Thom unlocked the door to the apartment as quietly as he could. It was dark inside, but Cerberus was waiting for him, right inside the door. He patted her and got her leash, then led her out of the apartment. Annika had to be asleep, judging by how still the apartment was.
Maybe he could feed Cerberus in the bedroom to keep from waking up Annika. He spent their walk in the park trying to figure out the logistics of that, since the dog food was in the kitchen. It was hard to imagine he could be quiet enough. Cerberus had a tendency to get pretty excited about dinner, especially on nights when it was delayed because of his shift at work.
It was hard to ignore an excited Great Dane.
He hoped Annika was really tired.
But by the time Thom unlocked the apartment door again, the lights were on inside. Annika was sitting up on the couch. Her hair was loose over her shoulders, looking like spun copper, and her eyes were wide.
Not crying but close. Worse, her nightgown revealed that she’d won the freckle lottery. She had so many on her chest and shoulders that they overlapped. Thom gave her a wave and hung up his coat, turning away from the sight of temptation and trying to steel himself for whatever was ahead.
“He’s not coming tomorrow, is he?” Her voice was bleak, a sound that predictably weakened Thom’s resistance.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, keeping his back turned as he got out the kibble. Cerberus barked with joy, flinging back her head so that one of her ears stayed inside out. She turned a quick circle, making a huge ruckus, and he couldn’t help but smile at her antics. He measured kibble into her bowl and placed it on her stool before she nudged him out of the way to start eating.
“I think you do know,” Annika said, her tone hard. Thom glanced over to find her arms folded across her chest. She looked stubborn and sweet and as her gaze bored into his, his defenses crumbled.
“I can guess,” Thom said. “But I don’t know.”
“Guess then.” There was a challenge in her voice. She’d been thinking and reached the fairly inevitable conclusion.
Bonus: he got to do the dirty work.
Thom wasn’t going to step up for that without a fight.
“It seems unlikely,” he conceded gruffly.
“Who is she?”
Thom grimaced. “That isn’t my story to tell.”
“But you’re the only one here to tell it.”
He shrugged. “Some girl, but you know that already.”
“Name.” Annika bit off the word like a drill sergeant.
What the hell. Maybe one detail would satisfy her.
It wouldn’t have satisfied any other woman Thom had ever met but it was worth a try. “Cerise,” he admitted.
Annika made a face. “Where’d he meet her?”
Thom turned to the fridge to get the milk. He kept his back to Annika as he poured himself a glass. He sucked so badly at lying to people. In the moment that his glass was full, he wondered why the hell he was bothering to try to cover Leo’s butt. “At a bar,” he said without turning around. “Just like all the others.”
He froze in the midst of lifting the glass to his mouth, realizing just a little bit too late how much he’d said.
There was no chance Annika would miss it.
“All the others?” she echoed and he glanced over his shoulder to see her closing like an avenging fury. “How many?”
“I’ve only lived here two months.”
She stopped in front of him and glared up at him, her eyes blazing. “How. Many.”
Thom tried to appeal to her for mercy. It was a long shot, no matter how he looked at it. On the upside, Annika looked amazing, all flashing eyes and flying hair. And freckles on every bit of skin he could see, which was probably more than she realized. He glanced down at her feet, unable to help himself and nearly roared with desire. Knowing it was against the odds, he tried to get the genie back in the jar. Damn. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“He can throw me out. He has the legal sublet and I’m here unofficially.” He drank his milk, watching her warily.
She folded her arms across her chest, her eyes glittering as she assessed him. “I won’t tell him you told me.”
“There’s nowhere else you could get that information.”
Her eyes narrowed and her lips set. Her nightgown was way too sheer and Thom was only human. “He said you were stupid.”
Thom shrugged and finished his milk. He moved to wash the glass, mostly because that meant he could turn her back on her again. “Sometimes it’s easy to let people keep their assumptions.”
“Kind of like what Leo’s doing to me now.”
Thom stopped mid-gesture to think about that. “Maybe.”
“Maybe? How can you possibly say maybe?”
He turned around as he dried the glass. She was too mad to cry, which was just about the only thing in his favor. Her hair hung to her waist, all shiny and fiery. She was flushed, and her eyes were vividly green. That white nightgown should have made her look innocent or even childish, except that it didn’t hide as much of what was underneath as she probably thought it did. She had great curves. Damn, damn, damn. Thom wanted to reach out and touch her more than he’d wanted to do anything in a long time.
No, he wanted to do more than touch. He wanted to make her forget Leo.
He knew exactly how he would do it.
Instead, he kept his hands on the glass, polishing it until it was dry and then a little more.
She waited, which surprised him a little. She stood, lips set, holding his gaze and insisting upon an answer. Thom was good at letting silence fill a space, but he couldn’t deny Annika.
He tried.
“Leo is supposed to be really smart,” he said finally.
“Brilliant,” she agreed easily. “Near genius IQ.”
“Then he has to come back,” Thom said, reaching to put the glass on the shelf. “Because only a really stupid guy would walk away from you.”
He nodded once at her astonished expression, then retreated to the bedroom. He snapped his fingers on the way and Cerberus followed, leaping up to claim most of the bed before he’d even closed the door. He felt Annika staring after him, her gaze boring into his back. She was probably wondering if he was just dishing out a load of shit to shut her up.
But he wasn’t. Every word was true. Leo didn’t know how lucky he was to have Annika in love with him and that wasn’t smart at all.
Cerise wasn’t any kind of reasonable alternative.
Annika had been paid a lot of compliments in her time, but she was sure none of them had ever been as heartfelt and simple as Thom’s words.
None of them had ever made her heart glow. She stared after him but he just shut the bedroom door without a backward glance.
She knew he’d meant it.
But he hadn’t had expectations.
And as much as she could develop some short-term expectations, his attitude was kind of nice. Protective. That was unexpected. She settled down on the couch again, debating the merit of inviting herself into the bedroom, but decided against it. She lay there in the darkness, indulging in a few fantasies, realizing a bit late that every one of them involved a bearded gentle giant with lots of tattoos, and not one of them starred Leo.
Did she really love Leo?
Or was he just a habit?
Her love—or their love—was something she’d never questioned before. It had been a fact. Not a central fact in her life. Their relationship hadn’t governed her choices, not before this one to come to New York and start their future already.
Maybe she was just used to the idea of Leo. They certainly hadn’t spent a lot of time together since he’d come east for med school. When he was home, he was in demand, always visiting a relative or a friend. It was always a short trip. Things were always rushed. They had quick kisses on the way here or there, some (admittedly mediocre) sex, and then he left again. She knew she had yearned in his absence for what she didn’t have.
But did Leo ever provide that when he was present?
If she was totally in love with Leo forever, she shouldn’t be finding the idea of joining Thom in his room so appealing. She’d never cheated on Leo. She’d never been with any other guy.
As she lay on the couch in his apartment, while he was somewhere else—maybe Scranton and maybe not—she thought of the woman answering his phone and wondered whether she and Leo were playing by the same rules.
On Sunday morning, Thom got up early and took Cerberus for a long walk. He didn’t even glance toward the tumble of covers on the couch.
He felt guilty because Sunday was usually his day off, a day he spent with Cerberus, but he’d agreed to take another guy’s shift at the club today. He told himself that dogs didn’t know the days of the week, but he could have sworn his dog did. He spent extra time walking her and playing ball, convincing himself that a day at loose ends in the apartment with Annika would have been a very bad idea anyway.
Annika was still asleep when he got back around ten. A cascade of red had emerged from the top of the tangle of blankets but that was the only glimpse of her. He could hear her soft even breathing.
The apartment was filled with the smell of her and it was incredibly distracting. Women smelled sweeter when they were asleep, Thom was convinced of it, and there was nothing he liked better than waking a woman up to an orgasm. Most of the women he’d known had been pretty enthused about that option, too. In his view, it was a great way to start the day.
He kept his back to Annika, determined to avoid temptation. Still, his thoughts scampered like a ferret in an exercise wheel. What did she sound like when she came? Did she shout or did she purr with contentment? Did she gasp? Did she bite or dig her nails into her partner’s skin? On one hand, she seemed quite composed, but when she lost her temper, he caught sight of a very interesting passionate side to her nature.
He liked the idea of that, of a woman demanding everything he could give and then coming back for more.
It was just a stupid fantasy, though.
It certainly wasn’t going to come true, not if he had any sense at all.
Thom fed the dog and had a hot shower, then leaned against the kitchen counter to check his phone. He hadn’t remembered to check for motorcycle parts the night before, given all the distractions and he thought it would just take a minute. Parts for his vintage bike were few and far between.
It took longer than he’d expected because there were a couple of possibilities on the various sites he followed. He chased down one, discovered it was sold, then was pursuing the other when Annika spoke.
“Big plans?”
He glanced back. She looked sleepy and rumpled and sexy as hell. That white cotton nightgown had slipped from one shoulder, revealing an expanse of super-freckled skin that he wanted to kiss. Badly. “Work,” he said and looked back at the phone. He couldn’t even read the display, his thoughts were so deep in the gutter.
Apparently oblivious to the reaction she was causing, Annika braced herself on her elbows. The move made the neckline of her nightgown gape but Thom would not look. He scowled at the phone, hoping she was unaware of how tight his jeans had become. “Do you work every day?”
“No, but I agreed to take a shift for a friend today.”
“Seems there’s a lot of that going around,” she said wryly. She stretched and swung her legs out of bed, then tipped her head back and rolled her shoulders.
Damn. The nightgown was bunched around her thighs and she was wiggling her toes as she stretched.
Thom determinedly returned his attention on his phone. He grimaced when he found out that the other part had sold, too. He’d just missed it.
“Do you need help with your phone?” Annika asked.
Thom glanced up. Her tone was kind but a little condescending. Her question was unexpected. “No. Why?”
“Leo said you spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.” She smiled. “I could help. You’ve been nice to me. I could return the favor.”
Leo thought he didn’t understand his phone.
Leo had told Annika that he was dumb.
Didn’t that just figure? Thom shook his head, then shoved his phone back into his pocket. “I understand it just fine, thanks.” His tone was clipped and she noticed.
Of course.
“I didn’t mean to offend you…” She was blushing now, a rosy red flush that had to go all the way down to her nipples. Thom couldn’t even glance her way.
He frowned at the wall. “Of course not. I’ll be back around dinner, in time to feed Cerberus. Six-ish probably.”
“Right around the same time as Leo.” There was no smile or anticipation in her voice this time and he couldn’t guess at her thoughts.
Or he didn’t want to.
“Maybe,” was the most Thom could acknowledge. “See you.”
“Maybe not,” she said. “We might be busy.”
He paused and risked a glance her way. “Here?”
“It’s his apartment.”
Thom was getting tired of that reminder.
She stood up and stretched for the ceiling. She stretched almost as much as Cerberus did. “Don’t be surprised if you find the deadbolt on.”
Thom looked around the apartment, debating the merit of warning her about the dog’s curiosity. On the one hand, it was only fair. On the other, Leo wasn’t coming back today, so there was zero chance of the happy couple expressing the joy of their reunion.
He should have just shut up, but he couldn’t. It pissed him off that Annika thought it would be okay to lock him out and he’d had just about enough of this Leo’s apartment shit.
“I live here, you know,” he said, his tone a little sharper than it had been. Her eyes widened a little in surprise. “I pay rent to live here and I’m all paid up. And my dog will need to go outside as well as be fed.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought…”
“No. You didn’t think.” Thom was more angry than he realized, and it wasn’t just because he was protective of his dog. “Maybe you and Leo do belong together, because that was an asshole thing to say.”
She braced her hands on her hips, not backing down. Her eyes flashed. “Well, we’re not going to do it on the couch and leave the door open for you to come in.”
“No, of course not, so if I’m inconvenienced, whatever. As long as you get what you want. That’s the only thing that’s important.” He held up two fingers, keeping them together, and shook them before her. “Two peas in a pod and fuck the rest of the world. I hope you two are happy together.”
She flushed crimson. “That’s not what I said!”
“You might as well have. They say no good deed goes unpunished. I should have left you in the corridor instead of trying to be nice.” With that, he patted Cerberus and reached for his coat, his blood simmering. He turned to glare at her. “Don’t hurt the dog or I will find you and make you regret it.” She took a step back, looking alarmed. Well, she should. “And if this door is locked against me when I get back tonight, I will kick it down to get to my dog. That’s a promise. It’s Leo’s apartment. He can pay for the repair.”
He’d hauled open the door before she spoke, and when she did, her tone was so soft that he was surprised into stopping.
“You’re right.” He glanced over his shoulder to find her eyes shimmering. “I’m sorry.
“Do not turn on the taps,” he said.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“That women always start the tears to get around somebody or duck an apology. It’s a manipulative trick and I don’t have to put up with it from you.”
“Women as in all women?” She was insulted—again—but at least she was blinking away her tears.
“All the ones I’ve known.”
“Maybe you need to get out more.”
“Maybe you don’t like someone calling you on a cheap trick.”
Annika shook her head and stood taller. “I’m not most women, but you haven’t had time to learn that yet. I’m apologizing. You’re right. You’ve been nice and that wasn’t fair.” Her voice faltered. “I’ve just been missing that part of things.”
Thom bit his tongue to keep from noting that Leo hadn’t been missing anything.
She lifted her chin and met his gaze steadily. “Thank you, Thom. I really appreciate that you let me stay and I will take care of Cerberus today. Promise.” She crossed her heart with two fingertips as he watched, astonished.
Just like that, Thom was wrapped around her little finger all over again. It hadn’t even taken tears. There was a reason he’d sworn off involvement with women after Rhea. He hated being manipulated. He hated the games and the tears.
And he really hated feeling like an asshole when he didn’t think he’d been wrong.
But Annika seemed to mean her apology.
He opened his mouth and closed it again, realizing he had nothing to say. “Okay.” He nodded crisply and opened the door. “Later, then. Have a good day.”
“You, too.”
He hesitated at the door, wondering how she’d fill the time. “There’s a movie rental place by the dollar store. They have a good selection. The account at the rental place is under the phone number.”
She smiled and the warmth in her eyes set him simmering in an increasingly familiar way. “Thanks, Thom.”
When her voice dropped low and warm like that, she owned him totally. Thom was like butter in the sun. He tried to hide it and suspected that he failed.
Thom patted Cerberus one last time and left. He waved to the dog when he crossed the street, seeing her big silhouette at the window, and he was startled to see that Annika was standing beside Cerberus. His heart jumped when she waved back.
Maybe he was an asshole. How could he even think about seducing Leo’s fiancée? She was taken, or at least unaware that she’d been tossed back, which was kind of the same thing. And when she learned the truth, she’d be devastated. Women didn’t get over that in a hurry and Thom wasn’t going to be the consolation prize. He knew how romance on the rebound worked—it didn’t.
He should forget about her right now.
A whole day alone.
A whole day to feel guilty about making such a stupid comment to Thom. It had been the kind of thing she might say to one of her siblings, a joke or maybe wishful thinking, but it had fallen flat in a big way.
Even better, she’d insulted and offended the one person who’d been nice to her since she’d arrived in Manhattan. If that didn’t make her feel like an ass, Annika didn’t know what would. She shivered a little, recalling the sight of Thom infuriated and protective of his dog, and could believe that he was able to kick down the door.
Or tear someone apart with his bare hands.
What would it be like to have such a defender? Cerberus snored contentedly on the rug, confident of Thom’s protection, and Annika found herself feeling a little bit jealous.
Of a dog.
She gave her head a shake and made some breakfast, trying to figure out how she could make it up to Thom.
How could she make it up to him?
There was a time when Annika might have been glad of the solitude, but she’d planned for this to be a day with Leo.
Who was she kidding? She’d expected a day of sex, sex and more sex. She wanted sex, sex and more sex.
But here she was alone, with a ferret and a big dog.
She reviewed all the familiar arguments about her and Leo not even living together yet and found them all a bit thin. Leo was in med school. The program was demanding so he had to do it alone. They both had to make sacrifices for the sake of their shared future. Leo had argued his side a zillion times. Funny how she didn’t find any of them persuasive anymore.
The problem was that Thom’s skepticism had struck a chord.
No. The problem was that Thom was her every sexual fantasy in one big hot package and they were sharing the apartment together and she was in desperate need of physical affection. If Leo didn’t turn up before Thom did, Annika was pretty sure of what she might do in an impulsive moment. And as much as she worried about the ramifications of seducing Thom, she couldn’t imagine she’d have any regrets.
She’d be cheating on Leo, but that was starting to seem less important than she believed it to be.
After all, he was apparently cheating on her, and not for the first time.
Annika struggled to give Leo the benefit of the doubt. (It was tougher than it should have been, in her view.) Leo and Thom didn’t get along. Maybe Thom was telling stories about Leo to get into her pants. But he didn’t seem to be that kind of a guy. She sensed that Thom told the truth, even when it wasn’t what anyone wanted to hear.
She admired and respected that, even if she wasn’t crazy about what he was telling her. Was it disloyal to give credit to Thom but doubt Leo? She’d known Thom about five minutes and Leo for a lifetime.
But still.
More importantly, what could she do to make up for her stupid comment to Thom?
Annika showered and dressed, then took Percival on a shopping trip. They had a special on Titanic at the movie rental store, which she’d never seen, so she picked up a copy. The phone number of the apartment worked just the way Thom had said, which made her grateful for his kindness again.
She loaded up on provisions at the local grocery since Leo didn’t have any, then bought a teapot at the Korean take-out for her tea. She also bought provisions for making brownies, hoping they’d do as an apology. It was early afternoon by the time she got back and she fed Percival, then made herself a sandwich. It was a nice sunny day and her heart skipped a little when she saw it was almost noon.
Just a few more hours until she knew for sure.
But what a difference a day made. Instead of imagining great sex with Leo, she was wondering whether they’d break up.
It was a difficult possibility to even acknowledge. For twenty years, their joined future had been a given. What kind of person was she to question all of that because Leo was gone one day?
Annika mixed the brownies very thoroughly, taking out some of her frustration on the batter. She spread the batter in a foil pan and put it in the oven to bake, then put on the kettle.
It was when she was taking the tea bag out of the pot that it happened. She was sure she’d fastened the latch on Percival’s cage. She didn’t think twice when Cerberus stirred, stood, stretched, then sauntered closer to the cage. That tail was wagging as the dog bent down to sniff the cage. Cerberus was a bit more cautious than the day before, which made Annika smile. A lesson had been learned.
She didn’t worry when Percival hissed, sure that the ferret was safe in his cage. Cerberus wagged harder. Percival hissed louder. Cerberus gave a little yip, like she was inviting Percival to play, and bowed, her butt in the air and her chest on the floor, that tail swinging. She barked again.
Suddenly, something shot across the floor like white lightning, disappearing beneath the fridge so quickly that Annika might have imagined it.
She knew better. She spun to look, hoping she wouldn’t see what she expected.
The door to the cage was swinging.
No!
Annika dropped the spoon and the teabag. Cerberus bounded after Percival, crashing on the floor and shoving her nose against the gap at the bottom of the fridge. Her tail was swinging wildly and it was clear that she was convinced the game was on.
Annika dropped down beside the dog, trying to see under the fridge. Something white moved at the back, hissed, and vanished.
“Percival?” Annika knew that calling a ferret had just about no chance of making a difference.
She also had no hope of moving the fridge.
She tried.
She looked again but couldn’t spot him. She heard him hissing, though, and thought he was rustling through something. Were there gaps at the back of the cabinets? How far could he get from his hiding place?
She sat down, back against the cabinets and closed her eyes as she wondered whether he could get into the walls of the building. She might never find him again.
No. She wouldn’t panic.
She opened the cupboards and emptied them frantically, which didn’t take long because there were three pots and a measuring cup. Cerberus was ready to be a part of it, sniffing in the pots and nudging against Annika in her enthusiasm.
“He’ll never come out when you’re right here,” she told the dog, but her chances of moving the Great Dane away from such an interesting development were non-existent.
A long idle afternoon didn’t yawn ahead of her anymore. She had to get Percival back into his cage before he found trouble.
Too bad she’d fed him already.
Annika ate her lunch and let the brownies bake, reasoning that Percival needed a little time to get hungry again. Meanwhile, Cerberus repeatedly tried to wedge her paw into the gap under the fridge to take a swipe at the ferret. At least there was no doubting his location, given the sound of hissing from beneath the appliance. She couldn’t ask for help, though, since ferrets were illegal in Manhattan. She found herself wishing for Thom’s return, and told herself it was only because Leo knew zip about animals. She cleaned up, then crouched down beside Cerberus again.
There was a glimmer of white in the deepest shadows, against the back wall. Annika would not think about what kind of muck might be under the fridge or what unhealthy tidbits Percival might be finding to eat under there.
She tried all the kitchen tools available, even a flyswatter from the linen closet, in the hope of sweeping Percival out. No luck. She offered the last bite of her sandwich, knowing he was a fan of hummus, pushing it under the edge of the fridge. Cerberus nudged her aside and scored the bite, sliding her huge pink tongue under the fridge to capture it then sniffing as if Annika might be hiding more.
Stumped, Annika sat back against the wall. Cerberus watched her, clearly curious about what she’d do next, then sniffed at the base of the fridge for Percival. Annika couldn’t tempt the ferret with fish as long as the dog was there. Cerberus was just too curious—and she’d probably eat it herself in a flash.
Annika spent the next hour trying to convince Cerberus to abandon her vigil. She should have guessed that would be impossible. The dog seemed to be enjoying the adventure, as if they were a team on a quest.
She spent another hour after that trying to coax Percival to emerge, before she admitted that it was time to change tactics.
She cooked a piece of the fish next, a task that won her Cerberus’ undivided attention. She tempted the dog into the bedroom with one of the biscuits from the top shelf, then hurried out of the room and shut the door behind herself. She could hear Cerberus sniffing at the bottom of the door.
Annika put down the piece of fish and thought she heard rustling under the fridge. She held her breath and crossed her fingers, kept the cage at the ready and tried to will the ferret to emerge.
She glimpsed the pink tip of his nose in the same moment that Cerberus whined with frustration.
Percival vanished again.
That was the last time she saw him for a long while. Annika put the cooked fish in the fridge, ensuring it was on Leo’s side, and tried to figure out what to do.
There had to be a way.
In the meantime, she iced the brownies.
Thom had a bad feeling about coming home.
It was only reasonable to dread what he’d find when he unlocked the door. Cerberus, of course, would be her usual exuberant self. Had she terrified Percival in his absence? She wouldn’t hurt the ferret, but since he wasn’t used to dogs, she could give him a heart attack.
More importantly, had Leo called? Thom guessed not. The big question was whether Annika had figured out that Leo wasn’t going to show up at all.
What would happen after that? The prospect of emotional drama made Thom edgy. He really didn’t want to do Leo’s dirty work, but he couldn’t let Annika keep believing in that jerk for another night.
He took the stairs and stepped into the corridor. The stairwell was near the apartment. Everything was very quiet, which could be either a good or a bad sign.
Had Annika fallen asleep? Had she gone out?
Was she locking him out because she and Leo were at it?
He slipped his key into the lock and heard Cerberus whimper. That had him opening the door all the way in a flash. There was no sign of the dog, which made his heart skip a beat. The bedroom door was closed and he saw big shadows beneath the door.
Annika was crouched down in front of the fridge, staring at the bottom of it. She looked worried and pale, as if she maybe hadn’t eaten. Cerberus howled, confirming that she was in the bedroom and aware of Thom’s return.
Thom exhaled in relief.
There was only one good reason why Annika and Cerberus would be where they were.
“Percival,” Thom guessed, then he realized the apartment smelled like freshly-baked brownies. His stomach growled. Even though he didn’t often eat sweets, he loved brownies.
Annika pointed to the fridge. “He ran under there before lunch. I can’t get him out.”
“I told you: leash or cage.”
“He’s fast!” she protested. She stood up and pushed her hand through her hair, making it look even more like a chaotic jumble of curls. “The door popped open when Cerberus was near the cage. I guess Percival was frightened.”
“This is not her fault.”
“I didn’t say it was!”
“How long has she been in there?”
“Since noon.” Thom gave Annika a hard look and she flung out her hands. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Leash or cage,” he repeated, biting off the words. “It’s not that complicated.”
“I made a mistake!”
That was evident.
Annika shook her head. “Another one,” she said with disgust. “First I hurt your feelings this morning, insulting the person who’s been nicest to me since I got here, then I didn’t fasten the latch properly.” She pushed a hand through her hair. “I made brownies as an apology,” she said, sounding defeated and Thom had to do something other than stare at her or he’d do something he’d regret.
Why was he always attracted to women on the rebound?
Thom grabbed Cerberus’ leash and eased open the bedroom door. Her big nose was immediately shoved through the crack, her entire body wagging in excitement. He put the clip on her collar as he patted her and rubbed her ears, smiling as she licked his hands in her enthusiasm. As he’d expected, as soon as he straightened, she looked toward the fridge, eyes bright with anticipation. It was a good thing she was on the leash because she lunged in that direction next. “Sit,” he said and she did, vibrating in place with her enthusiasm.
“She’s well trained.”
“She’s too big not to be.”
“She’s crazy about you.”
Thom shrugged. “Wonders never cease,” he murmured and Annika laughed, just a little. Her eyes sparkled and she looked about a million times better.
“Do you have any helpful ideas from your wealth of ferret experience?”
He headed for the door. “Go with the easiest one. See if you can coax him out with food.”
She made a face. “I’ve tried that, though. He loves fish and I cooked him some at lunch. No luck.”
“But this time, the dog will be gone.”
She nodded. “You’re right. He has to be hungry. I’ll make a trail of fish bits to his cage.”
“Move the cage closer first,” Thom suggested, knowing how tough it was to catch a reluctant ferret. “About five feet and put the bites six inches apart. That’ll give him enough to eat that you’ll have the chance to get behind him and secure the door once he’s in. Wait beside the fridge, there, and be ready to grab him.”
“Wow, a lecture series,” Annika said with a smile, teasing him. “I didn’t think you had that many words in you.”
Thom felt the back of his neck heat. “When the situation demands it.”
She laughed again. “Okay. Thanks.” She took a dish out of the fridge and cast him a playful glance. “Wish me luck.”
“Luck,” Thom said, then took Cerberus to the park. He threw the ball for her and let her run, thinking all the while about Percival.
Well, not all the time. He thought more about Annika.
Then he remembered the one temptation Rhea’s ferrets hadn’t been able to resist.