Chapter 5

It took me a moment to rip my focus off the man and all of his... man-ness, because there was a lot of it. Something hit me just then, like an elbow right to the gut. That faceless figure I had been imagining as my groom for years had been big—not just tall, but broad—and he'd had thick, dark hair.

Barrett had been tall, but that was where the features he'd shared with my faceless apparition had ended. He was lean, more like a swimmer or a runner, and his hair was light brown. But this man... well, he looked like he was built to pick women up and throw them over his incredibly impressive shoulders for a living. Where Barrett's hair had been the color of toffee, this man's was the color of a full, rich espresso, and looked thick enough for a woman to really grip while he went downtown. And damn, but the dude could wear a suit.

Oh shit! A suit that Smoosh was currently clinging to for dear life with those razor claws of hers.

"Shit, shit, shit," I panted as I closed the distance between me and the stranger, who was batting at my cat like she was attacking him. Meanwhile, she was wrapped around his shoulders and face like a cat-fur scarf. "I'm so sorry," I cried once I reached them.

"Get it off!" His voice was muffled beneath Smoosh's considerable fur. It might have been short, but it was thick as hell, and it looked like she was trying to suffocate the poor guy. "Getitoff, getitoff!"

I was trying, really, but the man's flailing was making it difficult. "Smoosh, bad!" I scolded, reaching up and grabbing her around the middle. I gave her a tug, earning another one of those death screams as she dug her claws into his suit even deeper. Given my job, I'd seen my fair share of tuxes and suits, and I knew how to spot expensive fabric and high quality from a mile away, and the one this guy was wearing—that Smoosh was currently destroying—probably cost double my monthly mortgage payment.

That sound must have freaked the man out as much as it did me, because his flailing became more frantic. "What the hell is that?" I couldn't see his face, thanks to my cat, but I could hear the panic in his voice. "Is this thing about to kill me? It's trying to kill me, isn't it?"

I tugged again, but the dude was so tall, it was difficult to get a good hold on her. "Just be still. And maybe crouch down for me. That's it. A little lower," I guided when he bent his knees so we were face to face—or face to cat fluff.

I wrapped an arm around her middle and really pulled. "Ah, fucking fuck! It's clawing the shit out of me! Get it off, goddamn it!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Just hold on. I've got her." Holding Smoosh by the middle with one arm, I used my hand to pry her claws out of the man's wide shoulders. "Almost got her... there!" I let out a breath of relief once I managed to extract Smoosh's claws from the expensive material and curled her up to my chest.

Just then, Tarryn came running up, the cat carrier swinging wildly from the handle she was gripping. "I got this!" she exclaimed proudly, hoisting the plastic bin that had caused all the problems to begin with. "Holy crap! That was insane! Your cat's totally nuts, babe."

From the sounds she was making, I knew Smoosh was gearing up for another meltdown, and I didn't want to risk her getting free again. "Hurry up. Open the door!"

She flung it open, and I shoved the feline in, despite her wailing, slamming the door closed and latching it on a relieved breath. "Thank God that's over," I started as I turned back to the man, able to see his face for the first time. "I'm so so—" The apology died on my tongue, because holy chiseled perfection, Batman! This dude didn't just have a body of sin packed into an expensive suit. He was freaking gorgeous.

His features were sharp and masculine, from his high, cut cheekbones to the straight ridge of his nose to a jaw that looked like it had been carved from marble. But his eyes hit me dead center in the chest and stole all the air right out of my lungs. I'd never seen eyes like his before. They weren't blue or brown, but an insane combination of both, somehow. The color around the pupil was a gorgeous blue that reminded me of the clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean ocean, but the iris was rimmed with a band of burnt umber. His eyes reminded me of oxidized copper, trailing from dark to light, and were so unique, that even the rage in them just then didn't detract from their beauty.

I shook myself out of my stupor and cleared my throat before trying again. "I'm really sorry about my cat messing up your suit, but thank you so much for stopping. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to her."

Unfortunately, when he opened his mouth and spoke, all that awe-inspiring beauty was clubbed to death like a caveman going to town on a woolly mammoth.

"I'll tell you what would happen. The world would be a better place for it. That feral creature needs to be put down," he declared, lips curled back from his teeth as he brushed fruitlessly at the front of his clothes—like brushing the cat hair off would undo the damage her claws or, what looked like an entire cup of coffee, had already done. "Do you have any clue how much this suit cost?"

"Uh..." I'd forgotten all about Tarryn standing there until that moment. She cleared her throat uncomfortably and reached to take the carrier from my hand. "I'll just go put this little hellion in your car."

I offered her a grateful smile over my shoulder before turning back to the six-foot-three wall of muscle and pissed-off energy standing in the middle of the road with me.

I curled my lips between my teeth to keep my snippy retort at bay. "I don't suppose offering to pay for dry cleaning would make the situation any better?"

His nostrils flared on an exhale, reminding me a lot of an angry bull. An angry bull that just so happened to have the prettiest eyes I'd ever seen. "You really think dry cleaning is going to be able to fix this?" He waved his hands down his front.

"In my defense—or, well, my cat's defense—we didn't do the coffee."

I could have sworn I heard a low growl from deep in his chest. "I spilled the coffee all over myself when I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting that menace to society over there!"

I slammed my hands on my hips indignantly. "Hey! Don't call her that. It was an honest accident. She was just scared about going to the vet and tried to make a break for it."

His eyelids narrowed, and a voice in the back of my head started chanting, warning. Warning. Something told me this wasn't the kind of dude you wanted to get into a shouting match with, but I'd be damned if I let him insult my cat. I was the only one who got to do that.

"Or maybe it just realized it was living with a bad pet owner and realized it would be better off on its own."

Oh no he didn't. I sucked in a huge gasp of affront. "Excuse you? I'll have you know, I'm a great pet owner."

He crossed his arms over his chest, and even through all the layers, there was no way to miss the noticeable bulge of his biceps. The man was seriously jacked. Gah! Why were all the gorgeous ones the absolute worst?

"Is that what you call letting your psychotic cat get loose, run into traffic, nearly cause an accident, then destroy thousands of dollars of Italian wool?"

"I said I was sorry!" I exclaimed. "And if it makes you feel better, I'll even get your stupid car detailed." I crossed my own arms, mimicking his stance and narrowing my eyes in a vicious glare. It was one thing to insult Smoosh. Okay, I got it. She went a little bananas. But it was a whole other can of worms to accuse me of being a crappy cat mom. I was fantastic, thank you very much. "Besides, the only reason she climbed you the way she did was because she felt safe with you. She's not really a people person, so the fact she wouldn't let you go obviously means she liked you." Not that I could understand why. The guy was being completely unreasonable.

"Well, the feeling's definitely not mutual."

As if she heard this jackwad, Smoosh let out another one of her screams that made my molars clamp together.

"You're irresponsible, and no one should have ever allowed you to have a pet."

Was this dude for real? What an asshole! "And you're a raging jerk who probably gets off on being a storm cloud over everyone's day."

He let out another one of those gruff rumbles that hit me in my lady parts. Seriously, God. Why? "I should report you for animal neglect."

My blood was officially at a full, rolling boil. I couldn't remember a time in my life where I'd ever been so heated, especially over a stranger. But this guy had to be the rudest person I'd ever crossed paths with. "And I should report you for being a raging hemorrhoid."

He let out a scoff, and for a split second I thought maybe I saw the corner of his mouth tremble like he was trying to suppress a smile, but that couldn't have been the case. There weren't any lines around his mouth or eyes indicating he even knew how. I was willing to bet he'd never smiled a day in his miserable life.

"Jesus, that's your comeback? How old are you?"

I'd never done anything in my life to warrant a brush with the law, but I was fairly certain punching this jackass in the mouth would have been totally worth the assault charge. But I'd been saving to buy a special zoom lens and didn't want to have to blow my money on bail.

"I'm old enough to know when a miserable jerk isn't worth my time. Thanks for not squishing my cat, asshole," I said as I started moving backward toward my car. "Have a miserable day. Hope to see you again never."

I was officially rescinding my offer to have his suit dry cleaned and his car detailed. He could take care of it himself. And I really hoped that coffee burned like hell when it spilled on him.

It was the least he deserved.