“Her.”
Bronagh snorted. “Have you named ’er?”
“Yup.”
“Let’s hear it.”
I grinned. “Barbara.”
Like I knew she would, Bronagh burst into laughter.
“I’m not the least bit surprised,” she said, amused. “If you said a trendy name, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“What’s funny?” I heard Nico ask in the background.
“Alannah found a kitten, and she called ‘er Barbara.”
I smiled when he laughed and said, “I love that woman.”
Bronagh and I chatted for a while, and luckily, she didn’t mention anything about Gavin, which I secretly thanked God for. I was hoping that Alec would keep my phone call with Gavin to himself because if Bronagh confronted me about it, I was scared I would break my promise to Gavin and tell her everything about him becoming a father.
We had just hung up when my apartment buzzer rang. I walked over to the door and pressed the button for Alec to enter the building. I didn’t glance at the monitor to make sure it was him because Barbara was meowing like a banshee. When I eventually turned, and looked at the monitor, the entryway was empty, so I figured Alec had already entered the building. I unlocked my door for him, and went back over to the settee and gently stroked Barbara. She moved away from me when my hand initially touched her, then she seemed to relax and didn’t mind me scratching her ears.
My doorbell rang, so I shouted, “It’s open.”
I continued to rub Barbara, and when she moved back into the safety of the blanket, I turned to greet Alec and help him with the items he brought for me. Only it wasn’t Alec in my apartment, it was Damien, and he had two large carrier bags in his hands. I paused and stared at him with my lips parted in surprise.
What is he doing here?
“Where should I put these?”
I didn’t know what was in the bags, but I managed to say, “Kitchen, please.”
He went into the kitchen without a word, leaving me to stare after him. When he returned, he closed the front door and came into the sitting room, eyeing the blanket beside me.
“So, you found a cat?”
I nodded dumbly. “She was in a box between two cars in the car park, and I decided that we could keep one another company.”
“You rescued her,” Damien concluded.
“I guess so.”
“That’s admirable.”
Blood made its way to my cheeks at his praise.
“Where is Alec?” I asked, changing the subject.
“He called me and said he needed help getting some things for you, then he dropped me off with all the stuff.” He lifted his hand and scratched his neck. “I thought we could have that talk you mentioned earlier at Dominic’s place.”
My heart thrummed in my chest when I realised I had completely forgotten about asking him that. When Gavin phoned me, everything took a back seat in my mind, and I focused on my friend and his problem.
“O-okay.”
Damien’s eyes dropped to the blanket when it moved. “Did you name it?”
“Her.”
His lips twitched. “Sorry. Did you name her?”
“I picked Barbara.”
The smile that stretched across Damien’s face was transfixing.
“Does it suit her?”
“It does … I probably should have called her snowflake, like I call you.”
“Why?”
“She’s white all over, just like your hair.”
I reached into the blanket and removed Barbara, tugging the blanket away from her paws as the fabric got snagged on her nails. I held her on my chest, careful to place her slowly against me so her nails didn’t prick me like the needles they clearly were.
“Cool eyes,” Damien murmured as he leaned closer to get a look at her. “One blue and one green.”
I stilled as he hovered close by without any indication that he would move.
I blurted, “You’re makin’ me nervous.”
“By being here?”
I bobbed my head.
“You said you wanted to talk to me.”
“I-I do,” I stammered. “I’m just … just …”
“Scared?” he finished.
I exhaled a deep breath. “Immensely.”
“Do you want me to go?” he asked, frowning. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
That was exactly why I was nervous—because he didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, he made me feel … whole.
“Would you believe me if I said no?”
Damien’s lips parted with surprise, but nothing came out.
“Sit down,” I said to him. “It’s high time that I get this off me chest.”
Damien sat down on the settee across from me, and when he rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together, I knew he was as nervous as I felt, which allowed me to relax a little. I put the kitten back into the blanket on the settee next to me just to busy myself for a second or so. When I looked back at Damien, I spent a moment taking him in.
He was so handsome; it seemed unfair that someone could be born that beautiful. His hair, as always, was perfectly styled. It was tightly trimmed on the sides with a sick fade blending to his neck. His hair was thick; I knew from experience of touching it. It had a little length to it, not that anyone would know because he used hair gel and a hair dryer to get that perfect blown back comb over taper.