Page 42 of Something Cheeky

Chapter 19

“Are you okay, my baby?” Zoe rushed over to her cat.

The cat mewed pitifully. She scooped him up and hugged her fur baby.

“Derek, your shoes!” Zoe gasped. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s Mr. B’s fault. He hates me.” Derek shot the cat an ugly look.

“How can you say that! He rarely throws up. I feed him a very specific diet.” She rubbed the cat’s head and cooed softly to soothe him.

“What am I going to do about my shoes?”

“I’ll clean them up. Here, hold him.” She thrust the tabby into Derek’s arms.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Derek held Mr. Bobbins awkwardly at arm’s length. The cat mewed sadly as his back feet swung down.

“You can’t hold him like that. Support his bottom.” Zoe demonstrated with her arms.

Derek begrudgingly complied. As grumpy as Derek was, he and Mr. Bobbins looked cute together.

“He could’ve tossed his cookies anywhere, but he chose the inside of my shoes?” Derek groaned.

“He didn’t do it on purpose. Right, Mr. Bobbins?” She kissed his furry nose.

Zoe dumped the contents of Derek’s shoe into the trash and took it to her kitchen sink to grab some antibacterial wipes.

“What were you about to tell me?” she asked over her shoulder as she scrubbed the inside of his shoe.

“Oh, um, it can wait.”

“You sure?”

“It’s weird to say this after what your cat just did, but I’m starving. I wonder where our food is?”

“It was supposed to arrive half an hour ago. I’ll call the restaurant after I finish cleaning your shoes.”

Mr. Bobbins wiggled out of Derek’s arm and curled up in Zoe’s love seat. He seemed unfazed by his previous incident. Maybe it was just a fluke that he threw up. She’d call the vet in the morning to make sure.

“I don’t think I can wait that long.” His stomach grumbled loudly in agreement.

“You know I’m a terrible cook,” she reminded him.

“I can’t believe your parents own a restaurant and you can’t cook.”

“I didn’t have to.” Zoe shrugged. “And Má always sent me home with leftovers.”

“Does your fridge happen to have any of those said leftovers?”

“Nope. I ate the last bit of th?t kho tr?ng yesterday.”

Derek groaned. “That sounds amazing right now.”

“I think I have some old rice in the fridge.”

“Mind if I dig around your kitchen and whip up something?”

“Are we playingIron ChefSurprise?”

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