Tempting Faith by Susan Mallery

Author:Susan Mallery [Mallery, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781460380277
Google: mvFPSQAACAAJ
Amazon: B00OOM1KWM
Barnesnoble: B00OOM1KWM
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2015-02-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Faith filled Cort’s coffee cup. “You want to talk about why you didn’t sleep much last night?”

Cort took a sip. “Is it that obvious?”

Only to me, she wanted to say, but didn’t. “The dark circles under your eyes give you away.”

“I had a lot on my mind.”

It was past noon. The day after a fund-raiser was usually slow. Beth and Rob had arrived a half hour before to clean cages. Cort had already been out patrolling the compound when she’d gotten up shortly after eight.

Sparky came into the kitchen of her apartment, dragging his blanket behind him. He walked over to Cort and dropped it at his feet.

“I think he wants to play,” Faith said as Sparky stared hopefully.

“Beast,” Cort said, then jerked his head toward the door. “Come on, Faith. Let’s make it two against one.”

She followed him outside. The bright sunshine promised a warm afternoon. After all the planning and hard work, it felt good to be out from under the party. She took hold of the blanket at the middle. Cort stepped up behind her and held on. Sparky grabbed the dangling end. He shook his head playfully and almost ripped the cloth from her fingers.

“You got it?” she asked, not turning away from the leopard.

“I’m ready,” Cort said.

She could hear the smile in his voice and feel him so close behind her. The nearness made her insides feel funny, as if a jolt of electricity had passed through them.

“Go!” she called.

Sparky immediately hunched down with his rear end pointing skyward, and started to pull. She could hear his grunts as he strained against them. Faith tightened her grip, but the blanket was slowly being pulled through her hands.

“He’s strong,” Cort said from behind her, his voice tense with strain. “No you don’t, cat. You’re not going to get the best of me.”

Sparky’s yellow eyes glittered with excitement. He made low growling noises deep in his throat. The powerful muscles in his shoulders bunched with the effort. Faith held on tight. She felt herself starting to slide forward.

“He’s pulling us,” she said.

“That’s not possible. Between us, we weigh more than he does.”

“I don’t care what you think. It’s happening. Look.” Sparky backed up toward the play area in the center of the compound. Faith’s boots slipped in the dirt. From a habitat, one of the cats howled encouragement. She started to giggle.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” Cort ordered, bumping against her. “You’ll lose your strength.”

“I can’t help it. They’re rooting for him.” The laughter became louder, and she felt her fingers slip. She let go of the blanket and immediately sat down hard on her behind. Cort jumped to avoid running into her. Sparky took advantage of his momentary loss of balance, jerked the cloth free and sprang victoriously onto the telephone poles. He held the blanket between his forelegs, as if it were his prey, and gnawed on one end.

Cort placed his hands on his hips. “We almost had him.” She shaded her eyes and stared up at Cort.

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