Page 35 of One Midnight Kiss

“No, she threatened to pepper spray me.”

Natalia nodded. “Good girl. Now, if there’s no problems with my work, please kindly go away,” she said before she started coughing.

“Sit,” I ordered, pointing to the couch. “You look like you’re about to keel over.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted, but I gave her a look. She sighed, trudging over to the couch and collapsing into it.

“I’m really not in the mood for company,” she muttered, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

“Surprise, surprise,” I said, heading into her kitchen. “Too bad you need company. And I need to make sure you’re not going to die before the symposium next week. You need soup. Tea. Something.”

The kitchen was as homey as the living room, with pots hanging from a rack and a bowl of fresh lemons on the counter. I made myself at home, opening cabinets until I found one filled with canned foods. I found a can of chicken soup in her pantry. It was expired.

I didn’t know if canned food ever went bad, but I didn’t want to risk making her sicker than she already was.

“What are you even doing here?” she called, her voice muffled by the blanket. “Couldn’t you just call? You know, like a normal person?”

“Didn’t have your number,” I said.

“And yet you didn’t get the hint.” She sighed. There was no real bite in her voice. Either she was that sick or she wasn’t all that mad that I showed up.

I chuckled. “Subtlety is wasted on me. Now relax and let me make you some soup.”