Page 105 of Sweet Heart

I whip up a simple dinner of fish, grilled veggies, and rice while Cat takes a shower. By the time she comes out, she looks more like her delicious self again. The bags under her eyes are the only thing stopping me from making her take a second shower. Instead, I tell her about my story and how I’ve managed to finish the draft.

“En serio, Maria? You only tell me now? Baby, that is what you should’ve led with when I came in,” she says, beaming up at me, her fingers brushing the inside of my wrist.

I grin sheepishly and shrug, trying to make it not look like a big deal. She squints her eyes and tilts her head.

“You know, we have to celebrate this…”

“No,” I say a little too fast, and she pauses. “It’s only the first draft. I need to edit and refine it, and probably rewrite it another fifteen times before I can send it to my agent.”

“Wait, amor, you have an agent?”

I nod as I feel my cheeks flare up. It isn’t something I go around and tell people, mostly because Robyn hasn’t actually had the chance to do anything solid for me yet. Why she took me on, lord knows. I only had my indie novels and short stories to show, but it was enough for her, and we made agreements. We spoke about my next idea, and she nearly begged me to let her work her magic.

“Uh, yeah, sort of,” I stammer, and her eyes go large.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, she hasn’t… we haven’t… this will be the first manuscript she’ll receive from me. It’s new. Maybe she changes her mind. It happens.”

“No, it doesn’t. Not with your work.”

“How do you know?”

“Amor…” She glares at me, but there is a spark of amusement there. “You read me full passages at two a.m. and now you ask me how I know? Your work is fantastic.”

That same blush is now spreading to my chest. I try to hide it by standing up and cleaning off the table, but Cat won’t have it. She grabs my wrist before I can pick up her plate and yanks me hard against her chest and into her lap. I giggle loudly as I’m startled, and her whole face breaks open.

“Así, my favorite sound in the world.”

She kisses me, all warm breath and tenderness, before looking at me again.

“You finished the story, amor. We will celebrate this milestone. Then you will polish and rewrite and do everything else you need to do, and we’ll celebrate again when you send it to your agent.”

“Cat, no, we—”

“Maria, yes, we definitely must. We will celebrate every step, and that is that.”

She seals my lips with another kiss before I can protest, and all objections drain out of me. I just nod weakly, and she smiles against my lips.

“Eso, mi amor. Let me take care of it. We’ll get the girls, go to a rooftop bar in DC, have bubblies.”

The laughter that bursts out of me surprises us both, and Cat blinks at me.

“Bubblies?” I hitch and her lips instantly tick up.

“Bubblies,” she confirms with a stern nod.

I shake my head, laughing. Not once had I pegged Cat as the kind of person to say bubblies, but now that she did, I don’t want to hear her say it any other way ever again.

“We don’t even like bubblies,” I snicker.

She growls before she nips me and kisses me again, drawing another laugh from me just as my phone buzzes. We both look up in surprise, and I glance at the device across the table. When I pull it toward me, the message pops up, and I read it out loud.

10.13 p.m. - Rosa Durand

Hola, mija, do you have time for a cafecito tomorrow morning? Let’s say 10 at Cozy District Café. Cat knows the one.

“She loves that place. It’s near the hospital,” she offers without even batting an eye. “I’d drop you off, but my shift starts at seven.”