Chase walked out of the garage, closed the door and stopped.
Nichole surveyed him from his uncovered head to his boots and back up. No bruises. No scrapes. Only wind-chafed cheeks. He was fine. She’d been worried. Scared. So very frightened for Wesley. For him. Him.
But she was never supposed to worry. To care. Not this much. Not this deep. Not this fast. Nichole bent, packed snow between her hands and launched her attack. “How dare you.” How dare you make me feel again.
Better yet, how dare she. How dare she let herself get so attached. She knew better. Hadn’t she learned the first time? Frustration rolled through her, at herself. At him. At the situation. She released another snowball. It smashed against the garage door behind Chase. He never flinched. Never moved.
“You promised.” A business arrangement only. The next volley she aimed at his head, hit his good shoulder and she formed another snowball. And she’d promised herself. Not to ever let herself fall again. Not to open her heart again.
He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket and waited.
“I was so worried.” Frantic. Frightened. For Wesley. For Chase. She lived inside her comfort zone for a reason. It had never let her down. But Chase made her feel a different kind of alive. Even now inside her anger and frustration, a warm affection stirred, steady and growing stronger. But it was only an illusion. How could something that started on a lie, began as a sham, become real? Become mutual?
Her snowball splattered against his left arm. Nichole widened her stance, firming her balance to improve her aim, but the fight inside her dwindled. Still, she drew her arm back and paused midstrike. Waited. She tilted her head and frowned. “Your jacket is wiggling.”
Chase unzipped his jacket and revealed one of the tiniest kittens Nichole had ever seen. He cradled the gray fuzz ball in his arm and looked at her. “We couldn’t leave them out there.”
“You rescued a kitten?” Nichole sputtered and wanted to shout foul.
Chase unzipped his jacket farther, revealing a second silver-and-black-striped head. His smile grew. “Two, actually. We tried to find the mother, but it was getting too dark.”
“You also looked for the mother?” Nichole brushed the snow off her hands and touched her forehead. Chase held two baby kittens. Kittens that he and her son had rescued on the mountain. She’d feared the worst. And they’d been saving two little lives. The last of her anger melted like the snow beneath the full sun.
“Wesley made a good point about there possibly being more kittens and a worried mother cat.” Chase held the gray kitten in his palm, gentle and attentive. “Wesley was worried about the mom being even more stressed once her kittens came home with us.”
“This was Wesley’s idea?” Her son never wanted anyone left behind. He would’ve insisted on searching for the mom and any more siblings. Chase had listened and helped rather than dismissing Wesley’s concerns.
“Wesley heard the kittens crying first.” Chase held up the gray fuzz ball until the kitten sniffed his nose. “Then I saw this one peeking out from under a tree stump. Its blue eyes are larger than its face.”
“And you decided to save them?” Nichole set her hands on her hips. This was the same man who’d told her earlier how he liked being on his own and worrying only about himself. Yet he had stopped to save kittens and had extended the search for their mom. She’d called him a good guy earlier and he’d proven it again. Good guy or not, she had to stop noticing. The sigh inside her heart slipped out before she could snatch it. “Where are your gloves?”
“I tied them to the tree so we could go back in the morning and look again for their mom.” Chase tucked the kitten inside his jacket.
“And your scarf?” She’d seen him leave with the bulky fleece scarf wrapped around his neck. She reached up, searching for her scarf to wrap around him. She’d raced outside without a scarf or jacket on.
He touched his bare neck. “I gave it to Wesley.”
Nichole pursed her lips and searched for the man Chase tried to convince her he was. The selfish, only in it for himself, confirmed bachelor. The one she needed him to be to keep her heart from getting any more involved.
“We made a plan to capture them.” His soft laughter spilled from his small smile. “Okay, we made three different traps and even more plans. It wasn’t as easy as simply picking them up. Even half-frozen, they’re quite quick and crafty.”
Footsteps thumped across the deck and down the stairs. Nichole turned to watch Ben and Wesley scramble off the last step and hurry toward them.
Wesley looped around Nichole and beelined for Chase. “Can we bring the kittens inside now?”
“Brooke is putting together a spot for them. She’s using a laundry basket and towels.” Ben rushed to Chase’s other side. “She told me to tell you guys that Nichole and her need to go to the store for supplies.”
Nichole tugged her sweater up under her chin. “We should all go inside. I need a better coat.” And Chase needed to release the kittens, thaw himself out and return to the man she’d made her original agreement with. The unavailable bachelor, not the cat rescuer who protected her son from the cold and made her feel... He made her feel too much. That had to stop. Otherwise she feared the fall would shatter more than her heart.
Chase glanced at the boys. “Looks like you two are on kitten duty while the men make dinner and the women head to the pet store.”
“Can we keep them in our room?” Wesley asked.
“Let’s get them inside first.” Nichole headed up the stairs, away from Chase and her urge to cuddle closer to him and the kittens. Once indoors, she grabbed her jacket and
