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She huffed out a laugh. It was kind of amazing to think two people could disagree about something andtalkinstead of fight.
She put the cat food in the cupboard. Yes, it was too damned bad that Hunter was who he was, but it was also for the better. Better forheranyway.
She’d made a vow to focus on herself and her business, with just a couple of casual dates intended to prevent her from being a total hermit.
But if circumstances were different and she and Hunter were both free to pursue their attraction, she doubted a casual date or two would be enough. With him, she’d want more. Too much more.
“So, we should probably get going.” She glanced at the wall clock. “Does Mrs. Higgins have a curfew?”
“Not that I know of.” Jumbo twined around Hunter’s legs. He squinted at theI’m Takensign around the cat’s neck. “Did someone adopt him?”
“No.” Aria went to the sink to wash her hands. “Jumbo’s not available for adoption. He’s mine.”
“How’d you pick one cat out of all the others?”
“I didn’t. He picked me.”
She half-expected him to scoff. Instead, he lifted an eyebrow in inquiry.
“He’d been left behind when a family moved away, and he ended up at the Rescue House shelter.” She dried her hands on a dishtowel. “Some cats and dogs get adopted right away, but others have a harder time finding a home. If it takes a while, the animals end up in the Lonely Hearts Club, which means that their adoption fee is reduced. That’s what happened with Jumbo.”
Hunter eyed the cat. “Why wasn’t he adopted?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it’s obvious, like with Fang, but we couldn’t figure out why no one wanted Jumbo. He was only two years old at the time, he’s good-tempered, and he’s obviously handsome. I guess he just didn’t make a connection with anyone.”
“So you brought him home?”
“Not right away. A while ago, I was helping Sue out at the shelter, and one of my jobs was to take care of the cats. Within a few days, Jumbo started waiting for me by the door of his enclosure. He’d stay close to me the whole time I was feeding the cats and cleaning the litter boxes, and if I sat down, he’d curl in my lap. It was like he was asking me to adopt him. Then my…”
Old sorrow formed a lump in her throat. She didn’t want to get too personal with Hunter—despite their uneasy truce, he was still her opponent—but she also wanted him to understand that the café was more than just a cute little place for people to drink coffee and play with cats.
“My father died in a car accident.” She folded the dishtowel into a neat square and set it on the counter. “I stopped working at the shelter because I was trying to help my mother and sister—”
Even though Callie hadn’t wanted or needed her help.
She took a breath, her chest knotting. “Then Sue called to tell me that Jumbo was showing symptoms of anxiety…fearful, meowing a lot, not eating. I offered to foster him at my apartment until he found a forever home. After a week, it was pretty clear he’d decided that his forever home was with me.”
A faint smile tugged at Hunter’s mouth. “And you saved him from being a lifelong member of the Lonely Hearts Club.”
“Actually, he saved me.”
The confession was out before Aria realized it was far too personal. His attention sharpened on her in that penetrating way he had, as if he were sensing there was much more to that particular story.
Not that she would ever tell him.
“We should get going.” She turned to pick up her keys. Hunter stood with his hands flat on the counter. The position made his shoulder muscles bunch up beneath his shirt.
“Did you buy this building only because of the ancestral connection?” The question was slightly puzzled, as if he couldn’t fathom another reason for opening a café in such a location. “I get that it would be affordable to open a business in the Mariposa district but...”
His voice trailed off.
“But it’s a stupid business decision,” Aria finished. “My sister Callie has told me that many times.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.” He shook his head, his jaw tensing. “Keeping your overhead low is always a good idea. I’m just wondering about your other reasons.”
Aria studied him, trying to see past Hunter Armstrong, VP of Imperial Properties, and back to the man who’d rescued Porkchop and insisted that she change into dry clothes. Though she didn’t think she’d ever be able to reconcile two such different sides of him, she could—grudgingly—accept the fact that he had a right to do his job. Just as she had a right to stand her ground.
“My father loved this district, too.” She started for the door. “And after we lost him, I…made some bad decisions and left Bliss Cove for longer than I should have. I wasn’t really in touch with my mother or sisters either. When I came back, I had a lot to prove to myself and to other people. As Destiny would say, it was no coincidence that this exact building went up for sale less than three weeks after I came home. Or that I could afford to buy it and open the café with the money my father left for me.”
