent to pick up the box. “I’d better come in with you. It could be a two-man job by the sounds she’s making in there.”
Piper bit her bottom lip as the cat made a sound like the howling wind outside. “I hope Dr. Uvi has gauntlets.”
“And a chainmail pullover.” He heaved the box up to his chest as the beast within slid heavily from side to side, the sound of claws scraping ominously. He hoped the box would hold out. He turned back to the receptionist, who was already pulling on her coat. “Before you head off, can I buy one of those pet carriers you’ve got behind there? I think the snow may get the better of this box by the end of the night.”