Page 41 of Keystrokes and Kittens

“How about you take that and I scrounge something for dinner? Or we can order pizza?”

I sat up at that.

He turned his alarm off.

“Pizza?” I grinned. “I love pizza, but I hardly ever have it.”

He cocked his head.

I shrugged. “It’s expensive, you know?”

His eyes softened. “That’s fair. I’ll admit I don’t think about things like that. If I’m about to pull an all-nighter, then I’ll order a pie. Okay, so what do you want on your pizza.”

“Uh, well—”Am I supposed to be honest? If he’s paying…“I’m pretty easygoing.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“No green pepper, pineapple, anchovy, or mushrooms. Oh, and preferably no green olives.”

He burst out laughing.

I pouted.

He pressed a kiss to my lips. “I can work with that. I’ll literally put anything on my pizza. I mean anything. Even anchovies. Now, how about onions?”

After consideration, I said, “Sure. But what about kissing? I mean not that we plan—” Heat raced to my cheeks. “Never mind.”

Another chuckle escaped him. “You’re so adorable. I can hope we do more kissing and cuddling. How about pepperoni, bacon, and black olives?”

I nodded.

“Anything else?”

I shook my head.

Peaches yowled.

Soren laughed right along with me.

He placed the order for the pizza, then fed Jack while I took care of Peaches. My heart still ached from losing Carlos, but I’d come to accept that I’d done the right thing. He might’ve been suffering, and he wasn’t going to make it. I gave him a quiet death in Dr. Malcom’s hands. What more could I ask for?

“They said thirty minutes.” Soren checked his watch. “Pretty soon. What would you like to drink? I do have a few flavors ofsoda. To keep around for days when I just can’t drink another glass of water.”

I laughed. “I’ve cut back on soda, but would love one tonight. Do you have root beer?”

“Absolutely.” He put Jack back in the crate as I finished up with Peaches. “You want to sit in front of the television? We’ve got a few shows we can pick from.”

“I’d like that. And maybe we select something with a bunch of episodes or seasons?” I gestured to the kittens. “I’ll be here for a bit of time yet.”

Soren grinned. “I know. And I’m looking forward to it.”

In the end, we settled down with our pizza, root beers, and a British crime drama with multiple episodes spread over multiple seasons.

Within twenty minutes, our plates were abandoned on the side table, and I was curled into Soren’s side.

This level of intimacy didn’t cause me panic. I didn’t feel like I should be doing more. We were just watching television, and he was feathering his hand through my curly hair. I had my hand resting on his thigh. With a sense of self-preservation, I wasnotchecking to see if he was aroused. He’d said that didn’t matter—and I had to believe him.

By the end of the second episode, I was nodding off.