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seven
ELAINA
My cell displayreads 12:47 p.m., but I’ve been ready for hours, pacing the apartment with Captain Crunchypants in my arms like a furry, purring security blanket, wondering if I’m being brave and bold or…completely crazy.
Now, we’re downstairs, standing beside my giant—but probably not over sixty pounds…probably—suitcase, waiting for a very bad man to come pick us up and whisk us back to his castle in the concrete jungle.
It’s all very Beauty and the Beast. An innocent young woman, a broken, jaded older man, a cute animal sidekick who kind of looks like a teapot when he’s curled up for a nap at the foot of the bed…
“Except I’m not innocent,” I tell the Captain, kissing his silky soft head. “And you aren’t a teapot, and Hunter is only going to lock me in his castle until he knocks me up or his mother dies. One or the other.”
The Captain rolls his head back, staring at me with golden eyes that seem to ask me to listen to myself. Toreallylisten and evaluate if this is the kind of chaos I’m looking for, especially while trying to get pregnant.
“It’s too late now,” I mutter. “I could already be pregnant.”
My sassy cat croaks out a rusty meow that sounds like, “You crazy slut, I love you,” and I laugh.
“I know. Iama crazy slut, but I couldn’t help it.” I sigh, my blood humming as memories of Hunter fucking me like a freight train in the lifeguard hut fill my head. “If you’d seen him in that suit, you wouldn’t have been able to resist, either. He was way too magically delicious.” I pull in a bracing breath as I turn to pace back the other way. “So, what’s done, is done. We’re on the path and it’s too late to turn back now. I figure…it’ll either be the best decision I’ve ever made or a complete disaster. Either way, you and I will always have each other. That’s never going to change.”
The Captain purrs louder and headbutts my chin, proving he’s the best buddy a girl could ask for.
He’s rumbling so loud that I don’t notice the softer rumble of an engine until the sleek black car with tinted windows is halfway up the alley behind the café. But when I do, my heart starts racing again, triple-time.
This is it. The moment the timeline of my life splits in two—to before I took Hunter Mendelssohn up on his wild bargain and after.
I send out a silent hope that this time next year I’ll be holding the Captainanda baby in my arms in my New York apartment.
The moment the car pulls to a stop in front of us, Hunter emerges from the back seat, looking devastatingly handsome in a charcoal suit that probably cost more than my monthly rent.
But he doesn’t smile, wish me a good afternoon, reach for my suitcase, or insist we run upstairs for a quickie. He simply narrows his stormy eyes on the cat in my arms and grunts.
“No.” He shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”
I blink. “What do you mean, no?”
“No. No animals. The cat isn’t part of the agreement.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“It’s not in the contract.”
“But I—” I break off, fighting to regain control of the panic flooding my nervous system, and offer a reasonable argument. Hunter isn’t the kind to be swayed by emotion. After a beat, I continue, “I’m sorry for any confusion, but the Captain is like my child. I assumed you understood that, and there was no need to state explicitly in the contract that he would be joining me in the city. I made a commitment to him when I adopted him that I would always be his mom. We’re family, and you don’t separate family.”
Hunter’s expression softens a fraction, but his tone is still unyielding as he says, “My mother is allergic to cats. Severely allergic. And we’ll be spending a lot of time with her. With her health already so precarious, I can’t risk her having an allergic reaction.”
“Oh.” My stomach bottoms out as I look down at my sweet boy. “I didn’t think about the possibility of something like that.”
“Clearly.” But his tone has lost its edge. He moves closer, careful to keep the sleeve of his expensive suit away from the Captain’s reaching paw. Hunter might not be able to stand my cat, but the Captain loves him. “It’s only temporary. Once my mother…” He trails off, a shadow crossing his face. The reminder of why we’re doing this makes my chest ache. “Once you’re settled in the city for the long term, he can join you. Him and as many other cats as your HOA will allow.”
A lump forms in my throat. “I guess I could ask Kira to watch him, along with the rest of the café cats.”
“Don’t cry.” He reaches out, brushing a tear I didn’t realize had escaped my eye from my cheek. “This isn’t forever. Nothing is. It’s the worst and best part of being human.”
I sigh. “Don’t get philosophical at a time like this.”
“Times like this are when we need philosophy. It offers perspective. Everything we suffer has been suffered before. It’s not unique, and it’s not personal.”
I nod, understanding he’s talking about more than me leaving my cat behind. Someone he loves will be leaving, soon, too, and she won’t be coming to live with him somewhere down the line…