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Chapter Forty-Eight

C lover sighed heavily as she swept the floor of the kitten room at Pets and Scritches. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since Whit had summarily rejected her, and she still couldn’t let it go. After her embarrassment had worn off, she was left with irritation.

We’re married, for goddess’s sake! Does he expect me to be both faithful and celibate for the rest of my life?

She clenched the broom in her fists. I was prepared to take things slow, but I thought I saw his desire a few times. An unbidden image of Faustina’s dark eyes and perfect frame rose to Clover’s mind. We’re nothing alike… Am I just not to his taste? I’ve always been the one to initiate…

“You all right?” Orion asked, tying up a bag he’d just scooped soiled cat litter into. “You seem…annoyed.”

“I’m fine,” Clover snapped.

Orion raised his eyebrows. “You want to try that again?”

Clover sighed loudly, putting more sound than air into the expression. Her eyes shifted quickly to Orion. “Orion, you’re a man.”

“Glad you noticed,” he said.

“Objectively speaking, I’m an attractive woman. Am I not?”

Orion took his time looking her over, then he smiled. “I’d argue with anyone who said otherwise.”

The feeling of vindication that surfaced within her did nothing to temper her frustration.

Orion tilted his head. “Is there…something you’d like to talk about? Or did you just need an ego boost?”

Clover bit her cheek. “I don’t want to burden you with…personal stuff.”

Orion shrugged lightly. “I don’t want you to tell me if you’re uncomfortable. But I, for one, would like to become better friends with you. Unburdening our worries to each other is what friends do, right?”

Clover resisted the urge to blurt out her problem. The fact was this was a conversation she’d normally have with Ari or maybe Erie. But they still had reservations about Whit, and this incident wouldn’t help the matter. Plus, they were still all wrapped up in the summer versus winter thing, and she didn’t think this had anything to do with being a witch.

Orion is an ordinary and a man… He might be able to help.

Sighing yet again, Clover turned fully toward Orion. “Okay…how do I put this? My husband…doesn’t seem very interested in me.” She gave him a significant look that carried her meaning.

A line of confusion formed between his eyebrows. “How long have you been married?”

“Two weeks Friday.”

“I mean…that seems a little soon to lose interest unless you’ve been together for a really long time.”

Clover shook her head.

“Is he just busy? Maybe he’s tired.”

“I don’t think so,” Clover said.

Orion grimaced. “Did you have a fight?”

“No.”

“That’s really weird, I mean, especially if there has been a sudden change in…interest.”

Clover gnawed on her lip, glancing around at the cat trees and beds with sleeping kittens. “And if there hasn’t?” she murmured.

Orion snorted. “What are you saying? That you and your husband have never been intimate?”

Clover dropped her head and peeked up at him through her lashes.

“Really?” Orion said louder and higher than before.

Clover shook her head. Saying nothing at this point was preferable to explaining.

Orion wrinkled his nose, his front teeth hanging out as he squinted in confusion. He started as if to say something but only grunted. Trying again, he said, “If that’s the case…maybe he’s just…nervous? Is he religious or something?”

Not in the way you’re thinking. “No, he’s not religious. And in any case, we’re married.”

Orion shook his head seriously. “I don’t know what else to say, Clover. It’s just as baffling to me as it is to you—more so probably. I mean, if I had a wife like you, I’d have a hard time keeping my libido under control. And I can’t imagine any circumstances in which I’d turn you down if you wanted it.”

Clover blinked at his words, delivered with such matter-of-fact nonchalance. Did he just make a pass at me?

“What I will say for certain,” he continued as if he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary, “is that you deserve to be loved and appreciated. As a friend, I suggest you have a conversation with your husband. But, on the other hand, fuck that guy. If he doesn’t know how lucky he is, then he deserves to lose it. If he’s not careful, he’s going to wake up one day and be awfully lonely. A woman like you isn’t without options.”

He is definitely making a pass at me. “Thanks, Orion,” she responded in a friendly, purposely oblivious tone. “I probably should talk to him. It’s just awkward, you know?”

Orion quirked a smile. “More awkward than talking to someone you barely know about how your husband isn’t satisfying you?”

Clover’s face flushed. “Hey! You said we were friends.”

Orion laughed. “We are. But damn, you just dropped a heavy issue on me pretty early on in our friendship.”

Clover lowered her face. “Sorry,” she muttered.

“Oh, come on. Don’t make that cute, pouty face. I know what will cheer you up.”

“What?” Clover asked, her tone suspicious and uncertain.

“Now, that we’re done cleaning, we get to play with the kittens.”

Clover looked around. “But they’re all sleeping. We shouldn’t wake them up. Kittens need a lot of sleep.”

Orion glanced around at the cat babies. “You’re right. Okay, how about this? Someone brought in a new kitten they found under their porch today. It had been crying for days, and the mama never came back. How about you name it?”

Clover beamed as her worries temporarily lifted. “Really?”

Orion nodded.

“Which one is it?”

“I think she’s over here.” Orion carefully crossed the room to the corner farthest from the giant window and opposite the door. He knelt down near a cat cave and looked inside. “Yep, she’s been hiding in there most of the day, according to Amy.”

Clover crept closer and dropped to her knees, hunching down to look inside at the sleeping kitten.

She was so tiny with sleek white fur and a perfect pink nose.

“What do you think?” Orion asked. “What should we call her?”

Clover reached out and gently stroked the sleeping baby. “Let’s call her Lychee.”