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“A litter box and litter are the first essentials,” she said, leading him to that aisle.

The litter box was easy enough, but Josh stared in awe at the selection of kitty litter. “Why are some of these so expensive?”

“Dunno. Various levels of scent-blocking crystals or whatever.”

“I’m sure these are all great, but I’m sorry, I’m not paying almost twenty dollars for something my cat pees on.”

Paige recommended the brands she bought for Bianca, and they moved onto food, which was even more overwhelming. “You work with Mr. Knightley,” Josh said. “Do you know what he eats?”

Paige laughed. “You say that like we’re colleagues.”

“I’m serious.”

“Lauren feeds the café cats this special food she special orders through the vet clinic that is supposed to be easy to digest and free of things cats are commonly allergic to. You don’t have to get that fancy. It might take a few tries to find something your cat really likes, because cats can be finicky eaters. But here’s what I feed Bianca.”

Josh picked out wet and dry food and told Paige to lead on.

“Well, you’ve got the basics. I’d also recommend getting some kind of scratching post and some toys.”

“Okay.”

“And to help relieve stress, you can get a pheromone diffuser.”

“A what now?”

They turned into the cat toy and treat aisle. “You can buy these diffusers that are like plug-in air fresheners, but they pump out pheromones that only cats can smell. They help calm cats down if they are stressed. And moving into a new home can be quite stressful.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Caleb recommends them to new cat parents because there’s some science that shows they really work.”

Josh seemed skeptical, but he said, “Well, let’s pick out some toys first.”

They stood before a display of toy mice in various sizes and colors. But Josh was drawn to a display down the aisle. Paige followed him and saw that there was a display of cat toys that looked likeStar Warscharacters. “Oh my god,” Josh said. “Mr. Knightley totally needs this Darth Vader mouse.”

“Darth Vader mouse sounds like a German opera.”

Josh chuckled and started giddily loading up the cart with pop culture–themed cat toys. Paige picked up a Superman mouse and tossed it at Josh. It hit his head, but he laughed and caught it before it hit the floor. He grabbed a Batman mouse and tossed it back at Paige. She laughed, although it hit her shoulder and then rolled onto the floor. She picked up Batman, but when she moved to drop it in the cart, Josh stopped her by placing his hand on her arm. Then he swooped down and kissed her.

“I hate to be the one who points this out,” said Paige, “but we haven’t even gone on a second date. And yet you keep stealing kisses.”

“We’replanningto go on a second date, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Orthisis our second date.” Josh scrunched up his face. “No, our next official date should be a smidge more romantic than shopping under these glaring fluorescent lights.”

“I thought you said no candlelight or tablecloths.”

“There’s gotta be a happy medium between candlelight and this.”

“I mean, we could get completely unromantic dinner after we drop all this stuff off at my place. There’s a sandwich shop near my place that makes a mean meatball parm.”

Paige hesitated. When Josh had texted her asking for help getting stuff for his new cat, she’d volunteered to help without thinking about it much, but going to dinner seemed to cross a line. Part of her was still freaking out about going out with him at all, although it was hard to deny that they enjoyed each other’s company. He was fun to be around, even doing something as mundane as picking out cat litter for his new cat. She liked him, genuinely so. And he obviously liked her as well, if he was pursuing her this hard.

It didn’t solve the problem of what Lauren would think, and Paige still worried about that. She wanted to say yes to Josh now. But instead, she said, “Rain check. I actually have a few more errands to run after this. I figured I could help you pick everything up, put you in a cab, and then finish everything else while I’m in this part of the neighborhood.”

“All right. We’ll do our date next week as planned.”