Текст книги "The Taming of the Billionaire"

Автор книги: Jessica Clare

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Chapter Seventeen

The only thing worse than not being able to win back the woman you wanted?

Catching a fucking cold while trying to unsuccessfully win back the woman you wanted. Magnus sneezed into a tissue and wrapped his blanket tighter around his body. He shivered with a fever, but he remained at the computer, working away on his next round of concepts for The World. Soon, the basics would be nailed down and it’d be ready to present in very basic demo form to the interested bidders. He could sell it for the highest offer, collect his money, and . . . and . . .

And not give a fuck, because he didn’t have Edie.

Magnus buried his head in his hands and gave a low groan of frustration. He was at a dead end. His best ideas came when he bounced them off of other people, as Edie had showed him. By himself? He had a whole lot of nothing.

He’d thought of flowers. He’d sent dozens.

She sent them away.

Jewelry? Nope. Returned.

Cars? Real estate? He’d have bought all of it if it would prove to her that he loved her. But he suspected that they’d be returned as well—or worse, somehow end up in Bianca’s hands, so he held off.

He sent a band to serenade her with love songs. She had Hunter throw them off the grounds.

He thought about buying up all the shelter cats in New York City. That would make Edie sit up and pay attention. But . . . then what would he do with hundreds of homeless cats? She’d hate him even more if he ruined the cats’ lives more than they already were.

So he kept thinking. And working. And sneezing.

The cats were good company, at least. Lady Daredevil was curled up in the chair against his thigh, purring. Since she was blind, she was less playful than Lady Cujo, and tended to find a spot near him and sleep. She was the ultimate cuddler, and he found he . . . kind of appreciated that. He’d never been much of a cat person before, but now he found that the two cats were pleasant to have around and he enjoyed their antics.

Edie had converted him to a cat person. Actually, she’d opened his eyes in a lot of different ways.

Now if he could just open hers to the fact that he was crazy about her.

Because really? He had the new apartment and complete control of his new project and freedom from his brother’s dicking around and a new confidence in his own abilities and . . . it didn’t mean a thing if he didn’t have her.

So he simply had to get her back.

His computer chimed with an incoming message. Magnus’s heart thudded until he saw the Skype message box pop up with Bianca’s name. What the hell? He clicked on it, and a picture of Bianca’s face filled his screen. “What do you want?”

She sniffed, delicately rubbing her nose with a pink tissue. “Magnus, do you have a moment to talk?” Her eyelashes fluttered, as if she were fighting back tears.

“Depends on what we’re going to talk about. If it’s you fucking around behind Edie’s back, I’m all ears.”

Bianca stared at him, hard. For a moment, the sweet, helpless facade pulled away and he got the distinct impression that she was pissed at him. Then she recovered, and gave her nose another touch with the tissue. “I’m not really sure what you want me to say to that—”

“The truth would be nice.”

“The truth is I didn’t do anything!” Bianca swiped at her eyes again, even though they didn’t seem all that wet to him. “It’s all a horrible misunderstanding.”

“Is it?”

“Yes! If Edie would just talk to me—”

“Did you sleep with Edie’s then-boyfriend?”

Again, the lash-fluttering blink. “That’s not—”

“Not what? Not the truth?”

Her lower lip stuck out. “Magnus, you’re judging me without hearing my part of the story.”

He made a grand gesture, then ruined it by sneezing. “Please,” he said, nose stuffed. “Tell me your part of the story and I’ll compare it with the truth.”

Her mouth opened, then shut again. “That’s not fair.”

“You know what’s not fair? Dragging me into your stupid little games and then fucking up the good thing I had with Edie. That’s what isn’t fair.”

“She won’t talk to me,” Bianca started again, and this time the tears seemed genuine. “She doesn’t want to speak to me at all.”

“Can you blame her? She trusted you. She trusted me, too, and look where it got her. A whole fuckton of betrayal.” He was so fucking pissed at Bianca. If he’d known the truth about what she was like, he’d have never agreed to deceive Edie. Never. “And as for people she wants to talk to, I’m not exactly high on that list, either. So you’re going to have to keep looking.”

She gave a fragile little tilt of her head, then sighed. “I’m just trying to bounce ideas off of you.”

Her words reminded him that he needed someone for that very thing, too. “I need help, too. You got a moment?”

Bianca licked her lips and her lashes fluttered. She leaned in, giving him a shot of her cleavage in the camera. “Of course I do. You can trust me.”

He’d sooner trust a fucking tarantula. “I need a big gesture.”

“Gesture like how?” She gave him one of those tiny, coy smiles. “You have big hands. Any gesture you do will be a big one.”

That fucking bitch. Was she flirting with him? Did she think that he was led by his dick like Levi was? “I mean when it comes to Edie. I need a big gesture to prove to her that I’m in love with her.”

“Oh, I’m not sure—”

He turned down the volume on her as she continued speaking and stared at her face for a moment, brainstorming. Then he went on. “Just buying her something won’t really prove to her that I care. Buying something is too easy for a guy like me. So it has to have meaning, and it has to have meaning to someone like Edie.” He rubbed his chin, thinking. “She loves her cats. She loves all cats. I’d love to do something that involved cats on a big scale that would show that I mean what I say, that I understand who she is and I love her. So it has to be big.” He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment, as Bianca kept silently talking, a puzzled look on her face in the camera. “Finding homes for all of the old elderly cats at shelters was my initial thought, but I keep getting hung up on how to find them homes. It’s almost like I’d need to build another shelter, but getting people to come to it is the problem. I’m just the computer geek . . .” He paused, thoughts spiraling through his head.

An app. He could build an app of some kind that would advertise cats to be adopted. But how to draw people in? Make it a game, of course. “Of course,” he murmured aloud. “A crazy-cat-lady game. Draw in the user, then send them to the location that you want. If they’re anything like me, once they meet the cats, they’ll fall in love.”

And then he had it.

Magnus snapped his fingers. “Thanks for the help, Bianca.” He clicked off the Skype and switched windows, sending a message to an old programmer buddy that was a whiz with creating apps on the fly.

Project: Romancing His Cat Lady was underway.

***

Three weeks later

Edie flipped over a couch cushion, upsetting a lounging cat. Sneezy meowed at her, gave her an indignant look, and then hobbled away to the bed. She finished turning over the couch, then dug through the laundry basket full of dirty clothing. After that, she checked the nightstands, under the bed, and in the bathroom that Gretchen had designated as “hers” until she moved out.

No phone. Where was it?

Edie had been reading a book in her room, curled up with her cats, when she realized that the day had been awfully quiet, and she felt rather . . . down. Today was the first day that her phone hadn’t rung off the hook with calls and texts from Magnus, and she was feeling a little neglected.

Okay, a lot. Didn’t the man care that she was hurting? Or had he just given up because it was too hard to win Edie back?

And why did the thought of that hurt even more?

Of course, once the thought was in her head, she couldn’t let it go. Her book no longer held interest, and the cats lounging on her lap made her twitch instead of relax. So she’d reached for the normal place that she kept her phone . . . only to find it missing.

That had started the grand phone hunt.

On one hand, she was glad it was missing. That meant she hadn’t been forgotten, technically. Maybe she’d find her phone and it’d be full of texts from Magnus. More sweet pictures of Lady C, whose pregnant belly was swollen with kittens. Or Lady D, curled up against his leg while he worked. More of the simple I miss you, I wish we could talk messages that melted her heart.

As long as her phone was missing, there was still hope.

It wasn’t in her room, though. Edie searched everywhere, and then searched the entire place again. When that turned up nothing, she backtracked her steps. Maybe the library? The gardens?

She ran into Gretchen in the main kitchen. She had a large knife and a cutting board out, and was dicing shallots. “Hey Eeeds,” Gretchen called out happily as she appeared. “You in the mood for quiche for lunch?”

“Sure, whatever. Hey, have you seen my phone? I’ve lost it.”

“Oh. Your phone?” The look on her face was a little too wide-eyed. “Gosh, I don’t know.”

Edie paused. A familiar cat-sticker-covered case was on the counter next to Gretchen’s cutting board. “That’s not it?”

“This?” Gretchen held it up innocently. “Is it yours? I found it in the library.”

Edie did her best not to snatch it from her friend’s hand. “Thank you.” She plucked it away and then ran a finger over the screen immediately, looking for new texts.

Nothing. Her heart sank. “Has it been ringing?”

“Nope,” Gretchen said. “So. Quiche? Do you like mushrooms?”

“Mushrooms are fine,” Edie said, pulling up a barstool and sitting at the kitchen island. She didn’t understand it. Not one text from Magnus? Really? She stared at her texts, willing something new to pop up. When it didn’t, she sighed and reduced the window on her phone.

Something on her phone . . . was different. She paged through the list of apps, then realized there was something new on the last page. The icon was the picture of . . . a cat head. Edie glanced up at Gretchen. “Were you using my phone?”

“Me? No. Why?”

“There’s a new app on here—one I didn’t install.”

“Gee, that sure is weird.” Gretchen’s face was the picture of innocence. “What is it?”

Edie clicked on it, then made a face at the cartoony title that came up. “Cat Lady Café? Seriously? Is this a joke?”

Gretchen just gave a high-pitched giggle.

Okay, that was totally fishy. She peered at her friend, then clicked on the Start button of the app.

Immediately, a loading screen appeared. As it did, it flashed up messages.

Did you know that there are thousands of pet-friendly apartments in New York City? Click here to find one!

Next, came a picture of a sweet-looking tortie cat with a bow on its neck. An adoption profile for the cat came up, and it was cleverly set up to look like a dating profile.

Name: Fiesta

A/S/L: 6, Female, Midtown Café

I’m a sweet, furry girl looking for my forever lap. Could you be the man (or lady) of my dreams? I’m open to Mr. Right Now as well as Mr. Right. I’m a sucker for seafood dates, long naps in sunshine, and a scratch behind the ears. To speed date me, go to the Midtown Café and come say hello.

Edie smiled at the screen, wondering at the mysterious Midtown Café that was mentioned. Then, the game started, and Edie was offered the ability to choose her cat lady. One had two braids like she liked to wear her hair, and she picked that one, a niggling suspicion starting to form in her mind. The game started, and as Edie thumbed through the controls, it seemed to be all about matching up cats to prospective owners through the use of puzzles, blocks, and trivia. As the screen loaded to the next level, she was shown another “dating profile,” this time for a beautiful Turkish Van cat named Moxie that only had one eye. Edie played a bit longer, but she eventually failed at the level, and instead of another cat picture, this time, she was shown a picture of a café.

Want to speed date a kitty or just come in for a cup of coffee? Feel the need for some feline company? Come check out Coffee N’ Cats, the first chain of cat cafés in NYC. We have two locations open and four more opening next month. Come in for coffee, pet our feline friends, and take an adoptee home with you. Coffee N’ Cats—Peace. Love. Paws. Coffee.

The logo of the café flashed up, and then was quickly followed by a Sullivan Games logo as the app closed.

Edie’s heart squeezed, hard.

Was this . . . Magnus? She looked up at Gretchen, her mouth open in shock. Gretchen had a ridiculous, huge smile on her face. Oh. Oh . . . This was him. This was Magnus proving that he loved her. Her game wizard was showing her that he was in this for the long haul. Her heart gave another squeeze again, and she felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Instead, she loaded the app once more, watching as profiles of different cats paraded through the game. The cats were never kittens, but older or “special needs.” Her heart felt as if it was going to burst in her chest when the Sullivan Games logo pulsed onto the screen again.

She looked up at Gretchen, her eyes misty and full of wonder. “When can we go?”

“Now, if you want to,” Gretchen said, and then gave a girlish squeal of excitement.

Edie felt a little like squealing herself. Instead, she just hugged her phone to her breast.

Chapter Eighteen

Coffee N’ Cats was located on a busy street corner, a temporary sign hung over the awning. It was easy to tell where it was—a crowd of people peered into the windows. A sidewalk chalkboard proclaimed the specials of the day, some of it coffee, and a picture of today’s “cat of the day.” Edie moved toward a window, peeking in. Sofas and tables were everywhere, and the place was crowded. Cat perches and carpeted cat jungle gyms filled the window, and everywhere she looked, there were cats. Cats being petted, cats lounging in the window appreciating the sunlight, cats chewing on a small flowerpot full of cat grass, and employees supervising things. As she watched, an employee in a Coffee N’ Cats T-shirt showed a toddler how to pet one of the cats while the mother took pictures with her phone.

Gretchen nudged Edie. “Let’s go inside and see what it’s like. Want to?”

Did she ever. They got in line to get in (There was an actual line! To see cats!) and waited their turn to get through the door. As they did, they were met at the entrance by an employee who was monitoring the busy doors to ensure that no cats got out. He handed them a coupon. “Hi, ladies. Today’s bachelor is Jiffy. He’s a neutered male orange cat. You’ll find him with the yellow collar on.”

“Thank you,” Edie murmured, taking the coupon. When the employee opened the door, she stepped inside. Immediately, a cat raced past her, chased by another cat. A ripple of laughter erupted from the patrons, and she glanced around. Everywhere, cats were being petted. Being loved. People sipped coffee, and in the corner, there was a booth labeled Adoptions and people were holding cats and waiting their turn to adopt.

It was . . . wonderful.

“All of this because of an app?” Edie asked, her throat aching around a knot that had formed there.

“Not just an app,” Gretchen told her. “An app plus stores plus everything else. I’m guessing the stores will cost a bit of money to set up, but it looks like they might end up being profitable. And if they’re not, I don’t know that Magnus cares. His main goal was getting people in front of the cats so they could see them to fall in love with them. He wasn’t a cat person until he got his first cat, and then it changed his mind. He thinks it’s sad that when people go to shelters, they pick out the young and the cute without regard to a slightly older cat that needs just as much love.”

“Really?” Her eyes were getting all misty. “How do you know all this?”

“I’m reading the back of the coupon,” Gretchen said, holding it up.

Oh. Edie flipped hers over.

Welcome to Coffee N’ Cats, the first chain of cat cafés in the United States! If you haven’t downloaded our free game, Cat Lady Café, check it out. What is Coffee N’ Cats about, you ask? Well, once upon a time, there was a man who had a problem. He fell in love with a lady who had a soft spot for shelter cats. Not just any shelter cats, but the old, the ugly, the special-needs cats. The unadoptables. This guy wanted to prove to his lady that he loved her, and he knew that finding loving homes for all these cats would surely melt her heart.

His main goal was getting people in front of these wonderful cats. He knew if they saw them outside of a shelter environment, where cats are scared and unhappy, that they would see the wonderful, funny personalities that these “unadoptables” have and they’d find new homes. Our hero wasn’t a cat person until he got his first cat, and she changed his mind. He thinks it’s sad that when people go to shelters, they pick out the young and the cute without regard to a slightly older cat that needs just as much love. Or maybe there’s a cat that needs a special medication and they can’t be bothered. These cats deserve a second chance.

That’s where Coffee N’ Cats comes in. We rescue the cats on “death row” at the local shelters. We feed them and give them a warm, secure place to stay and we slowly integrate them into the main dining area by creating a transition room. Once these cats are around people and not so scared, they’re welcome to prowl anywhere in the café.

Want to adopt one of our feline friends? At Coffee N’ Cats, all we ask is that you make a donation. All proceeds from donations go back to local shelters. We don’t make a dime off of our furry companions, only our coffee. So come in, pet a new friend, and maybe take one home with you.

There was some legalese at the bottom of the coupon, but her eyes were blurring with tears too much to read the fine print.

“You know what? I think I need a cup of coffee,” Gretchen said, hauling Edie forward by the arm.

Edie sniffed, swiping at her nose. “Okay.” She wanted to read that stupid coupon over and over again, memorize the words into her heart. Everywhere she looked, there were cats and people enjoying the cats. The adoption booth remained busy. Everywhere she looked, it was . . . perfect.

Utterly thoughtful, and utterly perfect.

“Hi, ladies, welcome to Coffee N’ Cats,” the barista chirped as Gretchen dragged Edie with her. “Our special of the day is Jiffy, a loving orange tabby who totally loves sleeping in laps and chasing a laser pointer. And the coffee’s pretty good, too.”

The special of the day was a cat? Edie burst into tears, alarming the girl behind the counter.

“Is . . . is she okay?”

“She just needs a moment,” Gretchen said, grabbing a wad of napkins on the counter and shoving them at Edie. “Can we get two cappuccinos?”

“Of course! Coming right up.”

Gretchen thumped money on the counter and looked over at Edie as she mopped her face. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” Edie said, then spotted a sign in the corner. Are you a senior citizen? Our coffee—and our companions—are free for you! Ask about our senior program. And she burst into tears again. “He—he—he’s going to lose so mu-much money on these places.”

“Number one,” Gretchen said, ticking off a finger. “He probably doesn’t care because he has boatloads. And number two, it’s probably a tax write-off and he could probably use a good one. And number three, it has you all weepy and probably ready to shuck your panties, am I right?”

She sure wasn’t wrong. As Edie looked around, she saw an elderly couple cuddling a cat that looked just like her Tripod. And the tears started again.

“Two cappuccinos,” the barista announced, and Gretchen snagged the tray. She pushed Edie toward an empty table—the only empty table in the place—in the back.

As they sat down, Gretchen exclaimed, “Oh, look, there’s a cat-treat dispenser at the table!” She hit the tab and a little bell chimed as the treats popped out. Immediately, a fat white cat showed up, meowing. Gretchen laughed. “This greedy gus already has the treat system figured out, don’t you?” She hauled the cat into her lap and snuggled it. “Mmm, I wonder if Igor needs a friend.”

Edie wiped her face again, smiling at the sight of Gretchen holding the cat. She took one of the cups from the tray and sipped it, noticing that even the mug and saucer were covered in cats. On a large TV monitor in the back of the café, the game was displayed, running on a loop.

It was all incredible. When had Magnus managed to do all this? She was amazed. It was . . . beyond anything she’d hoped. She’d asked him to prove that he loved her.

He had. He totally had. He’d found her weak spot and pried her open. She felt totally vulnerable . . . and yet so completely, utterly happy.

Magnus loved her enough to do all this. To take her crusade to the next level for her. This place was clever and trendy and he’d managed to work his own spin to get people to come in and check things out, all with the goal of saving shelter cats.

It was simply incredible.

And he’d done this . . . for her. She was going to start weeping again in a moment.

Gretchen fed the fat white cat his treats and reached for her coffee. As she did, her phone buzzed with an incoming message. “Let me get that,” Gretchen said, and set down the cat. He looked over at Edie, and she automatically picked him up, burying her face in the soft white fur and scratching him under his chin, the way her cats liked it. She might have sobbed into his fur a little, too. Just a little.

As she looked up, Gretchen had a smug smile on her face as she put away her phone. “Want to go see the transition room, Miss Cat Behaviorist?”

Edie’s heart thumped. Did this have anything to do with the text Gretchen had just received? God, she hoped so. “Of course I do.” She was hoping that when they opened the doors, there would be a green-eyed hero waiting on the other side.

And Edie might just fling her panties at him after all.

They put down their drinks, gave the cat one last cuddle before setting him down, and Gretchen flagged down an employee and explained they were looking for the cat transition room. Gretchen whispered something Edie couldn’t hear, and the employee nodded and waved them forward. “Follow me.”

They followed the employee through a door marked Staff Only and down a hall. “We have two transition rooms,” the girl was saying. “Because cats are territorial, we try to give them familiar smells and sounds before introducing them to the others. We pipe in café sounds twenty-four-seven so the cats aren’t freaked out by the noise, and they’re prepared when they go into the main room. We encourage employees to come and spend their breaks in the transition rooms in order to acclimate the cats to people. In addition, our managers tend to work in the transition rooms, too, so again, there’s always someone around.”

“What about cats that don’t acclimate to the café surroundings?” Edie had to know.

“We have six so far that we call our ‘shy’ guys.” The girl beamed. “The employees are fostering them at their personal residences and if we can manage to get them to integrate into the café, we get a bonus. I’m keeping my little Tucker though. He takes his asthma meds like a champ, and the café pays for the prescription, so it’s no cost to me.”

Edie’s heart clenched again. She had two asthmatic cats and knew how expensive inhalers could get. “That’s wonderful.” He’d truly thought of everything to ensure the cats would find a home. She’d never felt so utterly elated. “Do you guys have a vet on staff?”

“We do,” the employee agreed, pausing in front of a door at the end of the hall. It had a plaque marked Cat Inside! Watch the Door. “All of the cats are checked out and are spayed or neutered, as well as have all shots before we allow them to go into the main café.” She knocked on the door.

“Come in,” called a deep, too-familiar voice that made Edie’s toes curl. “It’s safe.”

The employee opened the door for them, gesturing they should enter. They did, Gretchen’s arm clutching at Edie’s so tightly that she couldn’t possibly run away. The room was a simple one, the size of a small office, with a few cat trees, a box for hiding in, a litter box, and a few motivational posters on the walls. Off to one side was a desk covered in paperwork. In the center of the room sat a man on a rolling desk chair.

There he was. His back was to them, but even from this angle, her mouth started watering in anticipation of his kiss. His touch. Her Magnus. Her sweet, thoughtful, clever Magnus. His broad shoulders were covered in a waffle-weave gray shirt, and as she watched, a tabby cat nose burrowed against his neck. He chuckled, and his hand brushed the long, silky fur of what looked like a Maine Coon cat. “This one’s a snuggler,” he said to no one in particular, his focus on the cat. “One day out of her cage and she’s already desperate for my attention.”

“I know what that’s like,” Edie said softly.

As she watched, his shoulders tensed, his entire form becoming aware of her.

“You know, I think that’s my cue to leave,” Gretchen announced, releasing her death grip on Edie’s arm. “I think I’m going to go chug some coffee and pet some cats. Let me know when you’re ready to leave, Eeeds.”

Edie nodded, her gaze still on Magnus. A moment later, the door shut, and then she was alone with him.

“I’d get up to greet you,” Magnus said, “but it’s taken me an hour to get this lady in my arms.”

“You’re patient,” she commented quietly. “That’s sweet.”

“Not really. I just have a plan of conquest.”

That made her smile. “Is that so?”

“Yup. I bathed in tuna before I got here. All part of the strategy.”

She giggled. “You did not.”

“I didn’t. I was kind of hoping you’d show up at some point.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Oh?”

Very slowly, he turned in his chair until he was facing her. The man was blatantly gorgeous, even in jeans and a casual shirt. Her gaze moved over him hungrily, noting his hair had grown out from its traditional short stubble. He had a few days’ growth of beard along his jaw, and circles under his eyes.

He’d never looked more gorgeous to Edie.

“Hi, stranger,” he said, smiling at her. His movements were stiff, his hands holding the cat as if he were burping a baby. “This one likes my neck, I think.”

“I see that.” Edie gave him a hesitant smile. “I got the app.”

“About time. I’ve been going mad over the last few days wondering if you’d seen it. I finally had Gretchen install it on your phone to ensure you’d get it.”

“She’s sneaky, that Gretchen,” Edie said. She stared at him awkwardly for a moment, full of longing and not sure how to confess it all. “You’ve been busy.”

“Incredibly busy,” he agreed, a smile in those green-gold eyes. “Putting all this together has been a madhouse since its inception. I’ve had two guys working on the app, sixteen managing the creation of the cat cafés, and god knows how many other people pulled in.” He gave a small shake of his head. “It’s turned into its own little industry.”

Tears blurred her eyes again. “And you did . . . all of this for me?”

“Of course I did,” Magnus said. He gently set the cat down on the floor and got to his feet. He moved toward her, and then she was enveloped by his cologne, the scent of his skin, the heat of him. He leaned in and brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “Don’t you think you’re worth it?”

“No one else does,” she said softly.

“No one else matters but me.”

She leaned into his touch. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed the hell out of you,” he admitted, cupping her cheeks and tilting her head back until she was looking up at him. Tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes. “Why are you crying?”

“A million reasons,” she admitted wryly, dashing her hands at her eyes, her fingers brushing against his.

“Give me a few of them.”

“I’m so incredibly . . . touched at all of this.” Edie gestured at the walls. “The café, the app, everything. I’m humbled at how much good you can do for these cats when all I can do is take them into a tiny townhouse—”

“Be fair to yourself,” Magnus butted in. “There’s a lot you can do with money, and you’ve done just fucking fine on your own. Don’t denigrate your efforts simply because I had extra cash to throw around.”

“—and I’m a little terrified,” she continued. “Okay, a lot terrified. I’m afraid of getting hurt, and afraid of letting you in again, and I’m even more afraid of what happens if I don’t. So here I am, scared out of my wits and desperately hoping that you’ve got a kiss or two left in there for me—”

His mouth swooped down on hers. His lips pressed to her own, and then Edie began to cry again, even as she kissed him with aching, needy little flicks of her tongue against his.

“I love you,” he murmured between frantic kisses. “Love you. Miss the hell out of you. Want you back. Please come back.”

“I miss you, too,” she told him, nuzzling her nose against his and closing her eyes. She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around him, soaking in his warmth, his big form, his everything. Her Magnus. Her fingers curled against his shirt. “How . . . how are you doing?” It felt weird to say, but she wanted to know how he’d been coping since she’d left. It felt like lifetimes.

“Fucking awful,” he told her, squeezing her smaller form against him. She wanted to die of happiness at the feel of those big hands on her. “Can’t sleep at night, and I’ve got seven cats roaming around—”

“Wait, seven?”

A massive grin flashed across his face. “Lady Cujo had her kittens. Five of them, right under my damn bed. She pulled the blankets off while I was working and by the time I came back, boom, kittens everywhere.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

He shrugged. “Find them homes when they get old enough. Get her fixed. Maybe keep one.” He gave her a sheepish look. “I’m becoming addicted to cats.”

And because that was the perfect thing to say, she stood on her tiptoes, ignoring the flare of her knee, and pressed her mouth to his. “I love you.”

Magnus groaned, pressing kisses to her mouth. “I love you, too. Come back to me. We’ll fill the apartment with cats and frighten everyone we know with our pet hoarding.”