Page 41 of Faking Romance

I put the items in the back seat. “Well, they had a litter box, not a great one, but it’ll do for now. Some litter, kitten food, small metal food bowls, some toys. Just the basic cat starter kit.”

“I’m not keeping it,” he groans.

I sit down and look over at him. The kitten rubs its head against his hand and purrs loudly. “I think you are.”

“I’m not,” he grumbles, while keeping the cat on his lap as he drives us back to the apartment building.

“How come you don’t park in the parking garage?” I ask as I realize he’s parking on the street again.

“Hutch always backs into my car. He’s replaced my bumper like three times. My car fares better out here in the wild.”

I giggle. “OK, valid.”

“I do park in there when it snows.”

“Uh, you want me to help you bring this up?” I ask as I point to the stuff in the back of the car.

Sighing, he looks over at me and then back down at the kitten. “I really can’t,” he states.

“Do you need to record anything tomorrow?” I ask.

“No.”

“Great. Then you can keep her tonight.”

He glares at me as we get out of the car, but he keeps the kitten snuggled up against him. I grab the items I purchased and then we walk up to his apartment. I haven’t actually been inside it yet and I stand at the door after he unlocks it, unsure if I should come in or just hand him the things.

He stops once he’s five steps into his hallway. “You coming?”

I swallow before answering because my mouth suddenly feels dry. Why am I so nervous? Shaking my head at my strange reaction, I step inside and shut the door. I follow him, glancing at the art on the walls. We enter a living room with leather furniture. His home is, well…homey.

“What’s that look for?” he asks me as he watches while I inspect his things.

“It’s…nice,” I blurt out and then feel like an idiot.

“Nice?” he replies with a raised eyebrow. “What? Did you think I lived in a cave?”

I fight my grin but fail. “I mean, you did kind of act like an ogre.”

“I did, did I?” he muses as he pets the kitten.

“Where do you want this stuff?” I ask, raising the two bags.

He purses his lips and looks around us. “Uh, the bathroom?” he suggests.

I follow him down a second hallway and into what I suppose is the guest bathroom. He shuts a door into a bedroom and then the hall door, and in the very tight quarters, we work around each other as we fill the litter box, and he pulls down some towels from a small linen closet to make a little cat bed. I put a heating pad under it. I play with the kitten for a few minutes with one of the three toys we bought. And then we watch the kitten curl up and fall fast asleep.

“Wow. That little guy was tired.”

“Girl,” I correct.

“Whatever. She’s tired. Now what?” He looks from the kitten back to me.

“We let her sleep. We can leave some of this food out, in case she’s hungry later.” I sprinkle some food into a bowl. “We’ll need to get her better kitten food, but this will work for tonight.”

“OK,” he says slowly as he quietly opens the door and we both slip back into the hallway.

“If you need me to watch her tomorrow, just bring her downstairs,” I offer as I make my way back to the front door.

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