“Molly made some suggestions. She knows a lot about dogs.” And she knew a lot about other things, too, like how to make the perfect cup of coffee, how to salsa dance and how to use her mouth to drive him wild. Knowing that thinking about that would compromise his ability to walk, he wiped the image from his mind and strolled into the apartment.
Brutus was quivering with expectation and Daniel snapped his fingers.
Brutus charged into the apartment, almost flattening Harriet.
Steadying herself, she closed the door. “I made coffee. Help yourself while I settle these little ones.”
“You’re fostering kittens?”
“Just for a couple of days.” She put them down and tucked a blanket around them. “I’m so glad Valentine is better. And it’s going well with Molly? Has she forgiven you for borrowing Brutus and not telling her?”
Yes, because it turned out there were plenty of things she hadn’t told him, which made them equal in his book. “She seems to have come to terms with it.”
“Good.” Always generous, Harriet smiled. “I like her a lot. I was worried she’d be mad with us.”
“I’m the one responsible, not you. Where’s Fliss?”
“In her bedroom. She’s about to leave to see a new client.”
“I need to talk to her.” And it wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to. He’d pondered on it, run some checks and come to the conclusion he had no choice but to talk to Fliss himself. Better that she heard the news from him than from someone else.
“I’ll give her a shout. I suppose Molly was ready to forgive you anything after what you did for Valentine.”
“He was sick and she was scared.” He’d witnessed a lot of anguish in his career and handled it with a detached empathy, but Molly’s agony had been almost painful to watch. “That’s why she stayed at my place. Because it was closer.”
Fliss emerged from her bedroom in her socks. “Molly stayed at your place? Overnight? The whole night?”
“It was a matter of convenience. She slept in the spare room. Fliss, I need to talk to you about something.” He wondered how best to break the news to her. Straight-out? Should he prepare her first? Drop some hints?
The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his sister, but what choice did he have? If she found out that he’d known and hadn’t told her, she’d never forgive him.
“You had a woman stay the night? Damn right you need to talk to us.” Fliss picked up her running shoes and grinned at him. “You are in deep trouble. We’re here to save you. That’s what we do, isn’t it Harry?”
Daniel felt a prickly discomfort in his skin. “I am not in trouble.”
“Has a woman ever slept over at your place before?”
“No, but—”
“And—let’s be honest here because we’re all grown-ups— when you’ve seen women in the past, it’s always been just for sex.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have invited plenty of women out for dinner.”
“Fueling them up as a precursor to sex.”
“Could you two stop talking about sex?” Exasperated, Harriet checked on the basket of kittens. “It’s a good job they’re asleep. I don’t want them corrupted.”
“All I’m saying is that this whole scenario is different.” Fliss grabbed her backpack and a light sweater. “He had a woman sleep over. That means something.”
“Molly was worried about her dog.”
“Yeah.” Fliss tugged on the sweater, her gaze sharp and questioning. “And it’s normal to offer overnight accommodation to women who are worried about their pets. Hey, maybe we could offer that as an extension of the Bark Rangers. Fur B and B.”
“I think you’re reading too much into this.”
“And I think you really like this woman.”
“Which is great,” Harriet said quickly. “Really great. I never thought I’d see you so interested in a woman.”