AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can hear the ocean.” He threaded his hand through her hair. “Must be nice to fall asleep and wake up to that sound every day.”
“It is. I didn’t think of it when I converted this place into an apartment.” She ran her hand over his chest. “Then my first night here, I was so nervous and scared. I’d only been back in Bliss Cove for a few weeks, and I’d dropped all my money into an old building with the hopes of starting a business, even though I’d never been able to see one through before, and I was suddenly panicking and second-guessing every decision. Then I heard the waves, and I remembered walking along Mariposa Street with my father, and I felt like he’d sent the waves to comfort me. So I opened all the windows and stayed awake all night listening to them.”
He was quiet for a moment. “What brought you back to Bliss Cove?”
“I needed to come home.” Aria shifted to glance at the clock. “Oh, no.”
“What’s wrong?” He pushed to one elbow.
“The cats. I always feed them after closing, and I totally forgot.” She reached for a pair of pajama pants near the bed and tugged them on, shooting him a mild glare. “I was a little distracted.”
“I’ll be happy to distract you again after we feed the cats.” He winked at her and pulled on his jeans.
After slipping into a T-shirt, Aria led the way back downstairs to the Cat Lounge. The cats were restless and irritated, swarming toward the door as soon as she opened it.
“Sorry, sweeties.” She bent to stroke her fingers through Garbo’s fur. “You can blame Hunter for being irresistible.”
“If being blamed gets me more of you, I’m entirely at fault.” He patted her ass.
Aria couldn’t stop a smile as she retrieved cans of cat food from the cabinet. Her whole body felt light and airy, like meringue. Even in her heart of hearts, there were no shadows, no pangs of worry or misgivings. Every part of her wascertainabout being with Hunter right now.
He refilled the water dishes and brought the food bowls over while she prepped their dinners. Hunter crouched to look under a chair where Fang was hunched, his eye slitted and his fanged tooth poking out of his mouth.
“He doesn’t like eating with the other cats, so I usually bring his food to him,” Aria said.
Hunter took a bowl of food from her and returned to Fang. He sat on the sofa and put the bowl at his feet.
“You’ll have to come out to get it,” he told the cat, then glanced at Aria. “What’s his story?”
“He was found on the side of a road up near San Jose.” Aria’s heart tightened as she bent to look at Fang. “He was in really bad shape—malnourished, a lacerated paw, cuts and scrapes, plus his missing eye. He’d been abused, and then he either ran away or was just dumped off in the ditch. Thanks to Max, he recovered well physically, but obviously he still has emotional issues. Max thinks he was starved too because he’s very protective of his food.”
Hunter bent to study the cat again and pushed the food bowl toward him slightly. Fang’s whiskers twitched.
To give him space, Aria returned to taking care of the other cats. After they’d all been fed, she took out the trash and cleaned up the counter space.
When she looked up again, Fang had emerged from under the chair and was hunched over his food bowl, eating noisily right next to Hunter.
“Wow. He rarely gets that close to people.” Aria watched as Hunter leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Fang continued eating, unperturbed by the movement. Then the cat straightened and began washing his whiskers.
Hunter settled his hand on Fang’s back. The cat stiffened, but didn’t move away.
“Do you get the cats from all over the state?” he asked.
“Mostly from here to the San Jose area.” Aria went to sit beside him. Jumbo leapt up to paw at her lap. “Sometimes Max gets a call from a pet rescue and transportation service that they need help with a particular animal, so if I’m able to foster them before they find a new home, I do.”
“How many cats have you had adopted?”
“Seventeen since I opened. Buster just went off to his forever home yesterday. Sue is going to bring me another orphan tomorrow to join our little band of misfits.”
She stroked Jumbo’s head. Hunter straightened, lifting his hand away from Fang’s back. The cat shook himself and stretched before returning to his crouched position under the chair.
“Are you thinking of adopting another cat yourself?” Hunter leaned back against the sofa cushions and stretched his long legs out in front of him. His bare, muscled shoulders gleamed in the light from the streetlamps.
“Maybe, but right now Jumbo is enough. He and I have been through a lot together.” She nuzzled her nose against the cat’s head.
“Was he with you when you moved away from Bliss Cove?”
Aria nodded. She’d never been able to tell anyone about Steve, but based on what Hunter had told her about his childhood, he was well-acquainted with hopelessness and pain. He knew what it felt like to blame yourself. He’d pulled himself out of a bad place by fixing on a goal and creating a plan for reaching it.
