Excerpt:
Evan walked
into the Whitman Street Cat Cafe, pushing through the second door and grinning
at Lauren like he’d already had three cups of coffee.
“Derek got
married this weekend,” Lauren said by way of greeting.
“Aw, honey,
I’m sorry,” said Evan. “Anything I can do?”
“Drive to New
Hampshire and punch him in the face?”
Evan tilted
his head and seemed to consider doing just that. “As fun as that sounds, Derek
is kind of a big guy. He might punch back, and I bruise like a peach.”
Lauren laughed
despite herself. She shoved her phone in her pocket. “I’m over
it. So my ex got married? It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“Attagirl.”
Evan looked up at the menu like he didn’t get coffee here nearly every
morning.
“Not that I’m
sad for the business,” said Lauren, “but where did all these people come from?”
“Didn’t you
hear? The Star Cafe closed last week.”
The Star Cafe
was a great independent coffee shop that had, apparently until last week, been
right across the street from the Cat Cafe. If it had closed, that explained all
the people here, the last place that served coffee between Henry Street and the
subway entrance on the next block.
“I’m
devastated,” Evan continued.
Lauren raised
an eyebrow at him. “If anything, this is probably better for your health. There
are only so many cups of coffee you can drink per day because you think the
barista is cute before the caffeine gives you heart palpitations.”
Evan sighed
and leaned against the counter next to Lauren. “Pablo gave me heart
palpitations.”
“Any idea what
he’s up to now?”
“When I got my
caramel vanilla latte on Friday, he told me he’d applied to work at that little
indie bookstore a few doors down. Hope springs.”
“Crazy idea,
but you could, like, ask him out.”
Evan gasped
dramatically. “Where’s the romance in that? We’re performing an elaborate
dance.”
“Right.”
Lauren glanced behind the counter, where Monique looked panicked as she took
another order. “Maybe I should hire him.”
“He makes a
mean caramel vanilla latte.”
A bewildered
man with light brown hair walked into the cafe then. Lauren had never seen him
before, and she would have noticed. He was so handsome, Evan sucked in a sharp
breath.
Lauren had
sworn off men ever since Derek had announced his engagement, because she was
tired of getting her heart stomped on, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t look.
Because this man was pretty foxy. He was tall and fit, with neatly trimmed
hair, a square jaw, and blue eyes that sparkled even from behind the
dark-rimmed glasses he wore.
“Hello,” said
Evan.
The man looked
around. When Sadie trotted over to investigate him, he looked a little startled
by her presence.
“Oh,” he said,
catching Lauren’s eye. “I’ve heard about places like this, but I guess it
didn’t occur to me that the cats would just be… out.”
“Only Sadie
has free rein in the cafe,” said Lauren. “She’s in charge. She’s also terrified
of cars, so she doesn’t try to escape. The rest of the cats are through that
door.” She pointed.
“Ah.”
Lauren wasn’t
really sure what to say next. Evan elbowed her, though, so she said, “Did you
want to see the cats, or—”
“I just need a
cup of coffee for now. This place is hopping.”
“Go on,”
Lauren said. “I’m not in line and you look like you’re in a hurry.”
The man pulled
a phone from his pocket and glanced at the time. “Yeah, a little.” He slid
forward. “Thank you.”
“Are you new
to the neighborhood?”
“Yeah. Just
moved to Brooklyn a week ago, actually.”
“Welcome!”
He shot her a
bashful half smile and nodded. “Thanks.”
Monique said,
“Next!”
The
light-haired man nodded at Lauren and then walked to the register.
Victor, the
other barista, must have noticed this guy was a little twitchy, probably with a
job to get to—he was wearing a blue oxford shirt tucked into navy blue slacks,
the uniform of the Midtown office worker—and he grabbed the pot and poured a
cup of coffee right away. Once the man paid, Victor handed him the cup and
said, “Milk and sugar are at the end of the counter.”
“Great.” The
man took his cup.
“The usual,”
Lauren said to Monique now that the line had dissipated. Then she walked over
to the man as he shook a sugar packet. “I’m Lauren, by the way.”
The man gave
her a genuine smile this time. “Caleb. Maybe I’ll see you around, Lauren.”
Sadie meowed and sat at his feet. “And you, too, Sadie.”
Handsome and
he liked the cats. No wedding ring. This had some potential.
Oh, except for
the part where Lauren was not dating in order to concentrate on making a
fulfilling life for herself without a man.
Caleb walked
back outside.
“Girl,” said
Evan. “He was totally checking you out.”
Warm
excitement spread through Lauren’s chest. It had been a while since she’d met
anyone who made her pulse race like this. She wondered if Caleb would come
back.
“Boss, your
coffee’s ready,” said Monique.
Lauren took it
gratefully. “All right. Do you have to work today, Ev, or do you want to
meet our newest resident? We’ve got a gorgeous new calico named Lucy.”
“I’m meeting a
client at ten, so I gotta go, but you can tell me all about Miss Lucy
and report back on that tall guy over drinks tonight.”
“Pop at
seven?”
“Perfect.”
Monique handed
Evan his coffee, which he took with a grin. He blew Lauren a kiss with his free
hand and then walked out the door.
“Come on,
Sadie,” said Lauren. “Let’s get to work.”
***
Excerpted from Like Cats and Dogs by Xio Axelrod. © 2021 by Xio Axelrod. Used with
permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks
Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.
