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My boyfriend reached his hand up to cup the back of his neck and averted his gaze toward the floor.“Um, I was going to wait until the big day, but…” His words trailed off as he sunk to the floor, took a knee, and then looked back up at me with bright, hopeful eyes.

“Charles, I…” Iwhat? What could I possibly say to this?

I loved him. I’d committed to him. But I didn’t want to get married just yet. Not until I had my life and business in better working order.

He licked his lips, took my hand in his, and then burst out laughing.“Just kidding!”

Octo-Cat guffawed with laughter as he passed by yet again.“Ha! Maybe UpChuck’s not so bad, after all,” he muttered to himself.

And as much as I hated that cat’s snarky comments about my boyfriend, I hated the idea of them teaming up against me even more.

Luckily, Charles had no idea what Octo-Cat had just said.

I wouldn’t be telling him, either.

Chapter Four

Charles brewed a fresh pot of coffee for us while I warmed Nan’s latest batch of homemade muffins in the microwave.

“Do you really have the full day free?” I asked again in disbelief.

“Not free,” he corrected, pulling his favorite butterscotch-flavored creamer from the fridge and sending a wide grin my way. “I’m spending it with you.”

“It’s just you don’t usually get a half day off, let alone a full one.”

“Well, I’m making some changes at the firm to help me focus on what’s most important.”

“There’s a lot to be said for work-life balance. I kind of have the opposite problem. Too much life and not enough work.”

“Hmm. Then maybe we should meet in the middle.” He winked suggestively, making me blush all over again.

“Excuse me,” Octo-Cat bellowed as he joined us in the kitchen and stared down into his half-empty water dish.

I turned to face him.“Yes, your royal highness?”

“Oh, I like that,” the tabby drawled as he twitched his tail in thought. “It’s about time you referred to me properly.”

“I didn’t mean…” I began, then stopped myself. If I wanted to actually spend the day with Charles, I’d need to avoid unnecessary arguments with Octo-Cat in the meantime.

“What is it?” I asked amicably. The sooner I could satisfy his demands, the sooner I’d have some much-needed quality time with Charles—some much needed anduninterrupted quality time.

“I need you to bring my iPad into the mid-morning sunspot. I have a call planned with Grizabella, and I can’t be late.”

“Okay, give me a second,” I said over the beeping of the microwave.

“I don’t need it a second from now. I need it now.” Octo-Cat stomped one of his front feet and glared at me with those strangely glowing eyes of his. “I’m going to tell her about our visit next week. I can’t wait to see the look on that beautiful face of hers when she finds out—”

“No,”I interrupted, perhaps a bit too emphatically.

My cat’s head shot back as though he’d been slapped. “What do you meanno?”

Apparently I didn’t say this word enough, given that Octo-Cat seemed to have forgotten what it meant or that it was ever a possible answer to something he wanted.Uh-oh. I needed to think fast before he could either outwit or guilt-trip me into doing his bidding.

“I, um… I was just talking with Charles, and you were right. He does have work for us at the firm. We can’t leave town, because we need to get started bright and early Monday morning.”

He lifted his tail and bent it to resemble a question mark.“Is that so?”

I jabbed Charles in the ribs, and he nodded despite not knowing what was going on.

“Hmm, I guess that’s good,” Octo-Cat conceded a moment later. “I’ve always thought St. Patrick’s Day was far more romantic, anyway. Green is a much nicer color than pink or red, and who doesn’t like pots of gold?”

I laughed nervously.“Yeah. Good point.”

He nodded and glanced toward the living room.“You can have the inferior romantic holiday then. Now about that thing I needed.”

Even if I hadn’t claimed an outright victory, at least I’d managed to delay the problematic road trip for another month. That was pretty good for a morning’s work. “Right. I’ll go get your iPad for you.”

“What was that all about?” Charles asked after I’d returned.

“Shhh,” I hissed.“He can still hear you.”

Charles leaned in close and pressed his lips to my ear.“You’re cute when you’re arguing with your cat. You know that?”

My knees turned to Jell-O as he traced kisses down my neck.“Stop that, you.”

Charles chuckled as he pulled away.

While he finished fixing our coffee, I grabbed my phone from my pocket and typed out a text.

Charles’s pocket buzzed a moment later. “What the—? It’s from you?”

I widened my eyes and motioned toward his pocket. Yes, it was silly to text when we were standing in the same room, but I didn’t want to risk Octo-Cat overhearing what I needed to say.

My boyfriend’s eyes trailed down the screen and his lips moved as he read.

I need you to assign a case for us. Even if it’s fake, just something to keep us busy. Otherwise he’s going to force me to drive him out to Colorado.

He snorted and typed back,What’s wrong with Colorado?

I’ll miss V-Day.