“I’m not a kitten,” he said, with as much dignity as he could muster.“I’m a fully adult cat, thank you very much.”
Thea’s lips were twitching in amusement.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” she teased.“You’re a very pretty kitty.”
Her words were far too close to Ginger’s last night.
“I appreciate the apology,” he said, with as much dignity as he could muster.“I don’t like any of this.”
“I can’t imagine why not,” she teased, not helping.“I apologize.It’s not every day you find out that the man you love is turning into a cat on a regular basis.I don’t really know what to do.”
“It’s not regular,” he began, but then his brain caught up to what she had said.
Wait.
“You love me.”
Thea laughed a little.“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her words.“Was it not?”
Nathaniel could hardly find words.
“I made you breakfast,” he said, stepping to the side to reveal the steaming mug.
He needed a moment to gather his thoughts.
She loved him.
After all this time, all the years of avoiding him, all the time spent waiting for her…she loved him.
Thea’s eyes began to fill with tears as she took in what he’d prepared for her.“You remembered,” she whispered, taking a step closer.
“Shall I cut your muffin with the wingleplucker?”he asked, reaching for the dough scraper.He smiled, but he wasn’t focusing on what he said, his thoughts a million miles away.
She loved him.
“Nat,” Thea said, turning to him, his name catching in her throat.
“Thea,” he said gently.
After so many years of waiting and wanting, being this close to Thea seemed to have short-circuited his brain, and he didn’t know what to do or what to say.
She took a step closer to him.“You and I have more in common than anyone.You understand me, you know who I am, and you are the man I have wanted for...”
“Ten years,” he said.
After ten years of missing her and wishing he could do something about it, Nathaniel found himself completely frozen as she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I don’t want to miss another moment,” she said, looking into his eyes.“Whether you’re a human or a cat.”
“I want that, too.”He wrapped his arms around her waist.“But I don’t know what will happen, if I’ll be turning into a cat for the rest of my life, or if someday it’ll become permanent and I’ll never be human again.”
“I don’t want you to be trapped with me in that way, but there is nothing I would rather do than spend time with you in any form, and we’ve already wasted too much time.”
“I agree,” Nathaniel said, a smile tugging at his lips as he pulled her closer, her body fitting against his like she belonged there.“You’re sure about this?”he asked softly.
“More sure than I’ve ever been,” she said.
All his dreams were coming true—except for the part where he randomly turned into a cat.
