Chapter 15 #2
and saw Via dashing around the café. What was she doing there? Dora was supposed to be handling the event.
Leo entered the building and accessed Pawsitive Vibes through the stairwell entrance. When he walked in, the first thing he
noticed was the fantastic smell—even more delicious than it usually was. Wonderful scents of coffee, vanilla, pumpkin spice,
cinnamon, everything fall. The second thing was Via standing behind the counter, looking as if she wanted to pull out her
hair from a slightly messy and very sexy updo.
She saw Leo and waved her hands at him in a shooing motion. “Whatever you need, I’m too busy.”
“I don’t need anything,” he said, stepping toward her. “Where’s Dora?”
“Sick as a dog.” Via set a tray of pumpkin cookies on the counter. “Throwing up all afternoon, she said. Charlie’s taking
care of her, so he can’t help. Birdie’s on a date with her husband and she does so much for the café, there’s no way I’m asking
her to come here. And Squeaks is being an absolute turd.”
“Squeaks?” The cookies looked scrumptious. Thick orange frosting covered the pumpkin shapes, and autumn-colored sprinkles were dotted all over them.
She motioned to the wall behind him and he turned to see the picture of a gray cat lying on its side and showing its back
to the audience in the Naughty Cat of the Week frame. Sir Meow had been dethroned.
Via took off her apron and stuffed it under the counter, then hurried from behind it. “She’ll be in kitty time-out for the
rest of the night. I hate it for her, but she has to learn the rules around here. I don’t need her being a pest while I have
to manage twenty dating guests.”
Leo only heard half of what she was saying, because the vision in front of him had captured his eyes and had his heart thumping.
He was used to seeing Via in her casual autumn clothes, but tonight she was dressed to the nines. Her hair was in that incredible
tousled updo, and she had on minimal silver jewelry, but if quizzed on what it was exactly, he’d fail. He was pinned in place
by her figure-hugging dress.
Long-sleeved with a square neckline that hinted at her cleavage, then narrowed to her waist and flared out right above the
knee. His gaze traveled down her amazing legs clad in sheer stockings to her black, high-heeled shoes with silver straps at
the ankle. His knees nearly buckled at the vision in front of him.
She held out her arms. “This is Dora’s. Is it too tight?”
He tried to speak but his voice was stuck. Clearing his throat, he managed two words. “You look . . .” Hot. Sexy. Breathtaking.
He’d need a thesaurus to fully describe Octavia Dalton.
“I look what?”
“Fine.” If he said anything more, he would end up swooping her up in his arms and kissing the daylights out of her right in front of Sir Meow, who was lounging on the couch, oblivious to his owner’s stressed mood.
And if he started kissing her, he knew he wouldn’t stop, and their friendly relationship would evaporate into oblivion.
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Well, that’s better than looking terrible.” She glanced up at the cat clock on the wall. “The guests
will be here in twenty minutes,” she said, sounding fully panicked. Via turned him around, pushed on his shoulders, and moved
him toward the exit, the heels of her shoes clicking on the floor. “You need to go.”
“Via—”
With a huge shove, she sent him through the doorway and shut the door behind him.
Leo spun around, facing the closed door. Relieved for it actually. He didn’t need to be around her anyway, not when she was
in that dress.
But she never wanted to have the Meow and Mingle event in the first place, and now she was stuck hosting it. He had sympathy
for Dora being sick, but it sucked that Via had to take up the slack.
There was nothing he could do about it, though. Not when she shoved him out of the café with surprising strength, especially
balancing on those heels. He absently wondered if they would be eye to eye now that she was wearing them . . . mouth to mouth . . .
Leo gave his head a hard shake. Twice. Then ran upstairs to do something he’d been doing a lot lately—take a cold shower.
Via had never been so mad at Dora in her life.
She also felt guilty about feeling that way.
Dora had been so excited to host Meow and Mingle and had spent most of the morning decorating the café for the event.
It looked spectacular. But three hours ago she’d called and said she couldn’t be there and begged Via to take over.
They had twenty RSVPs, so she didn’t have a choice. She dropped everything and drove over to her sister’s apartment. Dora
indeed looked like death, and Charlie had arrived ten minutes earlier to take care of her. Via didn’t own anything remotely
appropriate for the event, so she borrowed one of Dora’s dresses, some shapewear because she desperately needed it, and the
painfully high-heeled shoes, then hurried back to the café. Thank goodness Dora was as much of a planner as Via. Everything
was in place, including an agenda for the evening.
When she got back to Pawsitive Vibes, she changed in her office and did her hair in the cat-themed bathroom. She didn’t have
a full-length mirror or time to see how the dress looked on her. Even with the shapewear, she could feel a little roll around
her midsection, one her sister didn’t have. Then when Leo was staring at her and told her she just looked fine, she knew he
was being polite. Her midsection probably resembled a potato. Too late to do anything about it now. Hopefully tonight’s guests
would be too busy looking into each other’s eyes and petting the cats to notice her too-tight dress or her feet that were
already killing her.
Once she sent Leo on his way, she made another round of the café. She could hear Squeaks meowing from the back. The kitty
wouldn’t stop antagonizing Luna, who ended up giving her a strong swipe across the whiskers. Via was worried she’d drawn blood.
Thankfully not, but she couldn’t babysit her and host Meow and Mingle, so into time-out she went.
Ten minutes to showtime and she was already tired. She just had to get through tonight and she could relax for a little while. Tomorrow was camping, and that would give her a break. Leo had insisted on going with her but that was two weeks ago. She wasn’t holding him to it.
She moved to unlock the door in case anyone arrived early when she heard the stairwell door open. She frowned, thinking she’d
closed it all the way. She scanned the café for Sir Meow and didn’t see him, assuming he snuck out when Leo left. Well, he
was Leo’s problem now—
“Via.”
She turned at the sound of his deep voice, and her breath hitched, catching in her throat. He was wearing his suit, and this
time he had on a perfectly knotted gold tie that she was sure wasn’t designer brand and more likely one of Earl’s from Kmart.
Hair neatly combed, and he was freshly shaved. Lately he’d been sporting an irresistible scruff of a beard. But he was so
meltingly handsome clean-shaven too, looking like he just walked off the cover of the highest fashion magazine on the planet.
The word friend blinked in her brain like a flashing neon light, but she ignored it and let the delicious sensations flow through her.
“Do I look okay?”
His question forced her out of her stupor. “Yes.” An underwhelming response, because he looked way more than just okay. He
was perfection. “Where are you going all dressed up?”