So he was going to let her take the lead in this very dangerous-to-his-manhood endeavor. He wondered if she understood how close she’d come to her knee shoving his balls back up into his body.
“Are you okay?” He whispered the question.
“Something’s in here. I saw something move,” she whispered back.
“Okay, uhm, I’m going to tell you something and I want you to stay calm even when I annoy you by pointing out that what you saw was the Johnsons’ cat.”
As if the cat knew that was its cue, the tabby purred long and loud, tail swinging into view. The cat sat down right next to them and her eyes flashed again, proving his theory.
Roxie cursed and rolled off him, and he missed the slight weight of her body against his. Though he did breathe a sigh of relief that she’d managed not to use his man parts as leverage to get on her feet.
“Hey, Snuggles,” he said as the cat rubbed her face against his.
“Seriously?” Roxie groaned in the low light as she picked up the flashlight she’d dropped when she’d attempted to save him from whatever she’d thought was coming after them. “I panicked over a cat named Snuggles?”
“Yeah, it’s not an intimidating name, but you should know she’s the bane of rats around these parts.” He sat up and reached around to find his phone. He found it and flashed the beam around. Ten pairs of eyes flashed back at him. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re not used to the country. It can be intimidating at night. All the goats are accounted for.”
One of them bleated, an annoyed sound.
“Excellent. I saved a bunch of goats from a cat.” Roxie sounded equally annoyed.
He got to his feet, Snuggles rubbing herself against his leg. “The goats are used to the cat. She’s out here with them all the time. They wouldn’t be disturbed by her at all. It had to be something else.”
“You know I’m not exactly a newbie,” she said. “I’ve been here a couple of years now.”
“You’ve been in the station house ninety-nine percent of the time. You haven’t exactly been hanging out in the woods at night.” He moved to the side and found the light switch. In a second, they were in the soft glow of the barn lights. Soft because only one of them was functioning. There were supposed to be five, but it looked like they’d burned out.
He would have to come out tomorrow before his shift at Guidry’s and find an excuse to change them or Archie would get the ladder out and likely need his other hip replaced. Or he could slip that bit of information his brother-in-law’s way. Harry lived to be helpful. When Zep tried it, people tended to think he was up to something.
But that was what happened when you got a reputation as a bad boy. People never thought you could do something out of the goodness of your heart, and pretty deputies used you for sex and then tossed you aside. Story of his life.
Though he had to admit he’d earned his reputation. He couldn’t even lie to himself about that.
“I work a lot. And I’ll be honest, I’m not much of a hiker.” Roxie slipped her flashlight back onto her utility belt. He didn’t know a single other female in the world who could look so damn gorgeous in a set of khakis. Her golden-brown hair was usually in a severe bun, but wisps had escaped and framed her face. There was a brushing of freckles over her cheeks and nose that she almost never hid with makeup. “All right, Guidry. You seem to be the expert here. What do you think happened?”
“Something slipped in, scared the goats, and the cat did her job,” he said, walking around the barn, Snuggles at his heels. “Scared it away. That’s what she’s here for. That and keeping the rodent population down.”
“The cat doesn’t seem to mind you,” she pointed out, sounding disgruntled.
“They all tend to like me.”
She made a gagging sound. “Yes, all females fall at your feet.”
But then again, she hadn’t shoved him into the path of whatever she’d thought was coming their way this evening. She’d done the opposite and actually put her own body over his to save him.
It could mean she was just a really good cop.
Or it could mean something more. He was an optimist at heart, and he chose to believe that meant there was still a connection between them.
God, he had to believe it because it was the only time he’d ever felt that connection in his life, and it had to be with the toughest, most complicated woman he’d ever met. Lucky for them both, he was real simple. And hey, he’d heard opposites attracted.
“I was talking about cats,” he corrected as he inspected the west end of the barn. “And dogs. Most small animals, really. I do well with horses. I try my damnedest to stay away from Otis, though. The last thing I need is a gator to decide I’m a friend of his. But cats and dogs are excellent company. Birds, too.”