“You feed on it. It’s more tiring than you’d think out there. So it comes at you and it’s so full of love and excitement and it’s about you. To me it’s like taking a long drink of cold water after you’ve been outside in the heat awhile. I just soak it in.”

After a while, though, it wore you down. The weight of all that attention, the pressure to be perfect got in the way, tripped you up.

It seemed like it took forever for the garage door to open but at long last, he was standing, hauling her to his body as he helped her from the car.

This was a crush mouths together in a hot tangle of tongues, teeth and lips embrace. He moaned and she sucked the sound in. Through the cotton of his shirt, Tuesday’s nails dug into the muscles of his shoulders.

He broke away, panting. “Now. Inside.” Grabbing her hand, he led her into the house. Loopy was at the door and lost her mind when she saw Ezra had company. Then the cats streaked in and Ezra had to half fend them off and half pet them so they’d let him get her to his bed.

Tuesday started laughing and then he tripped over a cat, or maybe the dog and they ended up on the floor in the hall just a few steps from his bedroom.

“Shit. Are you all right?” He rolled to the side and Loopy started licking her face. “Sorry. Loop, leave her be.”

“I’m fine. You have a dog and two year-old cats. You, Ezra Hurley, are a big old softhearted animal lover.”

“Right now I’m thinking about loving them on a taco shell.” He stood, helping her to her feet. “Don’t worry, my bedroom has doors to hold back the furry horde.”

The night before she’d had on a halter dress that had shown off her shoulders and back. Tonight she wore a low-cut, sleeveless blouse that laced up over her breasts. She added a necklace of thick chunks of orange-and-blue glass, highlighting the beauty of the line of her neck.

Snug black pants and bright blue suede loafers made the outfit. She looked like she’d stepped out of a magazine. Natalie spoke of that from time to time—the way Tuesday had such a great sense of fashion.

Right then, though, he wanted her out of all that.

He hit the light switch in his room and noted the cat-shaped spots on the bedspread.

“Are you allergic to cats or dogs?”

“Nope.” She bent and picked up Goldfish, who thought this was rather delightful. He snuggled her and she scratched behind his ear.

“Don’t be nice or we’ll never get rid of them.” He pulled away the blanket he tossed over his bed to protect it from animal hair. “I promise I changed the bedding this morning. I have to use this because they do what they want if I’m not here. Well, even when I am.”

“Don’t pretend with me. They were just having a lovely nap on your bed and they ran to you when you walked in. These are animals spoiled and loved by their human. I won’t tell if you keep me sexually satisfied.”

He laughed. “Why are all the women in my life so incorrigible?”

“Do you have a harem then?”

“Not if you don’t count Peanut, who is Goldfish’s sister. She’s the only female in my bed.”

He hadn’t needed to add that. It just came out of his mouth. At first she was startled and then it was impossible to mistake the pleasure on her face.

“I’ll be right back. I’m just going to make sure they’ve got food and water. They’ll happily leave us alone for that.” They’d pig out and probably sleep in the kitchen or on the couch they also weren’t allowed on.

* * *

HE LEFT AND she kissed the top of the cat’s head. “He’s a great big squishy softhearted dude, isn’t he?” she whispered.

At the sound of movement in the kitchen, the cat lost interest in Tuesday and jumped free to stampede out there with the dog and other cat.

She walked over to his windows to take in the view. His house, what she’d seen of it anyway, was beautiful in that rough-hewn, rugged style. Like him, she supposed.

Beyond his bedroom windows were the pear orchards lit by stars still shining bright in a nearly cloudless night.

“Now,” he said, startling her as he returned to the room, “we were about to start something.”

He kicked the doors closed and just after that, one-handed, he ripped his shirt off, exposing all that tawny skin and hard muscle.

“I said, goddamn.” She blew out a breath as she pushed away from the windows to head his way. She’d taken her shoes off and left them in a corner of his room along with her bag so she noticed the softness of the rugs covering the cool hardwood floors.

“I didn’t even have to ask you to get within touching distance.” One corner of his mouth tipped up. “It’s like you heard me begging you in my head. Where I really was begging you.”

She leaned in to kiss his shoulder as she reached him, but danced away when he tried to grab her. “Nope. I need to look at you. Last night was too fast. I didn’t get to inspect closely.”

He rolled his head on his shoulders and stretched, relaxing a little. Still, the energy came off him in waves that seemed to throb.

“You’re holding back just for me, aren’t you?” She whispered it as she kissed the back of his neck.

“Man who can’t admit it’s hot to be admired by a gorgeous, sexy woman is a liar or deluded.”

She ran her palms over the muscles of his shoulders and down his back. “Or gay.”

He snorted. “Concept is the same. Who doesn’t want to preen around a little for someone they’re interested in?”