She raised an eyebrow. “Are you…propositioning me?”
Josh smiled and tried to play it off like she’d inferred too much. “Hey, I just asked for a drink. I don’t know the neighborhood, but there’s gotta be a bar up one of those streets on the other side of Eastern Parkway. And after that, who knows? Do youwantme to proposition you?”
Paige surprised Josh by grinning instead of looking offended. “We’ll see. And you’re in luck, because I live in Prospect Heights and know the neighborhood pretty well. There’s a really cute little bar on Washington. Fancy bespoke cocktails, so a little on the pricey side, but they’ve got an excellent whisky selection.”
Josh mock swooned. “Ah, a woman after my own heart.”
They helped pack everything back into the van. Now that Josh had developed a tendre for the fair Paige, he bristled a little at how effusive Mitch was as he thanked Paige for coming to help tonight, but Mitch was a big friendly guy and seemed to be effusive with everyone, so Josh let it go.
Paige draped her purse over her shoulder and turned to Josh. “You still want that drink?”
“Lead the way.”
They walked around the museum, and Paige led Josh across Eastern Parkway to Washington Avenue. Crossing the huge street felt harrowing, and they were both a little breathless after basically running when the light changed.
“I’ve lived here for a couple of years, and I go to the museum all the time, but crossing Eastern Parkway always freaks me out a little,” said Paige. “I feel like some of these drivers think yielding for pedestrians is more of a suggestion than a law.”
Without thinking about it, Josh reached over and rubbed her arm. “So. Where do we get that drink?”
She smiled and said, “I know just the place.”
They walked a couple of blocks and came to a dimly lit storefront with a sign that saidTrespasser’s Alleyover the door. He followed her inside.
They snagged a table by the window. Josh felt underdressed; before coming to the rescue event, he’d put on old jeans and a Georgetown sweatshirt to stay warm and free of cat scratches, but this seemed like a classy place. Still, the waitress seemed unfazed as she handed each of them a menu—a piece of paper nailed to a plank of wood, of all the weird, pretentious things—and placed tiny glasses of water on the table.
Josh looked at the menu and then realized there was a leather-bound booklet on the table, which turned out to be the full listing of available alcohol. His favorite whisky was indeed listed, so when the waitress came back, he ordered one neat. Paige ordered one of the cocktails from the menu.
“This is nice,” Josh observed.
“Yeah, I like this bar. It’s quiet enough that I can hear you talking. Some of the small plates are good, too. I like the stuffed olives.”
“Ooh, let’s order those when the waitress comes back.”
Paige laughed. “All right. I guess I am a little hungry. I ate before I went to the museum, but trapping cats builds up an appetite.” She took off her hoodie, revealing a plain pink T-shirt that hugged her body nicely.
She really was quite pretty. Josh liked her smile and the way it reached her eyes and made her whole face light up. He liked the way little tendrils of hair had escaped her ponytail and were framing her face in a way that made her look a little ruffled and unpolished. He liked the way she talked with her hands when she was explaining something. He’d be happy to sit back and listen to her talk for hours, stopping only to make the kinds of jokes that would get her to smile at him again.
When the waitress returned, Josh ordered stuffed olives and an interesting-sounding asparagus dish. This bar only had small plates, but none of the usual pub menu mozzarella stick fare. Josh appreciated that; a quiet bar, good whisky, and a pretty girl, and he was feeling quite content.
“That was fun, but I feel a little schlubby,” Josh said.
Paige gave him a once-over, her gaze settling on his chest for a moment long enough to indicate she was interested. She covered it by blinking a couple of times. “You look good to me. I take it you went to Georgetown?”
“For law school, yeah.”
“I feel a little silly that we just stood around some traps for an hour and only caught one cat when we weren’t really paying attention.”
“The group got six cats in all tonight. Mitch said that was pretty good. I’ll take it.”
“I saw an article in theTimesthat the feral cat population in the neighborhoods just south of here is exploding, so there will always be a need for this kind of work. And at least Mitch is doing this humanely. In some states, people are allowed to shoot the cats.”
“He said he’ll take the trapped cats to the vet clinic now, right?”
“Yeah, the Whitman Street Veterinary Clinic. Downtown Brooklyn, kinda near the courthouses. Do you know it?”
“Yeah, my sister lives over there. I basically know the stretch between my apartment building and my sister’s place and that’s all I’ve got figured out as far as Brooklyn is concerned.”
Paige smiled. “Where did you live before moving here?”
