“Maybe next time. I needed some alone time.”
He nodded. Their relationship was still really new and she’d been through so much. Needing a few hours alone to sort her thoughts and feelings was expected. “What smells so good?”
“I wasn’t sure when you’d be here, so I went with something that improves with time. Bison stew. I baked a fresh loaf of bread, or actually the bread machine did. It’s not fancy, but it should be delicious.”
“My mouth started watering at bison.”
She smiled and motioned toward the small square table which was already set for two. “I have wine, beer, lemonade or water.”
“I’d love a beer.” He crossed to the table and sat. He could barely remember the last time a woman cooked for him. In fact it was hard to remember the last time he’d had a home-cooked meal. Unless he counted Dorothy’s leftover chicken. “Was your day more productive than mine?”
She approached the table, a wineglass in one hand and an open beer bottle in the other. “Mine was largely routine, but it felt nice to be back to normal.” She handed him the beer and set down the wine by her plate. “Are you ready to eat or do you need a few minutes to unwind?”
“There’s nothing to unwind from. We chased our tails all day.”
Her smile was warm and engaging. “You have tail feathers, not a tail.”
“Details.” Her cheer was contagious and he started to relax. “Would you like me to grab something?”
“Not until we’ve finished dinner.”
He chuckled.
She brought a cutting board with a loaf of crusty bread to the table first then a small Crock-Pot filled with fragrant stew. While she sliced several pieces of bread, he ladled stew into the bowls. “This smells amazing. I can’t believe you had time to make this today.”
Guilt reshaped her smile. “I made it from scratch, just not today. Today I took it from the freezer to the Crock-Pot and let it simmer while I soaked in the tub.”
“My kind of cook.”
Even reheated, the stew was delicious and Ian felt remarkably comfortable with Devon. Their conversation was effortless, they knew the same people and shared many of the same interests. And their attraction was undeniable. The slightest brush of her fingertips sent his pulse racing and he could stare into her eyes for hours.
“So how did you spend your day?” He paused for a swig of beer as she answered.
“Catching up, mostly. We ran a funding drive right before I was kidnapped, so the sponsors needed to be processed.”
“People can’t donate money online?”
“No, they can and many do. This was different. We asked people to ‘adopt’ a specific animal for a year. Obviously, the cats stay here, but the sponsors are admitted free so they can check on their adopted feline. We also send pictures and progress reports, that sort of thing.”
“Very clever. Was it your idea?”
“Initially, but Hailey helped me work out the details.”
He nodded as he enjoyed a healthy mouthful of stew.
“Alex Garran finally called me back.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin, her expression suddenly distant.
“Have they figured out what was in the injections?” He dreaded the answer, hated the possibility that she might be in for more pain. But she obviously needed to talk or she wouldn’t have told him about the call.
She set down her fork as her gaze returned to his face. “I thought they’d triggered Therian heat, but apparently females don’t actually go into heat until after they’ve been defined.”
He paused as his mind filled with examples that proved the conclusion wrong. “But I’ve witnessed many undefined females struggling with the effects of Therian heat. Carissa was in heat when Quinn found her and she had yet to be defined.”
“The symptoms are basically the same for defined and undefined females. However, what’s going on behind the scenes is completely different. A defined female attracts the strongest, most genetically compatible male and her body creates an environment that maximizes the chances of conception.”
“And an undefined female?”
“An undefined female attracts and then tests males until she finds one aggressive and powerful enough to be a permanent part of her. With me, and others like me, it has nothing to do with procreation.”
“That’s why undefined females never conceive,” he mused.
“Alex called it the acquisition cycle.” She took a deep breath and set her napkin on the table. “The last injection triggered my acquisition cycle and only the counteragent will allow me to lock in my definition.”