“Isn’t that what we all want?” He joked back, and his voice must have been too loud, because the cat jolted, earning him an ugly look from Edie.
“This sort of thing takes time, you know,” she murmured again, her hands gently stroking the alert ears, smoothing over striped fur. “You’re free to leave at any time.”
“I’ll stick around,” he said, modulating his voice to match her sweetness. “It’s my cat, remember?” That, and he’d told Levi he’d keep Edie occupied for at least two hours so Levi could nail Bianca or at the very least, get her out of his system. “So what’s a Savannah cat?”
“They’re a cat that’s part serval and part house cat. Yours looks like it’s probably an F2.” She touched the large ears and the stripes crossing them, then gestured at the ones on the cat’s muzzle. “The markings aren’t as crisp.”
“And what’s an F2?”
“Second generation, basically. Your cat probably has a granddaddy wildcat somewhere.”
“Huh,” he said, since it all seemed a little technical for what looked like a stripey little cat to him. “So . . . do I feed her different things? Like gazelle?”
Edie’s look was withering again, and he bit back a grin of amusement. He liked getting that rise out of her. Seeing that scorn quickly fly to her face. She was easy to tease. “You can feed the cat normal food,” she said. “Find out if Cujo here”—again with the withering look—“likes hard food or wet food. If she favors her teeth or seems picky or afraid to eat, try to get wet food into her so she doesn’t get dehydrated.”
“I’ll send my assistant out for some,” he agreed. “And litter.”
She shook her head, just a bit. “You’re not very prepared to have a new member of your home.”
Yeah, that was probably because he hadn’t been anticipating having a damn cat. Fucking Levi and his schemes, all so he could bang the blonde with the tiny mouth. “I’ll be better prepared next time,” Magnus said. “So, what made you decide to become a cat expert?”
Her long fingers stroked over an ear, and for some reason, Magnus found that small movement . . . arousing. Maybe it was how the cat responded, or the fact that she seemed to know just where to touch the cat to make it purr. Maybe it’d been too long since he’d had sex, because it was fucking sad if he was getting turned on watching Edie pet a cat. But the sight of those expert hands had him shifting in his seat and resisting the urge to adjust his crotch.
“Why do you care?” she murmured in that dulcet voice, and he had to adjust his seating again.
“Maybe I’m just passing the time with you. Trying to shoot the shit and all.”
“You don’t have to shoot anything with me.” The cat leaned into her hand, much like his dick wanted to. Christ, his dick especially wanted to when that made Edie’s mouth curl into a soft, pleased little smile. How had he not noticed that her lips were full and plump, her upper lip slightly larger than her lower one? Her mouth was perfection, what so many women injected to try and get theirs to look like. Edie didn’t seem like the type to fuss over her appearance, which meant that those pillowy lips were probably all natural . . . and would feel amazing around his dick.
And why he was suddenly thinking about his dick when she was around, he had no fucking idea, but now he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it. He shifted in his seat again, drawing up a knee to hide the fact that he was getting an erection.
At his small movement, Cujo hissed and darted back under the curtain again, and Edie shot him an irritated look.
“Sorry.”
She gave her head a little shake, as if to say Whatever, and slowly, painfully got to her feet. When she was standing again, she leaned over and gave her knee a little rub, and as she did, her collar swung low, exposing her impressive cleavage to his gaze.
Aw, damn. She had a rocking bod under all those clothes. Maybe Levi was trying to nail the wrong sister after all.
But a moment later she straightened, and fixed an imperious look on him. “All right. I have a to-do list for you to handle over the next few days.”
“What? A to-do list? Why?”
She looked surprised. “Because it’s your cat, of course.” She gestured at his room. “This isn’t going to work at all, just so you know.”
Forget his stupid dick. Now he was just getting annoyed. “What do you mean, ‘this’ isn’t going to work?” He mimicked her gesture, flinging his hand in the air.
Edie gave him another one of those quelling looks. “He’s frightened—”
“So now it’s a he?”
“I don’t know what it is until I get a chance to lift his or her tail to see—”
“I just find it a little ironic that when you get pissy, the cat’s a ‘he’ but when you’re all lovey-dovey on it, it’s a ‘she.’”
He watched her small nostrils flare with irritation and he was fascinated despite himself. “Fine, we’ll go with ‘it’ then. I want it to stay in this room for the time being. Your house is enormous—”
“Why thank you. I love it when ladies admire the size of my . . . house.”
“Would you fucking shut up for two seconds?”
He was getting under Miss Prickly’s skin, was he? Funny how entertaining that was. Magnus grinned and gestured that she continue.
“As I was saying, dickface, don’t let it out into the rest of the house. Cats need a small area to become accustomed to before you expand their territory. Keep your door shut and keep Cujo in this room. Also,” she said, and gestured at his furniture. “You need to add some places for Cujo to hide. Get rid of the storage under the bed. Put a few cat trees in here with hiding spots. Even a few deep cardboard boxes placed in strategic areas will help. Right now Cujo has no place to hide and is feeling vulnerable. You need to give it safe places to retreat to.”
“I don’t want all that shit in here. I like my room the way it is,” he told her, his irritation rising at her high-handed comments. “It’s minimalist.”
“It’s ugly,” she said bluntly. “And it’s unwelcoming.”
“I’m not trying to make you welcome,” he lashed back.
“For the cat, you fool. And get that litterbox unless you want the cat to stake out your bed as the place to go to the bathroom.” Her bitter little smile at him became wicked. “Though I’m sure your bed is used to seeing pieces of shit.”
Talking to her was like petting a scorpion. “Are you done here?”
“That’s my consultation,” she said, voice cloyingly sweet. “Also, try to spend a few hours a day with Cujo. No sudden movements. Let the cat come to you. Pet only when Cujo seems to want it. Don’t reach for the face when you do, reach around the cat’s side because some cats get nervous when you go for the face.”
“Anything else?” he asked sarcastically.
“Yes. I’d like to be paid now.”
***
A short time later, the check was handed to Bianca, who left with grumpy Edie. By that time, Magnus was grumpy as fuck, too, and his irritation was directed at his brother, Levi, who seemed to be over the moon at the moment. Levi had a blissful look on his face, and his hair was a mess, as if someone had been running her hands through it.