Natural Born Trouble Read Online Free Page B

others when I left, plus the mothers and a tomcat.”
    â€œYou can’t even keep track of the number of cats living with you?”
    â€œIt changes, you see. Sometimes a neighbor’s tomcat will just wander in and make himself at home, which probably explains why there are so many kittens in the first place. And people find strays and drop them off on my doorstep. I never quite know what to expect.”
    â€œYou’re a vet. Couldn’t you stop this?”
    â€œI would, but people know I love cats, so they’re always coming to me when they want one. Sometimes they’re just not adopted as quickly as I would like, but sooner or later they all wind up in good homes.” She smiled winningly again. “Like yours. This would be an excellent opportunity for the boys to prove to you that they can take responsibility for a pet, so you’d get them the puppy they want.”
    â€œAnd how many puppies do you have around the house?” he inquired suspiciously.
    â€œNone. I found they don’t get along all that well with the cats. I take those out to Uncle Cody. He’s a real sucker for a stray dog.”
    â€œAnd you think I’d be a sucker for three kittens?”
    â€œOh, no,” she said, sounding genuinely horrified. “I mean the boys did say you were lonely, but…” Shewinced. “Well, never mind. I just thought maybe you’d be willing to help me out for a bit.”
    Duke eyed his sons. Obviously they’d had a big day. They’d turned downright chatty with Dr. Dani. He would have to warn his latest housekeeper not to take them into town again until they turned twenty. Maybe then they would stay out of mischief and keep the details of his personal life to themselves.
    â€œLook, it was really nice of you to come out here, but I’m afraid I’ll have to take some time to think about this.”
    â€œBut you have to at least look at the kittens,” Zachary pleaded. “They’re really cute.”
    â€œAnd they need homes,” Joshua added. “Just like we did.”
    Duke scowled at Dani, annoyed that she’d put him in this position. The boys knew the rules. Apparently, they also knew he would never be able to resist Dani Adams. “Don’t you want to chime in with your two cents?” he asked her.
    She grinned. “No, they’re doing pretty well on their own. I hate to oversell.”
    He surveyed her thoroughly just to watch the color climb in her cheeks. “Darlin’, something tells me you could sell a man just about anything you put your mind to.”
    To his amusement, she blushed furiously at that, but held her ground.
    â€œAbout the kittens,” she persisted.
    Duke recognized that he had been outmaneuvered and outmanned. Heck, he’d been sold when Dani Adams first opened her pretty little mouth. Besides, how much trouble could a kitten get into? “Okay,okay, I’ll look at them. But we’re just taking one. No more. Is that clear?”
    The boys exchanged a look, but nodded dutifully.
    Five minutes later, Dr. Dani Adams was tearing down the driveway kicking up dust again, and he and the boys were each holding one squirming kitten. For the life of him he couldn’t remember exactly how that had happened. Something told him that a man would have to watch his step every single second around that woman or taking in stray kittens would be the least of his problems.
    Back inside, he left the boys playing with the kittens, and headed straight for the kitchen where he could hear Paolina banging around pots and pans in time to the salsa music she was playing loudly enough to wake the dead. He hadn’t decided if the woman was hard of hearing or just used the music to drown out his orders and the boys’ complaints.
    â€œPaolina?” he shouted over the din. When she didn’t respond, he reached out and turned off the huge boom box on the counter.