Page 13 of Hell's Kitten

I also can’t hide up here forever, so with a sigh, I head back downstairs. I’m way, seriously overdue back in the café anyway. So I need to make sure Jessie is settled, then run back down there. First, we need to talk through a few things, though.

But all thoughts fall out of my head as I walk back into the living room and see that he’s still sitting on the floor, surrounded by most of my pride of wayward cats. He’s calmly stroking them and letting them sniff him and climb all over him. He’s smiling and murmuring softly to them, his brown eyes sparkling with excitement.

He wasn’t kidding. He really does love cats.

It’s impossible to stop my heart from melting at the sight. If I were any kind of photographer or artist, I’m sure I’d be itching to capture the moment. As it is, I just stare for as long as possible, hungrily committing the image to my mind.

Eventually, he notices me and grins in my direction. “I can’t believe you’re really going to let me stay with all these amazing fur babies,” he says. I don’t miss how his voice catches with emotion. “Thank you, Nim. This is like a dream.”

I shrug and shove my hands into my pockets. “S’okay,” I say. “Stay as long as you need.”

He bites his lip and looks down at the kitty he’s currently petting. They’re wearing a purple collar, so it’s got to be Leo.

“I don’t want to be an imposition,” he says, sounding unsure.

“You’re not,” I tell him honestly. No one else is using that room, are they?

He nods, but he still looks worried. “How much rent do you want to charge? It might take me a minute to start paying, but once I get a job, I can?—”

I manage to cut him off by shaking my hands and taking a step closer. “No rent. Don’t worry.”

He blinks at me. “I can’t just live here for free.”

I shrug again. “You’ll probably need to buy your share of groceries,” I admit. I want to take care of him, but I do have to be realistic.

He blinks at me. “Of course I will, but…” He casts his gaze around before his eyes light up. “How about until I get a job, I can take care of the kitties? I bet just feeding them and cleaning out their litter boxes takes a fair bit of time.”

I won’t lie, I almost whimper at the thought of an extra hour in bed each morning. I would never, ever neglect my cats. But he’s right. Having ten of them takes up a lot of time when my day starts so early as it is.

“Sure,” I grunt. “And if you don’t mind doing that…well, you could help out in the café too. I can pay you minimum wage.”

His eyes widen. It’s amazing how much that makes me want to squirm.I’msupposed to be the Daddy here, for crying out loud.

“I thought you weren’t hiring,” he says slowly.

“We’re not,” I say honestly. “But I can squeeze in a few hours’ pay from the budget if that’s what you want. Butnopaying rent. Save it up for a deposit when you move.”

His mouth is hanging open, but it soon stretches into a wide grin. Carefully, he detangles himself from my cats, then he dashes over to me. I’m not prepared for the way he throws his arms around my neck, standing on his tiptoes and squealing.Fuck.He feels so good. Hesmellsso good despite sleeping in his car the night before.

“Thank you, thank you,thank you!”he cries, giving me an extra tight squeeze before letting me go. He dances on the spot, wiggling his fingers, probably completely oblivious as to how fast my heart is racing. “I will be the best cat servant you’ve ever seen, I promise! Just tell me what to do.”

He licks his lips and looks so earnestly at me my brain is dangerously close to blinking out on me again. “Uhh…they’re good for now. I need to get back to the café. How about a tour? You can, uh, shower and get comfortable until I get back.”

“Sure,” he says with a nod and a smile. “Well, I’ve already seen the living room, so that’s a good start. I enjoy that there’s only one sofa and five cat trees. Seems like a sensible ratio.”

He pokes out his tongue and sways from side to side. I’m not always sure if he’s joking when he says things like that. My old man wielded sarcasm with excruciating consequences. But when Jessie teases, it feels warm. Considering how broken and apologetic he was when we met, it’s quite remarkable that this cheeky side is still so strong. He’s challenging without being annoying or mean. He’d make someone a beautiful boy or kitten, I’m sure.

Not me, though.

I clear my throat and try not to think about what will happen if we both want to watch TV and there’s only one sofa. Hopefully, he’ll want to watch his own sort of stuff on his laptop or something. We can cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

“The kitchen’s through here,” I say, turning and walking through the archway. “Most of the cats know to stay off thecounter. I’ve got anti-bacterial wipes in the cupboard here if you need them, but I don’t ever spray the cats with water or anything to keep them down.”

I’m very firm about that. If he’s got a problem with that rule, he’ll be looking for a new apartment sooner rather than later.

He’s frowning at me. “Of course not,” he says, reaching out to stroke Taurus, who has—on cue—jumped up to swish her tail in our faces. “This is their home as much as ours. I’ll just work around them.”

I let out the breath I wasn’t aware I’d been holding. It’s not like I meant to set him a sneaky test or anything, but it still feels good that he passed.

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