Page 49 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Marigold
Just when she thought two men covered in herb-infused olive oil, wrestling on her kitchen floor was a new low, along came another.
Apparently, Tomas hadn’t paid off their furniture, like he claimed. Mari held her plate of chicken and mac and cheese, shocked and unable to process what was happening as the repo people carted away her table and chairs. Joseph, thankfully, had the wherewithal to clear off their dinner.
“I don’t understand,” she muttered. “Did you send an overdue notice? I’ve been checking my mail.”
“Payment was due today. If you got the credits on you now, we’ll bring your stuff back,” the man said, barely glancing up from his clipboard. “Copper pots and pans set?”
She pointed to the cabinet under the cooktop and said, “Take it. I don’t want to look at it.” Not to mention she didn’t have the credits, but she also didn’t want to look at the junk anymore. The furniture, the painting on the wall, even the pots and pans, were artifacts from a previous life.
“Think of it like having movers you don’t have to pay for,” Joseph said helpfully.
“I already have that. I have you.”
He snorted. “Oh no, you were going to pay.”
Winter emerged from the back, brow furrowed as two men carried out the sofa.
This was embarrassing. “Good shower?” she asked, desperate to do anything other than explain why strangers were carting off her possessions.
“Ah, yes. The water pressure was adequate.” His tail twitched behind him. “I must apologize for my behavior. You were not who I expected, but my reaction was uncalled for,” he said, speaking to Joseph.
Her brother’s brows hiked right up to his hairline. “If Tomas walked through the door, I’d tackle him too.”
“Regardless. Now,” he gave Joseph a brief nod and turned to speak to Mari, “I must retrieve my kit before he spends all my credit on books. I will see you on the ship tomorrow?”
“I’ll be there,” Mari said.
As Winter left, Joseph elbowed her in the side. “Ow! Stop it.”
“Then stop staring at his butt,” Joseph said.
“I was not.”
“Was too,” her brother retorted, clearly at the height of his sibling sass-back game.
Maybe she stared a little. It was a nice butt.
The repo team moved the furniture out one piece at a time. She sat on the floor, hugging the potted plant in desperate need of a good watering, and ate chicken right out of the container. She wasn’t going to get emotional. This was only stuff.
Joseph took a swig from the wine bottle, winced, then passed it to her.
She gagged at the taste of the wine and pushed the bottle back at him. “That’s awful. Why did you buy such a bad wine?”
“It’s not bad. It was dropped. I told you that.”
“Fuck it. Give it back.” The wine tasted just as terrible the second time around, but as the warmth of the wine spread through her, she found she didn’t care.
The repo team carried out the sofa and chairs, rolled up the carpet that always reminded her of sunshine and flowers, and dismantled the entertainment center. They emptied her clothes from the wardrobe and dresser into a pile on the bed, then carted those away. All that remained was the mattress on the floor and a pile of her clothes.
“I don’t even care,” she said. “It’s not like when Tomas and I picked out the furniture, it was because we were starting our life together and I was happy. I wasn’t.”
“You were,” Joseph said, taking the last swing from the bottle.
“I was not.”
“A little.”
