Page 65 of Autumn at the Cat Cafe

He waved her off. “He’s fine. I know where to find a lint roller.”

“Those came in handy, didn’t they?”

“Good idea on Dora’s part.”

Via nodded, stretching out her legs. “I hope she’s feeling better. I’m glad Charlie’s with her.” She wiggled her toes. “Ow,” she said, unable to hide the pain.

“Feet hurt?” he asked.

She winced again. “I don’t know how Dora wears those heels.”

He patted his knee. “Put one up here.”

She looked at him. “Put what?”

“A foot. Or both.”

“Why?”

“So I can rub them?”

A hot and cold shiver raced down her spine. “You—you want to rub my feet?”

Chapter 16

“They’re hurting, right?” Leo said.

Via probably should have pondered his offer to rub her feet more than a split second, considering this was a little intimate for friendship. But the idea of getting some relief overrode everything else. She smoothed out her dress and then put both her feet on his thighs. As soon as he started massaging, she was in heaven. “Ooh, that’s great.” She would have moaned, but she had to keep some dignity. “Oh, my feet need this.”

He applied just the right amount of pressure to her heels.

“Thanks,” she said, relaxing against the cushions. The rest of the cats left them alone, overwhelmed from the activity. Even Squeaks had gone to sleep. Via had peeked in on her right before the end of the event. Leo had everything well in hand, so she could take the small break.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“You put on a terrific event, Via.” He moved to the center of her arches. “I didn’t do much.”

“You had the ladies eating out of your hand.” She chuckled. “A couple of the men too.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “This was basically a cocktail party. I can maneuver through those in my sleep. Requirement of the job. I’m sure you’ve been to your fair share.”

“A couple of Christmas parties with—” She almost said he-who-shall-not-be-named. She spotted one of the mingle question sheets on the coffee table and impulsively picked it up to cleanse her mind of her ex. “I haven’t read any of these yet,” she said.

“Me neither.” He sat farther back on the couch, taking her legs and feet with him. “Didn’t have time to.”

She scanned the sheet. “There’re some fun questions on here.” She peeked over the top of the page at him. He was seemingly fully focused on her feet. Ah, so nice. “Want to hear a few?”

His fingers stopped moving for a second, then continued massaging. “Sure.”

He wasn’t looking at her, and she was second-guessing whether she should have asked him. But she had and he agreed, so she carried on. “Number one,” she said, holding up the paper. “What is the weirdest food combination you’ve ever tried?”

“I’ll need to think about it for a minute.”

“Mine is bananas dipped in soy sauce and smothered in cayenne pepper.”

His gaze shot to her. “That sounds horrendous. Where did you get that?”

“Fergus. When we were kids we did this blindfold taste test with Dora. She and I made normal stuff and he made... that.”