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“I’ll schedule something for two days,” Erik said. “Talk to you then.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “Take care, you two.”
I ended the meeting and was about to close my laptop when I stopped because a thought popped into my head.
I wonder what Leo dressed as for Halloween when he was nine.
CHAPTER10
***LEO***
Iparked my car and entered the building, walking up the stairs and looking down the hallway once I got to the third floor. Nobody was there. So long as I tiptoed quickly to the apartment, there was a good chance I’d manage to avoid that awkward encounter with Mila where we both had to apologize for the night before or even just say hi and pretend like it never happened.
I made it to Kiefer's door and put the key in the lock, pulling the door towards me as he told me to as I did so, ready to breathe a sigh of relief when I made it inside without incident.
Imagine my surprise when Bagel didn't run up to greet me upon opening the door like she usually did. No, she was curled up with her head in her lap. Beside her, Mila who was folded over backwards, her legs in a weird pretzel position clearly looking for something.
I was confused to see her in my apartment in any position, but it was like she’d made a point of putting herself in the most awkward situations.
Her head tilted towards the side and when I accidentally allowed the door to slam closed behind me, she shot up and turned around.
"Oh my God," she said, her head jolting up and nearly knocking her laptop onto the floor as she did so. In standing up, she twisted herself and fell over, then popped right back up. "I can explain."
I didn't say anything.
"It was Bagel," she said. "She was crying and scratching and I didn't want someone else to hear and for you to get in trouble."
That didn’t explain why she looked like a Cirque Du Soleil gymnast in my apartment, but I assumed there was an explanation. Just as in my office, her face was bright red from embarrassment.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I said with a chuckle, trying to ease the tension. She laughed, but it was clear that she was too mortified to find anything amusing about what had just happened. Of course, there was nothing to be embarrassed about. It was as pleasant a welcoming as I could have hoped for after a long day at work.
“I dropped my mouse for my computer and I was trying to reach it— ,” she said.
“No need to explain,” I told her.
“ I was here all day with Bagel,” she said, changing the subject quickly. “I hope that’s okay. She was crying, and I just didn’t want her to be sad.”
I was afraid of something like what she’d described. Normally, Bagel was used to being at home with Hannah, but without anyone around, she was scared, and it was only natural for her to want to try to escape. She cried a bit when I left in the morning, but I thought she was old enough now that she’d get over it after a few minutes and just go to sleep for the rest of the day.
"Got it," I said. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
As Bagel woke up and noticed me, she wagged her tail. After some consideration, she got up and gave one of those classic big stretches I loved as she yawned and casually walked over to me. When she reached me, she jumped up to give me a hug. It wasn't the usual super excited jump, but more of a friendly hello how was your day kind of jump. Also, I'm sure she had to pee.
"We need to go for a walk," I said. And there was a long pause after I said that as I waited for Mila to respond, taking the hint that it was time for her to leave.
She didn’t take the hint.
I could have told her to go back to her apartment and lectured her about the fact that we needed to keep our relationship as neutral as possible and that I didn’t think it was a good idea to spend any more time together outside of the office than necessary. But the way she looked at me with her big saucer eyes made it tough to say no, especially after she’d looked after Bagel all day.
And, if I was being honest with myself, I wanted her to join me, even though I knew it was a bad idea. Hell, maybe it was even because it was a bad idea that I wanted her to join me. She was almost supernaturally gorgeous in her work clothes and make-up. It made me regret not actually kissing her the other night.
Which was ridiculous because I had already been walking on thin ice and I still could potentially lose my license.
But I was a full-ass adult. I could make my own decisions and control my urges. As long as we didn’t kiss and kept things purely social and pleasant, then I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I wasn’t stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.
“Care to come with?” I asked.
“Sure.”
