Page 54 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

He’d just finished when he heard the knock on the door. It could only be her, and he thought about not answering it. But he refused to give anyone the silent treatment, so answer he did, just to tell her he couldn’t talk. And seeing her reaction to him now, he really couldn’t find words.

Her eyes had moved from his face and were lingering down his body with a heady mix of curiosity and longing. All he could do was return the favor, examining her delectable curves and taking his sweet time doing so.

She blinked, breaking the connection between them. He grabbed the towel and she looked at the path of discarded clothing he left on the floor that went straight to the bathroom. Her cheeks turned scarlet. “I didn’t realize you were in the middle of... I gotta go.” She spun around to flee and her forehead slammed right into the edge of the open door.

He flinched. Forget curiosity and yearning. That looked and sounded like it hurt. “Are you okay?”

Her palm pressed against her head. She shot a look at him and glanced away again. “Go put some clothes on!”

He dashed into Earl’s bedroom, then spun around and stuck his head outside. “Be right back.” He quickly yanked on more clothes and rushed back into the living room to see she’d moved to the couch. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. “Just smarts a little.”

He went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. No ice pack, but there were small baggies in one of the drawers and an almost threadbare dish towel that looked clean and smelled okay. He filled one with a few ice cubes from the single metal tray he’d filled yesterday and wrapped it in the towel. “Here,” he said, sitting beside her and placing the pack against the small red mark on her forehead.

“I don’t think I need this, Leo. It’s not like you hit me with a lampshade.” She gave him a sheepish smile.

In that instant, everything was right again, other than the fact that she might have a bruise from the collision. “Let me do this,” he said, smiling back. “Don’t want to take any chances on a concussion.”

After a few seconds, she removed his hand and the ice pack. “I’m really sorry, Leo. For barging in—”

“That,” he said, holding up his index finger, “was Sir’s fault.” The offending feline was lying on the center of the coffee table. Such an innocent lamb. Not.

She closed her eyes. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you in Gold Yeller. It’s not you,” she said, opening one amber eye at him. “It’s me.”

“Sounds a little familiar.” Actually, he’d only heard that once, his sophomore year of college when he’d fallen for a classmate. Hard. They dated for a while but she dumped him, using those exact words. Funny, he couldn’t remember her name right now. His focus was solely on Via.

“I need to explain,” she said.

“You don’t have to—”

“I do.” She was looking directly at him now. “Please.” When he nodded, she said, “I had a really bad experience with my ex.”

“And you have to protect yourself.”

She sat up a little straighter, nodding. “So to keep myself from feeling... feelings—”

“You push people away.”

“Exactly,” she said, looking a little less anxious. “You understand.”

More than she realized. Maybe more than he even realized. He didn’t like the idea of her having such a terrible relationship that she had to cover her heart in steel. He’d never had a relationship that required the kind of commitment that would leave him heartbroken. But he’d been plenty hurt before, in a different way.

But now she’d opened a door he had to walk through. “Those feelings... are they for me, Smitten Kitten?”

Via groaned and slid halfway down the couch cushions. “I’m so embarrassed...” She shot him a look. “Harvard Boy.”

He gently pulled her back up. “You shouldn’t be.”

“I just admitted I like you. That I really am a... smitten kitten.”

He laughed. “Trust me. You’re not the only one who’s smitten.”

Surprise entered her eyes. “Really?”

Her lack of guile was refreshing. “What’s not to like?”

“Thanks,” she said shyly, fully sitting up again. “What do we do next?”