Page 47 of Hot Under the Collar

She pointed toward the bedroom, and he disappeared in search of it. When he came back, he also had a towel lining the bottom of the basket and another towel in his hand. He started transferring Mama and the kittens from the playpen to the covered basket as two thoughts ran through his mind: They needed a better solution than this, and this was the best they could do in the moment. Once all the cats were in, he covered the top and sides of the basket with the other blanket. Someone had once told him this helped keep scared cats calm. In this case, it kind of secured the laundry basket lid, too. He just hoped no one got injured. He’d never forgive himself.

Lynne called out for Fred, who peeked his head out from behind the kitchen cupboards. “Come on, bubs. Time to go.”

She lifted him to her chest, and although he protested with meows, he didn’t wriggle out from under her arm. Leo started down the stairs with Lynne and Fred close behind.

Leo’s senses were already on high alert since Lynne had kissed him, but now he was scanning for danger everywhere. Any smell or smoke or new noise. Picking up where they’d left off was the farthest thing from his mind. He just needed to know they were all safe.

They were the first to make it to the alley, followed by Ruby and O’Donnell’s small lunchtime crowd. Mike was among them.

“Over here, guys,” Leo said, waving them away from the building and farther down the alley.

But another realization hit as everyone approached. He needed to hold onto the basket for dear life. Because if he dropped his grip, not only would the kittens fall out, but everyone in Autumn Ridge would see his … situation. He looked down to find a still-raging hard-on, barely hidden behind the laundry basket.

He cleared his throat.

“You okay?” Lynne whispered, sensing his discomfort.

“No, and you can probably guess why not.” His eyes flicked down to his still-stiff crotch and back up at Lynne. An expression of panic flitted across her face.

Then the fire alarm stopped. Of course it did. Leo cursed under his breath again. And when the quiet rushed in, he noticed everyone in the alley was looking at the two of them as if they were aliens.

He suddenly saw what they saw. Lynne was breathless, her hair was mussed, t-shirt twisted, her face flushed with red. Leo’s hair was worse—a tousled mess like he’d just stepped out of bed. He held the basket in front of him like a shield.

Mama yowled and shifted underneath the lid and towel. Fred meowed indignantly under Lynne’s arm. Ruby and Mike both raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances.

“I’m going to fix these goddamn alarms if it kills me,” Leo hissed.

“Forget lunch,” Ruby started with a smirk. “I want some of what these two have been having all morning.”

“Right?” Mike shook his head. “I think we just figured out why the fire alarm went off.”

Shit.

“It’s not what it looks like, guys,” Leo said, trying to maintain his composure.

“Oh, honey,” said Ruby. “I think it’s exactly what it looks like.” She turned to Mike. “Doesn’t it?”

Mike just snickered and folded his arms across his chest. Lynne and Leo’s faces fell flat.

“Now, Mike,” Leo tried to keep his voice level. “You showed up—unannounced, I might add—so I took Lynne’s guest room until you figure things out. Plus, this gives me and Fred a chance to make things right and help Lynne care for the kittens.” As if on cue, Mama growled from the hamper. “But it’s a full-time job, taking care of them. We’ve got shared calendars and shift schedules, but we still look and feel like shit.” Leo couldn’t help but let anger color the edge of his voice. His brother needed to mind his own business. This wasn’t funny.

Ruby blinked at them. Twice.

Mike replied with a low, “Right.”

This clearly wasn’t helping. And the last thing Leo wanted was for this to snowball into gossip. But not because the hazing would be more relentless than it already was, but also because, when he glanced over at Lynne, she looked like she wanted to crawl into the laundry basket with the cats. She turned her face away from him, pulse visible at her throat, and crossed her arms. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She was too damn stressed and tired to deal with this. And, frankly, so was he.

In his head, he cursed the whole damn situation again. She’d wanted him. Not last year. Not five years ago. Now. Here. Upstairs in her apartment. And the universe had a sick sense of humor when it set off that alarm.

“Nothing happened,” Lynne said coldly, finally. “We’re just friends. Now, if you two are done writing the Autumn Ridge gossip column, I have kittens to feed.” She marched back into the building with a reluctant Fred still clutched in her arms, leaving him alone with the kittens and the nosy crowd.

He dreaded going back upstairs now. But he couldn’t stay out here either, or he’d lose his temper.

“Thanks, you two,” Leo said sarcastically to Mike and Ruby. “Nice work.”

He shuffled back upstairs to her apartment and unloaded the litter into their playpen.

He busied himself in the kitchen while he watched Lynne pace the floor, her hand over her mouth, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. It was torture. He just wanted to pull her close and forget any of the last ten minutes had happened.