Until We Touch (Fool's Gold #15)(44)

“She wouldn’t do that,” Percy said confidently.

“Uh-huh.” Jack was less sure. After all, she’d left fighting dogs in his living room before.

They approached the house where they lived. From the outside, everything looked normal, but he knew better than to take any chances.

When they were on the front porch, he carefully inserted his key into the lock and turned it. The door opened slowly. He flipped on a couple of lights.

Immediately a loud squawking and hooting filled the house. The screeches were loud and angry. And whatever was making the sounds wasn’t tiny.

Percy’s eyes widened. “What do you think that is?”

“I have no idea.”

They both stood on the porch. Jack motioned for Percy to go first.

“It’s your house, man,” the teen said. “The honor is yours.”

Jack grimaced. “Maybe, but you’re younger and faster. I say it’s time for you to earn your keep.”

“Chicken,” Percy said.

“If it’s a chicken, then you can mock me all you want.”

Percy passed over his computer bag and then slowly, carefully, walked through the foyer and into the living room beyond.

“Oh, man, talk about a beauty.”

The words were hard to understand because the mystery bird was throwing yet another hissy fit. Jack swore under his breath, then followed the kid into the living room where he found a cage that nearly filled the entire room.

All his furniture had been pushed back to the edges of the room. Protective tarps had been placed on the floor. The cage itself had to be at least ten feet high and inside of it was a massive owl.

“Oh, good, he’s here.”

Both Jack and Percy jumped. Larissa came in from behind them.

“What?” she demanded. “Are you frightened of her? Or him?” She tilted her head. “Now that you mention it, no one told me the gender. Maybe they didn’t want to be rude and look.” She smiled. “Either way, our owl is beautiful.”

“It’s a woman,” Jack said flatly. “Look at how she’s glaring at us.”

Larissa laughed. “You might be right. Anyway, this is our guest. She’s a Northern Spotted Owl. There are only five or six hundred breeding pairs in California, so keeping her safe is important. She’s nocturnal, she eats small rodents and she prefers old-growth forests. She’ll be returned there in a few days, when she’s fully healed.”

The owl in question continued to glare, then she turned her head away.

“Her eyes are dark, unlike most owl species. They usually have light-colored eyes.”

“Someone’s been on Wikipedia,” Jack murmured, wondering how loud the damn owl was going to be.

“The wilderness group sent me material. You can see why I couldn’t take her home. I don’t have room for the cage. Plus, Dyna would have been at risk.”

Jack glanced at the owl and figured it could eat a whole cat with no problem. He returned his attention to Larissa. She beamed at the bird as if it were the most perfect creature ever invented. And to her, it probably was. Until the next rescue.

Her blue eyes were fixated on the bird. Her mouth was parted a tiny bit and color lightly stained her smooth skin.

She was lovely, he thought in surprise. Sure, she always looked good. Casual and easygoing. But there was something different about how she looked today, although he couldn’t figure out what the change was.

“That owl is incredible,” Percy said, moving a little closer. “Angry, but who wants to live in a cage?”

“She won’t for long,” Larissa assured him.

Jack stared at the floor of the cage. “What’s that stuff?” he asked. There were odd-shaped things.

“A bird’s gotta do what a bird’s gotta do,” Percy told him.

“I don’t think so,” Jack said as he inched closer to the cage.

“That’s from her dinner,” Larissa said cheerfully. “She eats her food whole then throws up the fur and bone.”

“Of course she does,” Jack said grimly while Percy started to laugh.

* * *

JACK TURNED IN close to eleven. But the second he clicked on the bedside light, he knew it was going to be a very long night.

Despite being an entire floor below, with at least one closed door between them, Jack could still clearly hear the owl protesting her confinement. Hoots and screeches were followed by just enough silence for him to get sleepy. Then she started up again.

He turned onto his side and punched his pillow. Not that it would help. Because the owl was only part of the problem. Larissa was the other part. Kissing her had been a mistake. Not because he hadn’t liked it, but because it had changed things between them. Inevitable, he supposed. Now he had to figure out a way to put the genie back in the bottle.

With any other woman, he could simply end things. But there wasn’t anything to end. Not technically. Besides, Larissa was an integral part of his life. Like air—he needed her to survive. She was the best part of him. Without her, he was nothing but an empty shell. Why would he want that when he could be—at least in her eyes—a perfect hero?

CHAPTER TEN

“DOESN’T JACK CARE what you put on his calendar?” Percy asked. “You could write in anything. Like send him to Omaha for no reason.”