“I have an appointment at a gallery uptown to pick out some prints for the walls.” Eve closed her laptop, glancing at Josie. “Would you like to come with me?”
Her stomach gave a funny swoop. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
“All right.” Eve stood, reaching for her purse.
“I should feed the kittens before I head out. Want to help?”
“Sure.” Eve followed her to the stairs, heels clicking against the hardwood floors, a sound Josie would forever associate with her. Today, she wore a gray blouse with black slacks and matching strappy heels.
Josie was developing a serious fetish for business attire, or maybe it was just the woman wearing it. She led the way into her apartment. “Wait until you see their new setup.”
“Oh?” Eve walked to the playpen, staring down at the kittens, and Josie watched her visibly soften at the sight of them, a warmth gleaming in her brown eyes that hadn’t been there before. Currently, they were in a pile against their stuffed animal “mother,” fast asleep.
“Did you miss them?” Josie asked as she went into the kitchen to start preparing bottles.
“Not nearly as much as I enjoyed a full night of uninterrupted sleep.”
It wasn’t the flat “no” Josie had expected, and she looked at Eve in surprise. “Nothing like a good night’s sleep.”
“Mm.” Eve joined her in the kitchen, prepping a bottle with practiced ease. “I didn’t know they could move around so much.”
“Amazing, isn’t it?” She looked over at the pile of sleeping kittens as realization dawned. “Wait, did you watch them on YouTube?”
Eve’s eyes widened slightly, as if she hadn’t intended to admit this fact, and Josie’s heart absolutely melted. “I was curious to see how they were doing,” Eve admitted.
“They were really active last night when I recorded them.”
Eve walked to the playpen and picked up Hamilton.
Josie lifted Phantom, gently waking him for his meal. “They grow up fast. In another month, they’ll be running all over the place.”
“It’s good that they have someone knowledgeable taking care of them now.”
There she went again, downplaying her role in their lives. “You nursed them through the most critical week of their lives. Not everyone would have done that for them.”
“Well, I couldn’t let them die.” Eve stroked Hamilton’s gray-and-white fur.
“You’d be surprised how many people would have taken them to the shelter, even knowing what you knew.”
Eve looked over at her, something heavy in her expression, before she stood to put Hamilton back in the playpen. She went to the kitchen for a fresh bottle and picked up Blanche. Josie replaced Phantom with Pippin, and together, they finished up their bottle-feeding session. Once the kittens were settled, they went to the kitchen to clean up and wash their hands.
“So, prints for the walls?” Josie asked.
Eve nodded. “The network has a decorator who’s handling most of the décor, but I know the guy who owns this gallery. I told him what we’re looking for, and he’s going to put together a selection of photographs to choose from.”
“Cool.” Josie felt a flutter of excitement at being involved in the process, as well as the chance to go shopping with Eve.
“Ready?”
Josie nodded, grabbing her purse and leading the way to the door. They went out the back, walking down the street together toward the subway. As she watched the breeze ruffle Eve’s hair and the confident way she navigated the street, it hit her that she’d never left the bar with Eve before. How was that possible?
Well, mostly it was possible because Josie herself had rarely left the bar over these last few months. She and Eve swiped their MetroCards and descended the steps to the platform, boarding a train to take them to the Upper West Side.
“I have bartender interviews scheduled tomorrow afternoon,” Eve told her as they stood together in the crowded car, holding on to the silver pole between them for balance. “I’d like you to sit in.”
“I might have fought you if you tried to keep me out,” Josie told her with a smile. The train slowed abruptly, and her shoulder bumped into Eve’s. Their eyes locked, and Josie felt it in the pit of her stomach. It had beensolong since she’d been this attracted to anyone. Honestly, she’d struggled lately to form any kind of lasting connection with a woman and had almost given up on feeling anything like…this.
They stood in silence for the rest of the ride, occasionally bumping into each other as the train lurched beneath their feet. Eve made no effort to move away, and neither did Josie.
