Page 60 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“Good. Me too.” Mia realized she was smiling back at her. “Tomorrow night? We can celebrate Gilbert’s adoption.”
Now Lauren was beaming. “Yes. That sounds perfect.”
17
Lauren sat with her back against the wall. Gilbert had curled himself in her lap, purring quietly as she stroked him below his chin. Darius would be here any minute to take him home. “You don’t know it yet, but this is going to be a huge day for you.”
Gilbert flicked an ear, watching her out of slitted eyes. She would miss seeing him here at the café, but mostly, she was just so thrilled that he’d found his forever home. She’d only been peripherally aware of the ins and outs of animal rescue before she started working here. Now she knew it was something she wanted to stay involved with.
“Ready?”
Lauren looked up to see Mia walking toward her. “So ready.”
“Good.” Mia sat at the table closest to where Lauren was sitting on the floor, looking absolutely stunning in a knee-length gray dress and black tights.
“How do you manage to wear clothes like that in here without the cats ruining them?”
Mia looked down, flicking cat hair from her dress. “For starters, I don’t sit on the floor. And I keep a stash of lint rollers in my desk.”
“Still seems like they’d pull strings.” Lauren patted one of Gilbert’s paws, which was currently hooked into her jeans. All her pants had claw picks in them since she’d started working here.
“Oh, they do,” Mia said. “I try not to let them sit in my lap if I’m wearing anything I’m particularly attached to, but I have a lot of business clothes from my days as a lawyer, so I figured I might as well wear them. Also, I guess I just like getting dressed for work. Makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.”
“Dressing like that is definitely worthwhile as far as I’m concerned,” Lauren said, thrilled with the freedom to flirt with her. Sitting here in the café, it was almost surreal that she and Mia had made out on her couch last night, that they’d decided to give this thing between them a real try.
Mia smirked. “I know a good dim sum place nearby, if that sounds good for tonight.”
“Sounds great.” Lauren enjoyed most cuisines, and sharing small plates with Mia sounded fun and romantic.
“Perfect. I’ll make a reservation.”
“I can’t wait,” Lauren told her.
Mia had been a bright spot in her life for a while now, even before they’d met in person, and Lauren could hardly wait to see what would happen now that they were dating. Maybe it would blow up in their faces. But as she stared giddily into Mia’s eyes, she couldn’t feel anything but happy, excited, and hopeful. It had been so long since she’d felt any of those things that she wasn’t going to second-guess a moment of this new step in their relationship.
The bell over the door chimed. Mia glanced in that direction, then stood. “Darius is here, and it looks like his daughter is with him.”
“It’s your big moment, Gilbert.” Lauren glanced at the cat curled in her lap, and then she looked toward the door to see Darius approaching with a little girl at his side. She had curly black hair and pink-rimmed glasses, and she was grinning from ear to ear. “You must be Kelsey,” Lauren said as they approached. “I’m Lauren. I’ve heard so much about you. Sorry, I’d stand to greet you, but Gilbert’s made himself comfortable on me.”
Kelsey knelt beside Lauren. “He’s so beautiful. Oh wow, look at his eyes.”
The cat peered at her out of wide yellow eyes.
“They’re really something, aren’t they?” Lauren said.
“Yeah.” Kelsey reached a tentative hand toward Gilbert. He sniffed her fingers, watching quietly as she gave him a rub. “He’s so soft. Hi, Gilbert.”
“I was planning to surprise her with him the next time she visited.” Darius knelt beside Kelsey. “But my excitement got the better of me.”
“And I’m glad, because I got to help my dad pick out all of Gilbert’s new things,” Kelsey said, still petting her new cat. She was as gentle as her dad said she would be. Gilbert licked her finger, and she giggled. “Plus, I get to be here to bring him home.”
“I’ve got your copy of the adoption paperwork right here.” Mia gestured to a folder on the table. “Everything’s already settled with the rescue, so he’s ready to go home.”
Darius nodded. “Perfect.”
“Do you mind if I take a photo of you with him for the adoption page?” Mia asked.
“Sure, that’s fine,” Darius agreed.
