Page 36 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“So good,” Lauren confirmed. “And I have a new friend.” She gestured to Lola.
Mia gave her cat an exasperated look. “Traitor. Demanding that I open my door, and then she slept with you.”
“She just wanted to keep her options open.”
“Typical Lola,” Mia said. “Do you need the bathroom before I shower?”
“Actually, yes.” Now that she was awake, her bladder was complaining pretty urgently. “I’ll be quick.”
“No rush.” Mia walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.
Lauren went into the bathroom to freshen up, glad she slept in a baggy T-shirt and boxer shorts so she didn’t feel self-conscious in front of Mia. Lauren had never owned lingerie or skimpy pajamas since she’d never had her own private space to wear them.
When she came out of the bathroom, Mia was in her bedroom, which was probably for the best, since Lauren didn’t need another peek at that sports bra, not when she was desperately trying to get over this attraction.
Instead, she went into the kitchen to start some coffee and peruse her breakfast options. There was a carton of eggs in Mia’s fridge that Lauren had left there earlier in the week, and she grabbed it. Scrambled eggs had been a staple of her childhood cooking repertoire. She had a pan of fluffy eggs ready by the time Mia came out, showered and dressed for work.
“Oh my God, you cooked me breakfast?” she asked, eyes rounded.
“Just scrambled eggs,” Lauren said. “But I’ll bring home more groceries, as long as you don’t mind me stocking your fridge.”
“Stock away, but you don’t have to feed me, you know.” Mia moved to pour herself a cup of coffee, standing beside Lauren. Her perfume was stronger first thing in the morning right after she’d applied it, something fresh and vaguely citrusy.
“Maybe I like feeding you,” Lauren said, and shit, that sounded flirtier than she’d intended, especially while she was standing in Mia’s kitchen wearing pajamas. She did like feeding Mia, though. It made her feel useful. She loved that Mia—successful, competent Mia—was so helpless when it came to caring for herself.
“I certainly enjoy your cooking, but I didn’t offer my couch so you could be my housekeeper.” Mia touched her shoulder, a smile curving her lips.
“That’s good, because I’d probably be a lousy housekeeper,” Lauren joked, scooping the eggs onto two plates. In truth, Mia had a point. Lauren had often been expected to earn her keep in the various group homes she’d lived in, and she’d carried that habit into her adult life. Her roommates liked it when she did more than her fair share of cooking and cleaning, and when she had to scrape together rent money each month, it was helpful to be liked for the months when she fell short. But she didn’t need to do that with Mia…unless she wanted to. And right now, she did.
They ate breakfast together, and then Mia headed down to open the café. Lauren took a shower, andoh, Mia’s shower was amazing. The showers at her most recent hostel had such low water pressure, she’d spent ages trying to rinse the soap from her body. She borrowed a bit of Mia’s shampoo, reasoning that she’d pick up a new bottle at the market to make up for it, but as she stood in front of the mirror ten minutes later, fixing her hair, she realized she smelled like Mia. Andthatwas going to be distracting today.
She sighed, rolling her eyes at herself. She hadn’t dated since before she robbed the bar. Sex had been the last thing on her mind the past year and a half, and this was a hell of an inconvenient time for her libido to wake up. Sleeping on Mia’s couch meant she couldn’t exactly bring a woman home with her, even if she met someone.
All the more reason to hurry up and find her own place, because honestly, having Lauren on her couch was going to cramp Mia’s dating life too.
Lauren turned to find Lola sitting in the doorway to the bathroom, watching her. “Not used to having someone else around?”
The cat just stared at her.
Lauren went into the living room and folded up her bed, leaving Mia’s couch the way it usually looked. She hesitated, not sure where to put her bags. Mia’s apartment was so neat, she didn’t want to leave her stuff all over the place. And now that Mia had left, Lauren felt vaguely uncomfortable being in her apartment alone, a sentiment Lola seemed to share as she tailed Lauren around the room, giving her suspicious looks.
She remembered the hall closet where Mia had gotten Lauren’s bedding last night and peeked inside. There was just enough space on the floor for Lauren’s duffel bag, so she tucked it inside and closed the door.
When she turned around, her gaze caught on the urn sitting discreetly on a shelf in the corner. “Back together again,” she whispered as she crossed the room and pressed her fingers against the cold metal. In that moment, she would have given anything to wrap her arms around her brother. She took several slow breaths, pushing past the threat of tears.
“You’d be giving me such shit about my crush on Mia if you were here,” she told Craig with a laugh that was dangerously close to a sob. “And you’d be right. I really miss you, you know that?”
Someday soon, she needed to get his urn off Mia’s shelf and scatter Craig’s ashes, but that day wasn’t today.
* * *
When Mia got homethat evening, she paused in the living room. Lauren’s things were gone. There was no sign of her anywhere, except for the urn that had been on the shelf in the corner for weeks now, so long that Mia had almost forgotten it was there. Had Lauren changed her mind and moved out?
Mia was surprised by the disappointment that settled in her gut at the possibility that Lauren had left. Logically, she ought to be relieved. It wasn’t ideal to have someone sleeping on her couch. And yet, last night Mia hadn’t felt lonely.
Now what was she supposed to do with her evening? She brought her laptop to the couch to answer a few emails she hadn’t gotten to during the workday. It had been busy in the café today, and Jordy had needed to leave early for an appointment, so Mia had worked the counter alone for the last few hours before closing.
She lost herself in work emails with Lola curled at her side. A new foster cat was arriving in the morning, which meant she’d have to go down early to get him situated.
