Wilde at Heart (Wilde Security, #3)(24)

She looked as Reece. “It’s cold in here.”

“I’ll turn up the heat.”

“No, not temperature-wise. Just…unloved. It’s not a comfortable space.”

His brow wrinkled and he opened his mouth, no doubt to ask what the f*ck she was talking about. She waved a hand, cutting him off before he made a sound. “Never mind. Where am I staying?”

He motioned to the hallway off the living room. “First door on the right. This apartment has top-of-the-line security, so you’re perfectly safe here.”

Maybe physically safe, but emotionally? Oh, she was in so much danger.

Adjusting her grip on Poe’s cage, she followed the instructions and found the bedroom was just as industrial as the rest of the apartment. The bed had no headboard, and there was no other furniture in the room—not even a dresser. But there was a massive walk-in closet and a small en suite with a shower. Good. At least she wouldn’t have to share a bathroom with Reece. That would be way too…intimate.

But if she was going to live here for the next two months, she had to make some changes.

She set down Poe’s cage and took the cover off. His gray feathers were fluffed up; the drive had made him anxious. She reached through the bars and rubbed his head to calm him. Best to give him time to adjust to his new surroundings before letting him out to explore, she decided. Traveling always ruffled his feathers.

As she straightened away from the cage, she spotted a bushy orange tail under the bed and squatted down. Reece’s cat reminded her of Garfield, fat and orange with big green eyes that blinked at her when she held out a hand to him.

“What’s his name?” she asked. Reece had followed her and now loitered just outside the door.

“The Cat.”

She gazed up at him in disbelief. “You didn’t give him a name?”

He shrugged. “It’s the one he came with. Sam the Cat.”

“So he’s Sam?”

“The Cat suits him better.”

She shook her head and peeked under the bed again. “Hi, Sam. You’re going to be a good kitty and not try to eat my bird, right?”

Sam inched out from under the bed until Poe let out a squawk from his cage. The cat’s tail poofed up and he hissed, then scampered between Reece’s legs and disappeared up the hallway.

“Sam the Scaredy-Cat is more like it.” She stood. “Is he always so jumpy?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? He’s your cat.”

“He’s only mine by default,” Reece said and walked away as if they weren’t in the middle of a conversation.

Shelby stared at the empty doorway for a second, then chased him down the hall to the master bedroom. He’d done a bit more decorating—if it could be called that—in this space, adding a large dresser and some nightstands on either side of the king-size bed. But it was still all very austere. “Hold up. You can’t have a pet by default.”

“Yes, you can.” He disappeared into a closet the size of her bedroom at the house she shared with Eva. And now Cam. Which reminded her she still had to find a new place to live because once this thing with Reece was over, she didn’t want to be the proverbial third wheel, stuck in a house with the newlyweds.

She shook her head to dislodge the depressing thought and walked over to the closet. Suits lined the bars in tidy rows, all pressed and neat. So different from her closet, which spewed a rainbow onto her bedroom floor. What would Reece do if she pulled one of his ties off those anal-retentive hangers and tossed it on the floor? Her fingers tingled with the urge, and she crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself from doing it.

Reece was shirtless and halfway through pulling off the slacks he’d traveled in. “Jesus, Shelby. A little privacy?”

She leaned a shoulder against the jamb and admired the view. He looked damn fine in a suit, but it was a shame he had to cover up all that lean muscle. “It’s nothing I haven’t already seen. I’m not understanding this whole pet-by-default thing.”

He heaved out a sigh and finished pulling off his pants. She’d always been a boxers kind of girl, but the formfitting briefs he was wearing made her belly jitter.

“Jude fell in love with the cat and brought him home from Key West,” Reece said and chose a fresh dress shirt. “Except he and Libby can’t have animals in their apartment. Cam and Vaughn took the cat for a while, but turns out, the twins are both allergic. And Greer’s not home enough to take care of an animal, so that left me until Jude and Libby’s lease is up.”

“You took in a cat for your brother?”

He stepped into a pair of slacks and looped a tie over his shoulders. “Wouldn’t you, for your sister?”

“Well, yeah. But—” He looked over at her and she closed her mouth without finishing the thought. She hadn’t expected that kind of commitment from a workaholic like him. Instead, she asked, “Where are you going?”

“I need to check in at DMW, then go to the Wilde Security office.”

“You know, most people take the evening off when they’ve been traveling all day.”

“Most people don’t have a blackmailer to find.”

“Touché.” She sketched a point in the air. “Reece, one. Shelby, zero.”