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Her heart ached at the reminder that while she’d had Colin, still had her parents, he’d had no family, no roots, since he was seventeen. And now he’d lost the one person who’d become family to him.

Pearl hurried back and pressed the card for the shelter into her hand. “Such a lovely thing to do. You’re just about to make some poor animal’s Christmas.”

“We’re not after a pet,” Anna corrected. “We’re going to visit because Colin wrote it in the advent.”

Pearl made a pffing noise. “Honey, do you really think you’ll be able to walk into that place and not walk out with a cute furry thing who hasn’t got a home?” She winked. “Or maybe you’d prefer to give a home to the cute human thing you’re currently living with?”

Beside her, Luke muttered Jesus Christ under his breath.

Anna stifled her laugh. “Umm, well . . . thanks for this.” She waved the card. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

As they walked back to the condo, Anna glanced sideways at him. “I meant it, you know. You can stay as long as you want. The place is big enough we won’t even need to see each other if we don’t want to,” she added, figuring he was probably terrified she’d continue to make him spend time with her.

Luke put up his hand. “I’m not a charity case,” he said quietly. “So thank you, but unlike the animals at the shelter, I’m quite capable of finding myself somewhere to live.”

What if I want you to stay. She swallowed the words, terrified by how much she wanted to say them. Even more terrified by how much she meant them.

* * *

Luke liked animals. He enjoyed watching them in the wild. There were few sights more awe-inspiring than a humpback whale breaching, a pair of bull moose clashing antlers, fighting for dominance. A grizzly bear going fishing.

Zoos, he wasn’t a fan of. Pets, he couldn’t see the point.

Anna however . . . he thought she’d probably scoop the entire animal shelter into her arms and take them home with her if she could.

“We’re not after a pet,” he reminded her. “They were your exact words to Pearl only a few hours ago.”

“I know. But did you see the little pug? She only had three legs. Who abandons a dog because it lost its leg?”

“Someone with a far smaller heart than you,” he murmured, watching as she bent to talk to a ginger cat. “Have you ever owned a pet before?”

“We had cats when I was a child. Maisy and Daisy.” She looked longingly at the tabby. “But when I moved to the studio, I figured it was too small to keep one.”

“But now you’re going to be living in a large three bed condo.”

She nibbled at her lower lip. “Umm.”

“And Pearl’s Nyx seems pretty happy with life. For a cat.”

Anna’s gaze flew to his. “I thought you were supposed to be putting me off?”

He laughed. “Nope. It’s your condo, your life, your choice. I’m just saying out loud what you’re thinking.”

She wasn’t hard to read. Or maybe he was just more in tune with her than he’d been with any other woman he’d met.

“Remind me never to play you at poker,” she grumbled, standing.

They walked down the rest of the corridor and as Anna peeped though each of the glass windows, her expression veered between pleasure and sorrow, delight and sadness.

Suddenly she came to a halt, her hand coming to rest on the window, her exhale one long sigh of anguish. “What an absolute cutie pie.”

All Luke could see was a ratty-eared cat. “He’s got one eye.”

“I know, but see the look in that one eye? The longing.”

He didn’t think a cat had that emotional depth. “If you say so.”

“He’s called Jack,” she read off the information. “That must be after Jack Sparrow,” she giggled. “That’s cool. Oh and it says he’s a house cat. His owner died and Jack’s been here for a year, waiting for someone to love him.”