Courting Alley Cat Read Online Free Page B

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                  He had seen her a few times over the next three years, but he left home at eighteen to go to college and Granny had always gone to the Alexander’s house for the holidays when he was home. So, their paths had not crossed again - until now.
                  He opened a metal cage and picked up an old black Persian named Britain. Britain was blind in one eye and half blind in the other. He received fluid injections twice a day and it was only a matter of time before his kidneys shut down and fluid stopped helping him.
                  Britain’s mom traveled in her job - some kind of insurance rep - and couldn’t leave Britain at home, so Justin had taken him in. Justin had a feeling she couldn’t handle having to deal with a terminally ill pet and the traveling was a good excuse to not facing it.
                  Dr. Justin York had moved back six months ago to take over his father’s veterinarian practice. The older Dr. York was just about ready to retire, but he still spent occasional time in the office when the mood suited him. He just couldn’t handle the emergencies and otherwise long hours. Justin had always known he would come back to Hanover to take over the business. It was his duty. His responsibility. Being an only child, he’d always known it was expected of him. He’d learned early on to quash any fascination he felt toward the excitement of city life.
                  He put the needle underneath Britain’s skin and started the fluid flow. He could feel the little bubble already forming under the cat’s skin. When the cat looked up at him with its large golden eyes, his heart ached. The only problem with being a vet was dealing with the short life-span of pets. He loved everything else about it. Especially since he had a boy come in twice a day to clean the cages.
                  He removed the needle from Britain’s skin and instead of setting him back in his cage, took him with him into the house. He couldn’t bear the thought of the little guy spending his last days alone, sitting in a cage.
                  He stroked Britain’s head and let his thoughts wander back to Alley. It suddenly occurred to him that he been waiting for her.
                  Maybe it was time he did something more than wait.

Chapte r 3
                  Four hours and a long shower later, Alley stood at the kitchen window drinking her second glass of water. Geez, it was hot outside. She had finished mowing the lawn and was wondering who she could pay to do it for her next time.
                  After staring at the neighbor’s house for ten minutes, she mentally kicked herself. What was wrong with her? Maybe she was having some kind of hormonal surge. She was probably just lonely. Justin York was the only human she had seen in two days. It just wasn’t natural. She really needed to get out more.
                  Now that she knew what her problem was, she could pull herself away from this window and get back to her life and stop being an adolescent with a crush on the next door neighbor.
                  She had just settled down to work on her manuscript and had managed to get ink all over her hands. She hadn’t thought about Justin in all of probably five minutes when someone knocked on the back door.
                  She pushed the hair out of her face and went to see who could possibly be disturbing her. It was him!
                  Justin stood at the back door. “Hi,” he said, with a grin.
                  Frowning, she opened the door. “Hi.”
                  “What does the other guy look like?” he asked.
                  “What? What other guy?”
                  He reached out and gently ran his fingertip along her cheekbone. Alley felt her eyes closing. He held his fingers in front