Page 133 of Let’s Be Real

I picked up our ball of smoky gray fluff we’d adopted last year and dropped her on the bed. Meowzebub was not a cat who liked to be dropped. She also didn’t like fast movement, slow movement, Adrian, cars driving near our house, flies, shadows…well, the list was long. She didn’t like a lot.

But she did love Nate. He was her favorite human. As soon as she was beside him, she couldn’t help rubbing herself against him and meowing loudly, craving his attention.

I understood wholeheartedly.

Our girl woke him up demanding pets, and Nate obliged. He sat up with her in his lap and leaned over to drop a kiss on my lips.

“I slept in,” he said groggily.

“I noticed.” I tried to keep the grumps out of my voice. “Don’t you have that meeting with Roman and the investors today?”

“Mmm…yeah.” He bent down and gave Meow a kiss too. “It’s hard to leave this bed when my two girls are here.”

He was so sweet and sleepy, I forced myself to chill out and snuggle with him for a while.

Right before he got up to take a shower, he took my chin between his fingers and swept his gaze over me.

“Happy anniversary, by the way.”

I scrunched my nose, playing it cool. “It’s only six months.”

“You’ve been my wife for half a year. I get to acknowledge that if I want to.” He kissed me softly. “I’m taking you to dinner tonight.”

“Okay,” I agreed, though I had other plans. “I’ll be waiting with bells on when you get home.”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t be upset if that was all you were wearing.”

I poked his chest. “Play your cards right, and that can be arranged.”

He was in for a surprise this afternoon. It wouldn’t be bells. I hoped he would think it was even better.

Adrian walked into my house with a pile of mail. “I got this for you.”

I gestured toward the counter as I rushed past him. My time management skills were not managing today. I was running way late. “Just throw it over there. I’m sure it’s all junk anyway.”

He hummed as he sorted through the pile. “Oooh, what’s this?”

Meowzebub darted between my feet, yowling for no good reason. Well, her reason was chaos and evil. Why she wanted to commit it against her mother, I didn’t know.

Adrian glanced up from the mail. “Did your cat just try to murder you again?”

“Naturally.” I picked her up and stroked her back. She perched her paws on my arm, surveying her territory from up high. “It’s a bad habit of hers.”

He raised a brow. “And you punish her by picking her up and petting her?”

“She’s just a baby.” I held her face up to Adrian’s. He scowled. She hissed. “Look at her. She doesn’t mean to be evil. It’s part of her DNA.”

Adrian jumped back just before Meow’s swatting paw connected with his face. “You really should look into an exorcism.”

“Don’t say that.” I kissed my cat’s head. “You’re going to hurt her feelings.”

Meowzebub squirmed until I let her down, then she pounced on Adrian’s feet before running to one of her beds—yes, she had a selection throughout the house—where she started meticulously cleaning herself.

He waved an envelope at me. “You might want to open this. It looks interesting.”

“I’ll check later.” I darted down the hall, grabbing my bag and Nate’s. He would be home any minute. I hoped I’d remembered to pack everything.

“Do I have everything?” I asked Adrian, though he’d have no idea.