Luckily for me, cats respond to chamomile positively, and even the grumpiest cat can turn into a furball of love when they spend time in my lap.
Piper’s Omega scent is catmint, so she beats me in the cat whisperer category, but I come pretty damn close.
“Thank you so much,” I tell Ivan, wanting to find any reason to linger around him. “I know you’re busy, so I appreciate it.”
“Nah,” he shakes his head, a subtle blush staining his tan cheeks. “I’ll always make time for you.”
Now, it’s my turn to flush, until Bean sneezes all over meagain.
“Ugh,” I mutter. “Cat goo.”
“I have a humidifier in my apartment,” Ivan offers. “I don’t mind running by and grabbing it for you later. You could set it up in the playroom; that should help.”
“Really?” I ask excitedly.
He nods. “Yeah. It’ll make up for me forgetting to buy you coffee this morning.”
If I smile any harder my face is going to ache.
Ivan is the sweetest Alpha I’ve ever met, and I can’t stop grinning even as Bean continues to sneeze all over me.
We have a tradeoff. I used to bring Ivan coffee all the time from our coffee maker in the office, but now he insists on bringing me a latte every morning.
With hazelnut milk, thank you very much.
He takes his coffee black, but after only picking up my order one time from the café I found Bean at, he remembered exactly how I like it.
After the tenth time of telling him he doesn’t need to do it, I stopped arguing and have just accepted that my lattes will be hand delivered to me every morning we’re both in the building. He’s made the effort to check our schedules for the week.
Even though he forgot my coffee today and I relied on a cup of instant from our office, the day is not doomed.
I’ll have another reason to see him soon.
“You’re the best, Ivan,” I say, and mean it with my entire heart.
Bean secured in my hands, I hurry back to the rescue, a goofy smile on my face.
Piper is still at the front desk filling out paperwork. She looks up at me expectantly.
“Feel better?” she asks.
I nod. “He’s bringing us a humidifier.”
Piper frowns. “Huh. I’m surprised we didn’t add that to our wish list.”
“Yeah, well, Ivan’s smart like that.” Bean squirms in my hands as Piper looks up at me.
“I mean this with love, Maeve, but panicking over the cats isn’t going to help you or them in the long run,” she says gently.
The familiar pricks of shame begin in my chest. “I know,” I murmur. “I don’t mean to.”
“I know you don’t, and I’m sorry if I came off as judging you earlier. As crazy as this may sound, I’ve noticed that the happier you are, the happier the cats can be,” she adds. “Even if little Bean is sick, the stronger we are for him, the better.”
Piper’s not wrong.
“I’ll try to do that,” I mumble.
“Isolating him is a good precaution,” Piper confirms. “We’ve had the cats catch colds before, and it’s not pleasant.”
