Read Online Beauty & the Beasts by Anne Weale, Janice Kay Johnson - Free Book Online Page B

one of the many single women out there who would be delighted to date Dr. Eric Bergstrom, who would be eager for his kisses?
    Why her?
    And how would she feel if he did give up, if he didn’t show tomorrow and didn’t call again?
    E RIC OPENED his door to find Hannah sitting just inside, gazing up at him with patient eyes. Waiting. There was something so trusting about her and yet also so vulnerable that a rush of painful feelings filled his chest. He knelt and picked her up.
    “I’m home, Hannah,” he murmured. “It’s okay. I’ll come home every day and you’ll be here every day. Forever and ever. I promise. Got it?” All the while he stroked, his fingers finding the places that brought forth a contented purr.
    “You know something, sweetie?” He set her on the floor.
    She looked up at him, the end of her gray-andcream tail swishing, as though she were asking, “What?”
    “Madeline Howard reminds me of you. It’s the eyes. She wants to trust me, too, but she doesn’t. And she’s less willing to try than you are.”
    Damned if he knew why he cared, why he was fighting his way through her occasionally thorny defenses. The easy answer was that he wanted her; she was a beautiful woman, and his body reacted to the very sight of her—a smile, the way she tipped her head, the long graceful line of her back—with a hunger that went deeper than it ought when he hardly knew her.
    But there was something else. Pity, maybe, he thought, but felt disturbed at the idea. Sympathy might be a better way to put it. She seemed lonely. Occasionally she’d start talking, as she had that day about her mother, but he sensed that she rarely opened up about herself.
    Or maybe, he conceded wryly, he just liked the idea of being her savior, as he was Hannah’s.
    Whatever the reason, he wouldn’t let a few scratches keep him from trying to get to know her. Tomorrow was as good a time as any. Besides, he looked forward to seeing her work her magic on the innocent pet owners who set out to shop with no intention of acquiring another cat.
    He arrived, lunch in hand, just about noon the next day. The setup at the store was terrific, he saw immediately as the automatic doors glided shut behind him. Just inside to the left was a glassed-in room with cages, much like those used by pet stores that sold cats and dogs. This one was for the exclusive use of shelters like Ten Lives.
    A dozen or more cats filled the cages. A banner that proclaimed the shelter’s name draped a long table outside the glassed-in room. A volunteer sat behind it, earnestly talking to a young couple who had a Sheltie on a leash. Madeline was inside the glassed-in room, her back to him, a cat slung over her shoulder. She was simultaneously petting and gesticulating, and he saw the balding man she spoke to laugh.
    Twenty feet away from the table the greyhoundrescue organization had set up for their own adoption day. Five of the large elegant dogs lay peacefully on blankets, while their handlers sat chatting with shoppers interested in knowing more about the racing greyhounds culled from the track. Eric had done some vet work for the organization; he admired the effort they made saving these dogs that would otherwise have been euthanized when they didn’t run fast enough.
    Eric nodded at the volunteer behind the table, who smiled brightly and said, “Go right in. The cats love to be visited.”
    He didn’t correct her impression that he might be the next sucker to take a cat. No, he thought, amused, he was the last sucker. He’d already taken his cat home.
    He pushed open the door, and Madeline spotted him immediately. She gave him a quick smile, flashing dimples, but her gaze returned to the balding man, her hand never stopping its stroking of the Russian blue that lounged in her arms. Lucky cat.
    Even the black jeans and the T-shirt that, below the picture of a grumpy cat, said, “I am smiling,”couldn’t hide her subtle curves and natural grace. Her hair was