Page 63 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

Apple picking on Wednesday had been fun, and the fresh-pressed cider delicious, but he decided he liked the pumpkin patch better. Thursday it had rained—a cool and calm, steady cadence outside the shop window as he took pictures of an entire bookshelf full of different books that weren’t shelved by genre, ISBN—henow knew what that meant—or even last name, while she worked on decorating the bathroom.

When she showed it to him, now as bright, shiny, and autumn themed as she was, he was impressed. She’d even changed the dingy light bulb.

“What do you think?”

He turned to see her expectant expression. What he wanted to do was put his arm around her waist, draw her close, and thank her in the most personal way possible. Instead he simply said, “Looks great. Thanks.”

Her response—a partial smile—was equally as simple. This was what their relationship had become. Genial. Slightly aloof, considering all the time they were together. They made a good work partnership too.

Late Friday afternoon Leo embarked on a long walk around Pecan Corner. He probably should have jogged it, but after his run on Monday he was still dealing with intermittent shin splints from too much jogging and not enough stretching. What he really yearned to do was to drive the Turismo, but Charlie still had it at Dipstick Depot. The guy knew what he was talking about when it came to cars, and he’d checked with the head of the service department at the Maserati dealership in Columbus about the warranty. Turned out the guy knew Charlie from when they were in vo ed together and vouched for his work.

Zander at Needle Drop was excited to work on the record player after finding out it was Earl’s. “Didn’t know he had this beaut in there,” he said, looking at the old player with reverence. “The man knew his antiques.” He promised to get it back to Leo as soon as he could.

But as comfortable as things had become with Via and as friendly as the town was, he still couldn’t imagine living here. Tooslow paced, for one thing. He was missing the pressure of working with clients and trying to increase their portfolios. He also missed... his house? Palm trees? His pool? Sure, all that stuff was important too.

Or was it?

He shook off the nonsensical thought. Of course it was important. He’d spent almost a decade to get where he was and own what he did. It was his life.

By the time he returned to the apartment, it was close to dark. The lights were on in Pawsitive Vibes and he remembered that tonight was Meow and Mingle. He was about to open the door to the apartment stairwell when he glanced at the front door window and saw Via dashing around the café. What was she doing there? Dora was supposed to be handling the event.

Leo entered the building and accessed Pawsitive Vibes through the stairwell entrance. When he walked in, the first thing he noticed was the fantastic smell—even more delicious than it usually was. Wonderful scents of coffee, vanilla, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, everything fall. The second thing was Via standing behind the counter, looking as if she wanted to pull out her hair from a slightly messy and very sexy updo.

She saw Leo and waved her hands at him in a shooing motion. “Whatever you need, I’m too busy.”

“I don’t need anything,” he said, stepping toward her. “Where’s Dora?”

“Sick as a dog.” Via set a tray of pumpkin cookies on the counter. “Throwing up all afternoon, she said. Charlie’s taking care of her, so he can’t help. Birdie’s on a date with her husband and she does so much for the café, there’s no way I’m asking her to come here. And Squeaks is being an absolute turd.”

“Squeaks?” The cookies looked scrumptious. Thick orangefrosting covered the pumpkin shapes, and autumn-colored sprinkles were dotted all over them.

She motioned to the wall behind him and he turned to see the picture of a gray cat lying on its side and showing its back to the audience in the Naughty Cat of the Week frame. Sir Meow had been dethroned.

Via took off her apron and stuffed it under the counter, then hurried from behind it. “She’ll be in kitty time-out for the rest of the night. I hate it for her, but she has to learn the rules around here. I don’t need her being a pest while I have to manage twenty dating guests.”

Leo only heard half of what she was saying, because the vision in front of him had captured his eyes and had his heart thumping. He was used to seeing Via in her casual autumn clothes, but tonight she was dressed to the nines. Her hair was in that incredible tousled updo, and she had on minimal silver jewelry, but if quizzed on what it was exactly, he’d fail. He was pinned in place by her figure-hugging dress.

Long-sleeved with a square neckline that hinted at her cleavage, then narrowed to her waist and flared out right above the knee. His gaze traveled down her amazing legs clad in sheer stockings to her black, high-heeled shoes with silver straps at the ankle. His knees nearly buckled at the vision in front of him.

She held out her arms. “This is Dora’s. Is it too tight?”

He tried to speak but his voice was stuck. Clearing his throat, he managed two words. “You look...” Hot. Sexy. Breathtaking. He’d need a thesaurus to fully describe Octavia Dalton.

“I look what?”

“Fine.” If he said anything more, he would end up swooping her up in his arms and kissing the daylights out of her right in front of Sir Meow, who was lounging on the couch, oblivious tohis owner’s stressed mood. And if he started kissing her, he knew he wouldn’t stop, and their friendly relationship would evaporate into oblivion.

“Oh.” Her face fell. “Well, that’s better than looking terrible.” She glanced up at the cat clock on the wall. “The guests will be here in twenty minutes,” she said, sounding fully panicked. Via turned him around, pushed on his shoulders, and moved him toward the exit, the heels of her shoes clicking on the floor. “You need to go.”

“Via—”

With a huge shove, she sent him through the doorway and shut the door behind him.

Leo spun around, facing the closed door. Relieved for it actually. He didn’t need to be around her anyway, not when she was in that dress.

But she never wanted to have the Meow and Mingle event in the first place, and now she was stuck hosting it. He had sympathy for Dora being sick, but it sucked that Via had to take up the slack.

There was nothing he could do about it, though. Not when she shoved him out of the café with surprising strength, especially balancing on those heels. He absently wondered if they would be eye to eye now that she was wearing them... mouth to mouth...