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“Why not? I have a feeling a tom cat like him knows all about the birds and the bees. Come to think of it, why doesn’t he have a girlfriend? He deserves to have as much fun as you do,” he said, winking.
Linda gave him a stern look. “He’s been fixed.”
“Ouch! You didn’t.” Gerard looked pained. “How could you?”
“Because it’s what responsible cat owners do. If I hadn’t, he’d be humping all the female cats in the neighborhood, fighting with all the males, and leaving single cat-moms and abandoned cat-babies all over the countryside. Until someone invents another form of birth control for cats, it’s…” She made a snipping motion with her fingers.
Gerard winced. “I’m not a veterinarian, but when you put it like that, I’m tempted to try and invent something less drastic.”
She chuckled. “You have your hands full as it is.”
“Yeah.” He ran his hand through his tousled hair. “I need to call Mrs. Orwell and tell her I won’t be going into the clinic for a few days.”
“Go. In the meantime, I’ll make breakfast.”
He bent to kiss her, taking the opportunity to stroke her ass. Watching his as he left the room, Linda considered herself to be one lucky woman.
She poured coffee, then fried bacon and scrambled some eggs, adding slices of cheese and tomato to garnish the plates. Considering the mess at Gerard’s flat, they would both need additional energy to clean that up.
When Gerard returned, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, his face was serious.
“This looks excellent, thank you.”
“Sit. After we eat, we’ll go to your place and start cleaning,” Linda said, sitting beside him at the island.
“I appreciate it, but you know you don’t have to—”
“Save your breath. I don’t have to, I want to. Is that okay?”
His lips twitched. “It is, and thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s eat.”
Last night, before going to bed, Gerard had changed his passwords. Since there was rarely anyone available in the middle of the night, he would call his bank and the credit card companies this morning to explain what had happened.
Linda didn’t think he had anything to worry about. Identity and electronic theft had gotten more complicated these days. Given the mess the burglar had left behind, she doubted he had the savvy to use Gerard’s data to access his bank account. Most likely, it was as Gerard had said. Some doped up kid looking for money and easy-to-sell gadgets.
“I wonder why your apartment was the only one to get hit,” she mused, barely aware she’d spoken aloud.
Gerard forked in a bite of egg, but the morsel didn’t reach his mouth.
“I don’t know. Most of the other tenants are elderly people who would’ve been home. I doubt they own any electronics, but now that you mention it, it is weird. I hope the police find something, but it’s a long shot, if you get my drift.”
“I do.” She chewed and swallowed. “Too many cold cases, especially break-ins. The police can’t keep up with the criminals.”
Pirata distracted her by giving a short meow. Linda broke off a piece of bacon and leaned down to give it to the greedy cat.
“He’s just had breakfast,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s just like your Big Blue. He would eat non-stop if I let him. Speaking of which, who’s going to take care of your fish while we’re gone? I mean, are we still going to Romania?”
“We are. In fact, I’ll buy the tickets right after we eat.”
“We’llbuy the tickets,” she emphasized.
Gerard put down his fork. “I invited you, so I’ll buy the tickets. No more arguments, okay?”
She chose to give in because he still looked incredibly tired.
“Fine. So, what will you do about your fish?”
