A Brush with Love(16)

“I’ll be okay,” he said gently, brushing a hand across her cheek. “Please, don’t worry about me. But stay in here. I don’t want whatever it is to attack you.”

His panic mixed with a throbbing sense of heroic pride as he saw the glint in her eyes. He moved her away from the door and steadied his hand on the knob. With a deep breath, he counted to three then whipped the door open, blocking the entrance so the animal couldn’t get to Harper.

His eyes darted around, ready to fight off an attack. They landed on a huge pile of long, gray fur sitting right outside the door. His mind couldn’t process the weird, now docile, creature stretched out before him.

It gave a tiny mewl and rolled to show a white belly. What the fuck was it?

Dan heard sobs coming from behind him, and he turned to comfort Harper, ready to tell her whatever it was, it seemed calm, and she was safe. Instead, she was doubled over, gasping for air through laughter. He stood there, dumbfounded by her strange coping method for fear.

“Are you okay?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes as she stood. “I don’t mean to laugh. You were so chivalrous and ready to fight.” With that, she snorted and laughed even harder.

“Are you really not concerned that there’s a wild animal in your apartment?” He still couldn’t control the edge of panic in his voice.

She took a steadying breath. “It’s my cat, Dan! It’s Judy. Judy, the cat.”

Dan turned his head in disbelief to look at it. It was stretched out, close to four feet long, tufts of long gray and black fur draped around it on the floor. He guessed it weighed close to thirty pounds, maybe more. Its large amber eyes stared at him as it rolled back and forth in search of attention.

“That’s a … cat?” He turned back to Harper, eyes wide with confusion.

“Yes.” She giggled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “She’s a Maine coon. They’re kind of big.”

He whipped his head back to the creature. “Kind of?” His voice broke. “I thought it was a predator! That’s not ‘kind of’ big. That’s a huge, ginormous, absurdly large cat.”

“Don’t listen to the mean man, Judy,” Harper cooed in a singsong voice as she pushed past him and hefted the mammoth fur ball into her tiny arms where it—Judy—hung like a ragdoll. The juxtaposition of this pocket-size woman holding the world’s largest cat made hysterical laughter bubble out of Dan’s throat.

“You named your cat Judy?” Of the long list of questions he had about her “pet,” the name seemed the best place to start.

“Yes. Big Booty Judy.” She nuzzled her face into the fur. Judy started purring at a volume close to a motorboat.

“But why that name? Isn’t that a little bit … old lady for a cat?”

“It’s dignified,” Harper said, giving him an expression that said this fact should be obvious.

Dan took a cautious step closer and stretched out a finger for Judy to sniff. He generally enjoyed cats, but he still wasn’t entirely convinced that’s what this creature was. Judy’s amber eyes lazily surveyed the finger before she dramatically turned up her head and exposed her giant neck for scratches. Dan obliged, and it was like her purring was hooked up to a music amp as it vibrated around the tiny hallway.

“Aw, she likes you! She’s usually picky with people.”

Harper beamed, a smile that crinkled the corners of her wide eyes and made Dan’s heart melt into his stomach. He’d permanently strap that giant cat in a Baby Bjorn and wear her on his chest, scratching Judy’s chin for the rest of her life, if it meant Harper would continue to reward him with that smile.

After a few moments, Harper gingerly laid the giant down and turned to Dan.

“Come on, I’ll make us that coffee.”





CHAPTER 8





HARPER

Any tension that had dissolved with Judy’s unceremonious appearance resurfaced as Harper finished prepping the coffee. She couldn’t control her fidgeting. Her skin felt stretched and tight, buzzing with heat like a fever about to break. She wanted to unzip from it, find relief from the oversensitization.

She looked around for a distraction and decided that music would help break up the silence that was slowly eating her alive. She chose a playlist at random and a song began thrumming from her nearby speaker.

“I like your kitchen,” Dan said, leaning against the counter and looking around.

Surveying her space, Harper knew that was a bold-faced lie—it was a hot mess. The narrow galley style meant that the cabinets banged into the opposite side when she opened them, annoying her so much that most things were housed on the limited counter space in controlled chaos.

Dan’s body curved to fit into the tiny room, his long legs reaching across to the other side while he ducked his head slightly for the low ceiling.

“You barely fit,” she said with a smile.

“It does seem a bit more Harper-size,” he said, laying a palm against the ceiling without having to stretch. “I’m not convinced you can reach the top shelves, though.”

He gave her body a pointed inspection, and she felt herself flush. Again.

“Why do you think I bought such a long cat? I hoist Judy up Lion King style, and she gets all the hard-to-reach items for me.”