“Did you hear from Felix?”
While I had never met the guy, the story of his arrogance and ridiculous over the top actions had caught my attention. But more, we were actually puzzled by him.
“I haven’t heard a thing. Just that his FMLA has another six weeks on it, and then he had to either come back or take whatever position they have for him.” Chase folded his arms and leaned back on the counter. “I am actually worried about him, and can’t even begin to think of what could be going on.”
“Could be rehab,” I answered.
“No. I mean, I don’tthinkit’s that. He never seemed the type to be into the nose candy. I hope he comes back soon. I’m tired of doing his work and the client is getting impatient with mydifferent style than Felixattitude.” He snorted. “Yelling at me doesn’t do anything, buddy. Every artist is different.”
“Man, tell me about that,” I mumbled.
“How’s the big contract coming?” He smiled, cuddling MC who had perched on his shoulder.
“Everything is rolling along.” I smiled. “We’ll have the first five episodes done next week. I am really thrilled at how they are coming out.”
The very pit of my stomach flipped. I’d been warned today that Roberts was going to be in, and I was glad I wasn’t wasting a vacation day. But three times in the last month, he’d violated the rider—not just violated it, but somehow managed to wander into the large editing room Sorcha and I were working in.
She’d screamed at him to get out. He did. But somehow he’d managed to get back in when she wasn’t there. I had to grab my bag and leave before he said a word. I didn’t want to be the one running away from him, but I had no choice. There was law involved.
I hadn’t told Chase about the whole thing, because that meant I would have to explain everything to him, and I wasn’t ready to revisit that yet. I was going to have to, soon, because I realized I wanted Chase to be the real thing for me.
Everything that had happened in the past month felt so very real to me. He was just this expanding ball of personality. He loved the cats, and he loved Pollux and I could just spend hours and hours with him.
I did, in fact. Either in his place or mine. We had defiled just about every surface and cushion in both apartments. The sex was just amazing, and so were the calm mornings with coffee and croissants. I also thought it was time to have the conversation. We were sleeping in each other’s beds almost every night, anyway.
I just had no idea how to approach the “move in with me” conversation. I’d never ever had to think about it before. And I didn’t know if just two months was really enough.
“Well, thank you for taking MC to the vet today.”
“You know he loves her.” I smiled. “He’s always happy to see a happy ending for a street cat.”
“That he is,” Chase said. “I wonder how he makes any money to stay in business.”
“Because there are people like Mrs. Colmanetti who call him all hours of the day asking about Mimi’s hang nail.”
“It’s Marguerite Magnificent. Not Mimi.”
I leveled a gaze at him, and he cracked up laughing. “Okay, fine. Point taken.”
I cleared my throat. “So. I was thinking.”
Bang!Bang!Bang!
That was one of the most threatening knocks I’d ever heard. And I had been on the wrong end of police knocks. I looked at Chase, who seemed confused.
“You weren’t expecting anyone?” I asked.
“No…are they looking for you maybe?”
“Shit, I hope not,” I mumbled.
He headed over the door, putting MC back on her perch at the back of the couch. Thebang! came again, and he hesitated to pull it open.
“Don’t wait,” I said. “If the cops want in, they’ll break the door.”
“Cops?” His eyes snapped to mine.
“Mistaken identity, or bad address,” I said. “Not that I think you’re dealing drugs or committing felonies.”
