Nor did he have that telltale lighter indentation on his ring finger that showed he’d been wearing one up until recently.
“This last-name business seems to be going around,” I said. “I have a friend who only calls me Stark.”
“I like that,” he said. “Suits you.”
“Well, Malone, thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to decline. The only date I have is with my shower.” I turned to unlock my apartment door.
“Let me know if you change your mind about pizza,” he said. “Or, say, pizza with benefits.”
My head whipped around, but he was already unlocking his door. He didn’t even have the good grace to turn around and see my shocked expression.
Chapter 10
I showered, trying not to imagine what pizza with benefits might look like with Malone. The strains of “All Too Well” wafted down into my bathroom from the one above with some kind of Swiftie sorcery.
Good. I needed to be reminded of breakups and the general perfidy of men.
It should be noted that I had no problem with Taylor Swift, but the ten-minute version on repeat? Could we mix it up a bit? More importantly, I was beginning to worry about the mental state of my upstairs neighbor.
I was considering banging on the ceiling with a broom handle à la the eighties-sitcom cliché when I heard a tiny cry.
No, more like the mew of a kitten.
Great, first the anguished wail of Taylor Swift, and now I was being invaded by kittens.
Or, worse yet, rats.
I shuddered before googling “what sounds does a rat make.”
Squeaky noises.
Relief washed over me, but the mew came again, this time more insistently.
First, I searched my bedroom and then my sparsely furnished living room. Nothing behind or under the love seat. Nor under the table.
I paused and heard ... nothing.
“Maybe I’m losing my marbles.”
Mew.
I looked in the cramped laundry closet, the bathroom, my closet. I even checked the world’s tiniest kitchen. Still nothing.
Mew.
The sound seemed closer, more frantic.
Oh. The patio.
A quick peek beyond the blackout curtains showed a scraggly kitten sitting in the shadows of my patio.
No mother. No brothers and sisters.
My heart jumped up in my throat.
And this kitten doesn’t even have a Nana cat to step into that void.
Shoving that thought away, I searched my phone for “what to do if you find a kitten” even as I wondered how the creature had managed to get over the waist-high wooden barrier. Maybe it had climbed over the top and then didn’t know how to get out?
