Page 11 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
Mia nodded. “Stop by the café tomorrow after you leave here.”
“Okay.” Lauren appreciated Mia’s subtlety in front of the other women, but she was desperate to know what she was thinking. What had she decided?
“Oh, I want to come,” Ash said. “I’m not leaving the city until after lunch, and I totally want to see your café and play with the cats before I leave, Mia.”
“Definitely come,” Mia told her, sounding pleased at the idea. “In fact, I’d love for you all to stop by the café in the morning if you have time.”
“Dammit, I wish our flight was later so we could come,” Sarah said with a pout. “Someone take pictures of all the rescue kitties for us, okay?”
“You bet,” Ash agreed.
“All right, then. I’d better get home,” Mia said. “I had a lot of fun this weekend.”
“It was so great to meet you, Mia. Sorry we won’t get to see your café in the morning.” Quinn pulled her in for a hug, followed by Sarah.
“I’ll see you in the group chat,” Mia said as she pulled free.
“Thank God for the group chat,” Sarah agreed.
“And I’ll see the rest of you tomorrow at the café.” Mia looked around the room with a smile.
Lauren nodded, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. Her weekend reprieve was ending, and now it was time to face the music. “See you tomorrow.”
4
Lauren rounded the corner onto 9th Street, flanked by Ash and Fatima. They were all weighted down with their weekend bags, in need of caffeine, and excited to visit Mia’s café, but Lauren was probably the only one whose skin was clammy with fear. This wasn’t just a social visit for her.
Mia wanted to talk to her about…well, Lauren wasn’t exactly sure, but it definitely had to do with her crime. If Mia wanted to call Josie and set up their meeting, Lauren wouldn’t say no. That would be a huge help, and as Mia had pointed out the other night, it would be less stressful for Josie too.
Once Lauren had paid back what she’d stolen, she would turn herself in to the police. She’d been working toward this moment since she fled Brooklyn last year. She was desperate to have it behind her so she could start moving forward with her life again, but now that the time had finally come, she was terrified. That fear seemed to penetrate all the way to her bones when she imagined walking into the police station.
“Oh, I see it,” Fatima said, drawing Lauren from her thoughts.
Sure enough, Lauren spotted a familiar storefront ahead, familiar because she’d seen so many photos on Mia’s social media. The café had large windows overlooking the street, through which Lauren could see a cat perch, currently occupied by a black-and-white cat. Whiskers Cat Café was printed over the window in big white letters, with little whiskers coming out of the W.
“Aww.” Ash waved to the cat in the window.
“You’re a cutie,” Fatima told the cat, who watched her out of lazy green eyes.
“I love this place already,” Lauren said as she grasped the handle on the door, ignoring the tremor in her hand. She couldn’t think of anything better than playing with cute adoptable cats while enjoying a hot drink, especially in a café owned by one of her friends. Well, hopefully she and Mia would still be friends when all was said and done.
Inside, the café was divided into two parts. To Lauren’s right was the café counter and several tables for customers, and to the left was a glass wall, behind which were more tables in the area where the cats resided. Currently, most of the tables in the cat enclosure were occupied and an employee in a black Whiskers Cat Café T-shirt stood beside one of them, talking to a woman who was petting an orange cat.
As Lauren swept her gaze toward the café counter, she spotted Mia standing with her back to the door, talking to one of her employees. She had on a black pencil skirt and a burgundy blouse, and Lauren had to force herself not to fixate on the way that skirt hugged her curves, because this was too much like the first time Lauren had seen her, when she’d been ogling Mia’s ass on the street before she realized who she was.
As if she’d felt Lauren’s eyes on her, Mia turned, smiling as she beckoned Lauren, Fatima, and Ashleigh into the café.
“Morning,” Mia called. “Why don’t you come with me so I can show you a place to leave your bags while you’re here?”
“That sounds great.” Lauren’s shoulders ached beneath the combined weight of her backpack and duffel bag.
Mia led them down the hall to a small room with a desk and a row of cubbies containing various purses and bags. “This is my office, but it doubles as the employee break room. No one comes in here but me and my employees, so feel free to leave anything you don’t want to carry.”
Lauren put her duffel bag with Ash’s and Fatima’s bags in the corner, but kept her backpack with her.
“Now, do you want a tour first or caffeine?” Mia asked.
“Tour,” Fatima said at the same time Ashleigh said, “Caffeine.” Lauren just smiled.
