Page 16 of Hell's Kitten

“Yes, yes, I’m here,” I assure them through a yawn. Suddenly, I’m exhausted. I guess it’s been a couple of crazy days. Nim is due home any minute, so it won’t hurt if I maybe lie down on the sofa for a moment and close my eyes. There’s even a blanket hanging over the back that I pull over me. Before I snuggle down, I turn off my music and set an alarm on my charged-up phone so the lasagna doesn’t catch fire.

But then I’m ensconced on the couch with a number of kitties curling up around me, purring softly. I’m pretty sure this is some kind of heaven. Yeah, a little cat nap won’t hurt, I’m sure…

CHAPTER 8

Nim

It would beawesome if I could take my mind off Jessie for two seconds or more. I try and focus on serving customers and replenishing stock, but my brain is stuck on a loop, thinking about the adorable human kitten I’ve stashed upstairs in my apartment. I told him to take a shower, for crying out loud. That means he’s going to benaked.

Even if I wanted to forget about him, every now and then, I catch a snippet of loud singing coming through the ceiling and glance upward, assuming that has to be him. Nobody’s ever been in my home while I’ve been at work before, except for the cats, so I had no idea if sound traveled or not.

Apparently, it does.

I cast my eyes down again and find Leah grinning at me. She’s still making three coffees at once, but that isn’t stopping her from doing whatever is going on with her face.

“What?” I grunt.

She holds her hands up. “Did I say anything?”

“Not with your mouth,” I grumble, rearranging cookies.

We’re getting close to the end of the day, so it’s time to bundle what we have left all together in the hopes of selling it before we close. Whatever’s still here after that gets boxed upand taken to the town’s retirement home. They insist on paying me pennies for it, but I’d give it to them for free if I could. I abhor food waste, plus I know what it’s like to feel like you’ve been forgotten about. Some of those residents never get any visitors. I like to think my goodies give them something to look forward to every day.

Leah has apparently served her coffees and is now back to grinning in front of me like a lunatic. As we’re nearing closing, that also means our walk-in customers have dwindled to only one or two every few minutes. Sadly, that means I’m limited with things I can distract her with.

“So you went out to apologize to that adorable boy, and instead ended up bringing himhomewith you like he’s one of these kittens here.”

Automatically, I glance down to where the tabby spent most of his afternoon, but I’m not wearing my jacket anymore. I’ve put him back in his pen for the evening, so he can’t protect me from Leah’s infuriating insinuations.

“I’m just helping him out,” I mumble, moving around her. I don’t have an objective in mind other than to get away from her. But there’s nowhere to go without leaving her to fend for herself at the counter, and I did that for long enough today already. Sighing, I turn back around, feeling defeated.

Sure enough, she’s beaming with her hands on her hips. “Uh-huh. And the fact that he’s an adorable, pretty kitty boy has nothing to do with it.”

Damn it.I wish I’d never drunkenly confessed to her once that I was a kitten Daddy. She was never uncool about it, but it meant right now, she knew far more than I was comfortable with.

“No, it doesn’t,” I insist.

It’s partly true. Yeah, his nature kicked off all my protective instincts. But like I promised myself earlier—nothing is evergoing to happen. He’s depending on me for his accommodation. I couldn’t possibly put him in an uncomfortable position.

She opens her mouth, I imagine to argue some more, but a customer appears behind her.

“Excuse me?” a prim woman in her forties or fifties says. Her blonde hair is in an immaculate bun on top of her head, and her lips and long nails are all crimson.

“Hi, there,” Leah says immediately, spinning around with her friendly face plastered on. “How can I help you?”

“I’d like to speak to your manager,” the woman replies with a cool smile.

Give me strength,I think as I trudge forward. “Yep, hi,” I say, not in the mood for any bullshit. We’re supposed to close our doors at four and have everything sorted by five. The night staff will come in to clean and tend to the cats later in the evening, but I’m keen to leave on time today.

I’ve got someone waiting for me for the first time ever.

She’s still got that smile on her red lips that doesn’t meet her eyes as she waves her hand around. “Is all this really hygienic?”

I frown and cross my arms. “Yeah,” I say, not sure what else to add.

Leah jumps in, of course. There’s a reason she’s supposed to be the one who does the heavy lifting with customer service. But people always want the damned manager.

“You can see all our certifications on the wall here, ma’am,” she says brightly, waving her own hand. “We have strict procedures for keeping our kitties out of the food prep area. All baking actually happens off-site, and we basically just unwrap and display all our food. The coffee is freshly brewed, though. Can I interest you in one?”

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