Damaged Billionaire Daddy Bear - Leela Ash Page 0,16

Of course, we had the requisite gators, being that we are here in Florida. But over time, probably because my resources have allowed me to indulge to such a degree in this little ‘hobby’ of mine, more and more calls began to come in. “Hey, do you think you could take an eagle? It’s got a really bad wing” or “Hey, we raided another tiger cub farm. Do you think you could take ‘em?”

“Tiger cub farm?” she asked, intrigued in spite of herself.

Oh yeah, don’t you watch TV? Tiger cubs are where the money’s at – until they get too big, that is. We have tigers coming out our ears.”

He was certainly a charmer, she thought, though she wasn’t ready to let go of that little voice of woman’s intuition that was poking at her. Besides, the truth was, she was excited to get to work here.

“Anyhow, we have a huge range of animals here. Just about anything you would see in a zoo has been through here at one time or another. Right through here is where we have some of our smaller wild cats as well as a few of the big ones…”

The moment he crossed the threshold of the wild cats’ keep, Jessica’s heart melted into a puddle in her chest. Her mouth fell open in a soft ‘oh’ of appreciation as several tiny balls of fur began to mewl and strain against their cages, obviously eager to be petted by him.

“It’s safe to pet them, right?” she asked, hand poised over one of the cages.

He grinned, “They’re used to human touch.”

He paused, staring around at all the little cubs and tigers as though he were confused, then he chuckled.

Jessica looked up from admiring a particularly beautiful but battle-scarred gold and white little tiger with its ears clipped backwards. “Something funny?”

He looked at her, the grin still on his face, “It’s just… Feline wouldn’t let me pet her but all these cats are actually clamoring for me to pet them. It’s kinda funny when you think about it.”

“Feline?” Jessica asked, as she reached through a relatively small enclosure in a corner to tickle a white and black streaked cub who seemed to have sidled up to the bars just for the occasion.

“Carla’s cat,” Theodore supplied nonchalantly as he strode off to grab what she assumed were the equivalent of cat treats. Big cat treats, she thought. “She spoils that cat rotten,” he added, but he sounded very proud of the fact.

Carla? Jessica wondered, her hand stilling on the baby tiger’s stomach. Who was Carla? Was she the woman in his life? He had definitely sounded like a man talking about someone he loved very much just now. Bile rose in her throat, and she fought it down with grim effort. Of course, there was a woman in his life. He was a billionaire, he was devastatingly handsome, and he was young and virile; it was a no-brainer. He probably had about a dozen women in his life. She jerked her hand away from the cub and climbed to her feet, suddenly feeling suffocated and angry for no discernible reason.

Why did it matter that he wasn’t single as she had originally thought? She didn’t even like him as a person, regardless if she were attracted to him, so why the hell was she so angry?

The answer to that question was guaranteed to be uncomfortable, so Jessica shoved it out of her mind and focused on watching him doling out treats to the animals.

Chapter 7

Jessica stood on what was her new porch as the kids came running around the corner, joined by a little girl she thought she might have seen around. Her kids and she had made cookies that morning and she had just laid them out to cool on the counter and stepped outside to enjoy the breeze.

“Who’s your cute little friend?” Jessica asked with a wide grin as all three kids chased the ball they had been playing with onto the porch. “And where are her folks?”

Arizona and Kal were grinning from ear to ear, both speaking over each other as they rushed to introduce the smiling girl dressed like a rock star in hip black clothes with trendy slashes that formed ribbons all over the clothes. She looked like a cute little escapee from the fashion madhouse.

“Hi, Ms. Harris. I’ve heard all about you,” Carla said with a friendly laugh as she ran all the way across the room and flung her arms around Jessica’s