Page 53

“Okay then…” I continue on with my routine: face cream, light foundation, and mascara, finishing off with a little lemon lip balm. Gus watches me through it all and I let him smell every item in my hand. He scrunches his nose at the lemon balm and I chuckle, patting his head.

“You’re silly.”

The weather app shows cooler temperatures today, so I dress in my black capri pants and my green polo with the Hartford Heritage logo on it. I find my white visor and add it on top of my head after breaking the cast on the curls and fluffing them up a bit.

I take another look in the mirror. Much better. I finally feel a little bit more like the old me again.

“What do we think, Gussy?”

My furry friend meows at me and I take that as a sign of approval.

“I think so too. Now, let’s get some breakfast,” I say, patting my leg for him to follow. Surprisingly, he does.

Levi is in the kitchen when I enter, frowning at the inside of his fridge.

“Good morning,” I say, heading straight for the pot of coffee. “Do you mind if I have some?”

“Not at all, help yourself to anything here,” he says, frowning down at my feet.

I look down and see Gus sitting near them, staring up at me. “What, buddy? You want a treat?” My head snaps to Levi’s. “Can I give them treats or are they not allowed?”

Levi guffaws, gesturing between me and Gus. “Are you a cat whisperer? He never hangs out with me like this.”

“I think it’s because I gave him a piece of meat stick yesterday,” I admit, pouring a cup of coffee.

“Still…” Levi sighs. “Yes, the treats are in the cupboard above your head. And they can eat people food, but no onions or garlic. Or chocolate.”

I nod, mentally cataloguing the items. “Got it. I’ll stick to cupboard treats.”

“Would you like a smoothie? I was about to make one,” Levi says, pulling an array of fruits and veggies from the fridge.

My nose wrinkles and I cringe. “I’m good. Not a big fan of greens.”

He chuckles. “Let me guess, you prefer ramen noodles and pasta?”

“And turkey sandwiches, thank you very much.” I laugh as I make my way to the fridge and grab the brown sugar cinnamon creamer for my coffee.

“And sweets,” Levi nods down at my concoction.

“Are you judging my choices?”

“No,” he says. Then he narrows his eyes at me. “Although, you do like pineapple on pizza, so maybe.”

“One of these days, I’ll convince you to try it.” The smile on my face doesn’t seem to want to drop when I’m near Levi. A wave of butterflies takes flight in my gut and I take a sip from my mug, trying to hide the blush that’s no doubt staining my cheeks.

“Unlikely. I’m kind of stubborn, if you haven’t noticed yet,” he jokes. His green eyes are lighter and brighter than before.

“And persistent.”

“That too,” he says, laughing. It’s a nice laugh, deep and rich.

I’d like to hear it more, I think.

“I should get to work,” I say, downing the rest of my coffee.

Levi nods as he adds his ingredients to the blender. “I should probably have your number. Just in case you get locked out or something.” He mumbles the last of the words, fiddling with a bunch of spinach.

I bite back a smile. I want to tease him, flirt with him, ask him if there’s more that he wants my number for. But that wouldn’t be appropriate. So instead, I shove down the damn butterflies and reach for his phone on the counter. I turn it to face him and it unlocks.