8. Kade

CHAPTER 8

"What the hell did you do?" Petra screams in front of the coffee shop, Deja Brew. Heads turn and I stagger back a step, holding the coffee and donuts out of her reach when she smacks at me.

"Hey, what the hell, Petra? What's the matter with you?"

She smacks me one last time and then screams. "My best friend hates me because I helped you with the matchmaking thing at the paper and she thinks you fucking ditched her. What the hell did you do?"

"I went to get breakfast. What do you mean she thinks that I ditched her? I left a note on the living room coffee table telling her where I went."

"Well, she obviously didn't see it and I made the mistake of letting her know that there is no app at the paper. Meet Me in Magnolia is me!" Her hand smacks herself in the chest and she sobs even as I look around at the shocked faces around us.

"Uh…Petra."

"Why did I come to you and help you? Now she's mad at me and it's my own fault. I should never have started that damn rumor about the app and then matched all those people."

"Petra!"

Her head whips around and she goes dead white. "You lied to me about the app? You've been matching all these people?"

All of a sudden, she seems to realize that people are standing around us, their mouths hanging open as they stare at her like she's a crazy woman.

And her boss is standing there, the glare in his eyes and his crosses arms telling the story about how he feels about her little deception.

"Jeremy?" Her voice is soft and broken and he just shakes his head.

"Go back to the office and clean out your desk. You're done at the paper. I don't want to see you again."

And he stomps away and the people around us start whispering behind their hands. Petra stands there, his eyes wide and stunned, her mouth hanging open and her face dead white.

"Petra. If you need help, I'll talk to him." But she doesn't answer. Just walks away, her head hanging down, staggering and stumbling until she's out of sight.

The heat of the day is already shimmering around us and the people fan themselves as they chatter.

"Small fucking towns," I growl under my breath.

But I stalk down the street and back to my kitten. I bang on the fucking door as soon as I get there and finally it opens. My heart aches when I see Promise standing there, tear tracks on her face and the cat cradles up to her like it's a damn stuffed animal comforting her.

"What the hell, Promise? I left you a note on the coffee table saying I was going to Deja Brew to get us a little breakfast and you're convinced I ditched you after the best night of my life! Woman, you're driving me nuts."

I stomp over to the coffee table and pause when there's nothing there. I turn back to my kitten and she lifts her brow at me, her lips firming. "Well?"

"It was right here."

"It's not there. Are you sure you left me a note? Maybe you just thought you did."

I snarl. "I think I recognize when I write a damn note, Promise." I set the food down and start searching around the table, huffing when I pull a chewed-up piece of paper out from under the couch. I flatten it out and hand it to her.

Her face flushes and she bites her lip. "Oh." She reads it and her brows crunch, her eyes lifting to mine tentatively. "You did leave a note."

I glare at the cat. "Which your cat very helpfully decided to munch on."

Tigerlily reaches out a paw and taps at the paper and I swear she smiles at me. The fucking cat smiles at me like she's laughing at me!

"That cat has it out for me," I huff.

Promise sets her gently on her kitty tree and walks up to me, wrapping her arms around my stomach, resting her head on my chest. "I'm sorry. It was just so shocking. I mean…the night was so good and then you were gone."

I lift her chin up and shake my head. "Kitten, I'm not leaving you. I'm never leaving you. I'm in love with you. I can't think about anything but you most of the time. You're the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night when I close your eyes. You are my everything."

Something cracks outside and she jumps and squeaks. Then she laughs. "Do you know what day it is, Kade?"

I shake my head, bemused. "It's the Fourth of July, Kade. Independence Day."

I wrap her up in my arms and settle my chin on the top of her head, breathing in the soft, sweet scent of her. "I don't need independence. I never want to be alone again. All I need is you, kitten. I'll even take you with that holy terror you call a cat!"

She lifts her head and her soft hazel eyes glow gold and green. "I don't want it either. I want to be tied to you every way that I can. Until the end of our days."

It's too soon to get married. But one of these days, I will marry this woman.

I grin at her. "Let's go watch the fireworks out on the boat in the harbor tonight."

"Absolutely. I'd love that."

The night sky is dark all around us and we can hear the soft putter of motors around us as everyone sets up outside of the harbor to watch the lights.

As soon as the sky goes completely dark, the first starburst streaks up into the darkness and then explodes in a fiery shimmer that lightly falls to the ground, like a fountain of glistening stars.

One after the other the rockets streak up and Promise oohs and aah in my arms, her fingernails digging in when there's a particularly beautiful one that falls to the ground.

People all around us whistle and cheer as each one goes up but I don't hear them. All I can see is my little kitten, safe in my arms, a huge smile on her face and her eyes lit up with the glow of the rockets flying all around us.

The show lasts for at least twenty minutes and then the loud opening salvo of the finale booms up into the night and the sky is alive with shimmers of gold and green and purple all around us.

And as the last one fades away, I lean down and kiss her lips, smiling.

"Happy Independence Day, kitten!"

"Happy Independence Day, sparky," she murmurs and she wraps her hand around my neck and pulls me down, her mouth finding mine in the dark.

And my whole soul lights up more than the night sky ever did. She's my guiding star, my whole world and with her…there's nothing else I need.

Except maybe a cup for when I'm around Tigerlily.

The End