Page 105 of The Billionaire Who Saved My Cat From The Mafia

“Fuck no,” I say without hesitation.“Look,” I say, swinging my legs over the side of the lounge and leaning toward her.“It’s not just your smokin’ bod in that shirt or the fact that you’ve got the prettiest face I’ve ever seen and that you’re agyat damndynamo in bed.”

She shakes her head.“I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, Special K.”

“Too bad.I’m not done.”I scoot closer and grab one of her hands.“And it isn’t about how smart and funny you are and that you’re a tits-with-assets investor or that you’re a badass survivor, though all those things make you who you are.It’s how Ifeelwhen I’m around you.I can relax and be myself.I can laugh and feel happy.I’m not trying to be someone I’m not so that you approve of me.You like me for who I am, and I like you for all that you are, and I know you have to leave, I get it, but my hope is that it won’t be forever.Because we’re not done being good to each other, Boots.We’ve only started.”

She blinks at me, trying to sort through everything I just dumped on her.

“Sorry.I kind of went off the rails.”

She laughs, stands, and plops down on my lap, slipping her arms around my neck.“I don’t want to screw up your life,” she says, seriously.“Your life before the Squatter of Washoe Ridge showed up.”

I close my eyes.I get it now.“My sisters-in-law paid you a visit.”

“They most certainly did, and I loved it.Don’t be mad at them.They really love you, Special K.”She traces a finger along my jaw.“You’re kind of a loveable guy.”

And she kisses me.

CHAPTER 51

Frankie

Special K leaves the house to attend a meeting and do some ranch work.While he’s away, I do my best to pretend that I’m a lady of leisure, that this is my gorgeous house and I’ve picked out the curtains myself.

I’m doing fairly good at the fantasy, until I remember Niko is coming for me.And I can’t be here on the ranch when he does.

There’s a knock on the door, and Jasmine comes in with Pussy in the backpack on her back.“I thought you would miss her, so I brought her back before I have to go to school,” she tells me.

She opens the backpack, and Pussy leaps into my arms.

“I think she gained a pound while she was with you,” I laugh.

“Emma’s a good cook.Dad says he has to run twice as much since he married her.”

The front door opens, and Summer walks in.“Oh, good.You’re here.Come on.”

“Come on?”I ask.

“Oh!Ha!I forgot to tell you where.”She points to her forehead.“Pregnancy brain.It’s got its own mind.Get it?Ha!Anyway, I’m heading over to Jamie and Phyllis’s.She’s got coffee cake and fresh bacon.Come on!”

Jasmine reaches out and touches my arm.“Youreallydon’t want to miss that.”

“Grab the cat and let’s roll.”

Summer’s bossy in a best friend kind of way, but from what I can tell, she’s extremely cool.More loving than she lets on.And there isn’t a mean bone in her body.I put Pussy into the backpack again, say goodbye to Jasmine, and follow Summer to the door.

She straight-arms me.“Pants might be good.”

I look down at myself and laugh, then run upstairs to change into Emma’s tracksuit.I follow Summer to Special K’s father’s house.

Summer barges through their door, and I follow her inside.Special K’s dad Jamie throws me into a bear hug as if I’m his long-lost daughter.Phyllis kisses me on my cheek.“You must be starving,” she says.“Our Kevin doesn’t cook, bless him.”

“You got any sardines?”Summer asks, rifling through the kitchen cabinets.“I have a hankering for sardines with my coffeecake.”

“Pregnant ladies,” Jamie says to me and winks.“My wife used to love to eat sauerkraut straight out of the can when she was pregnant, but she couldn’t abide a salad.Go figure.”

“I used to eat Butterfinger bars every day during my pregnancy,” Phyllis says.

“Gee, I sure hope mine are Butterfinger pregnancies and not the sardine kind.”Did I really just blurt that out?I clamp my mouth closed.Why am I talking about having a baby?I’ve never even thought of being pregnant.