“Do you see yourself running for office?”
“No. No way. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes guy.”
“Ah, but you’ve got an altruistic streak, I bet. How much is the evil corporate law firm stomping on your heart?”
“A lot. But it’s… I don’t know. I got the internship at DCL at the right time, and I thought, sure, I can give this a try, get my feet wet. My boss when I was an intern was a great mentor, so I figured taking the job when I graduated would be a good way to get my law career off the ground. I’ve only been at it a couple of months, so it’s too soon to say whether I made a bad choice, but I don’t see myself staying with this firm until I make partner, if you get what I mean.”
“I do.”
Josh smiled. He supposed they had gone over this ground before. Big corporate job to pay off the student loans and get on his feet in his career, then he’d go off and pursue his passion. Just like Paige hadn’t wanted to work for a huge international bank her whole life. So she understood. Maybe working in a cat café wasn’t her passion, per se, but it seemed to make her happy.
He smiled at her. They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. Then behind him, he heard a quietmew.
He turned and saw a very fluffy white cat.
“That’s Bianca,” said Paige.
“Of course you have a cat. Lauren strikes again.”
Paige laughed. “Yes. Bianca lived at the café when I started working there. I will admit, I loved her at first sight. I hope bad things happen to the family that abandoned her.”
The cat stared at Josh intently, probably trying to work out the best way to kill him.
“She’s kind of a diva,” Paige said. “She already had her dinner, but she will now hover expectantly in case I decide this is the day I finally relent and let her have some people food.”
“George is pretty low-key, but I worry about leaving him alone so much.”
“Yeah. Cats are advertised as low maintenance, but they require more work than you think. This one lodges complaints about everything from the cleanliness of her litter box to the fact that her bowl is only half full. So I have to stay on top of things.”
Josh chuckled. “Lauren and I had cats growing up. My mom never believed in letting house cats go out, so the ones we had were all pretty lazy. Lauren used to joke that one of our cats was really more ornamental than anything else. She didn’t do much except drape herself over the furniture.”
Paige laughed, which Josh appreciated. He wanted to make her laugh more because he loved the sound of it. He went back to his tacos as he tried to think of something to say that would get her to laugh like that again.
Josh insisted on helping Paige clean up after they finished eating, and he liked working alongside her in the kitchen, even with how small it was. The cramped space gave him an excuse to bump into or brush against her. She giggled every time he did it, which was endearing.
“So how’d you get sprung so early tonight?” Paige asked, leading him over to the sofa in the other half of the main room.
“Just…coincidence. I happened to get through everything I needed to before sundown. That almost never happens.”
“I’m flattered you chose to spend your early night with me.”
“Of course.”
“You don’t know a lot of people in the city, do you?”
“Aside from my sister and my coworkers? No, not really. But I would have chosen you anyway. I think you’re awesome, if I haven’t said so recently.”
Paige’s face went pink and she looked down for a moment. “Thanks.”
“Hey, look at me,” he said.
When her gaze met his, he leaned over and kissed her. She still kissed better than anyone he’d ever kissed.
“I was serious about having you for dessert,” he said.
She blushed. “Oh, really?”
“Maybe you want to show me the bedroom?”
