The Last Time

Felicity didn’t spend a great deal of time thinking about her apartment. It was where she slept, ate, bathed, and worked on weekends. It was all sleek lines and polished floorboards, brushed aluminum appliances, timber and cream accessories, and top-line fittings. Essentially, it was a showroom of good taste, an ode to swanky executive dreams. The view was to die for, too, when Loki wasn’t destroying her topiary.

But now, looking at it through Cooper’s wide eyes, Felicity was reminded of a few things. She was wealthy, and it showed. Felicity was how the other half lived. Well, not half. She was how the top one percent lived.

Cooper, looking dazed, had barely moved from the moment she’d crossed the threshold.

Brittany adapted a great deal better, running around sniffing everything before bolting up to the glass balcony doors and barking in excitement.

That drew Cooper’s eye, and she finally focused. “Um, Felicity, do you know there’s a kitten in your tree?”

“No, there isn’t,” Felicity said firmly.

“So it’s not yours?”

“That’d be out of character, don’t you think? And there’s nothing out there.”

Cooper pointed at the bright blue eyes surrounded by white fluff peeking out of the leaves. “You don’t see a Siamese kitten about eight to ten weeks old looking right at us? Cute enough to be plastered on the side of a tissue box?”

Felicity merely lifted an eyebrow.

“Is this one of those denial things of yours? If you don’t see it, you won’t befriend it? Or worse, cuddle it?”

“Don’t fall for that pom-pom. She’s pure devil spawn. There’ll be no cuddling from me.” Felicity glared at Loki. The kitten glared right back. “Ever.”

Cooper smiled. Her eyes drifted back to the expansive city view. She stilled and suddenly seemed adrift.

Brittany padded back to the lounge, having lost interest in tree kitties, and selected a designer armchair. She leaped on it, stalking around it in circles before settling.

Felicity winced and prayed her nails were clipped.

It was a sign of how out of it Cooper was that she didn’t order her dog off the furniture. Not that Felicity had the heart to budge Brittany, who looked so happy, her soft brown chin plopped on an armrest, watching them both.

Cooper’s eyes remained fixed on the Manhattan skyline. She finally spoke. “How did you do this at your age? You’re not even forty, are you? How could you have afforded all this, in New York? I’m betting you own it, too.”

“I don’t rent, no. And I worked hard for what I have.” Felicity met Cooper’s eyes evenly. “I didn’t have vacations or weekends for years—you know how focused I am on my career—and that sacrifice paid off. That, and good fortune; being noticed by Elena. That was the biggest factor. And I’m definitely inching closer to forty.” She drew in a breath. “Today I turned thirty-seven.”

“Wait, it’s your birthday?” Cooper’s eyes widened. “And this is how you’re spending it? Putting the fear of God up a charity director?”

“No, I’m spending it with my lover, who I’ve skillfully lured back to my place in the middle of the afternoon. That’s already improved my birthday considerably.”

“Ah, now it all becomes clear.” Cooper smiled.

Felicity headed toward the open-plan kitchen. “Drink? I’ve got something from the Barossa Valley in South Australia.” She opened the cupboard that contained her wine rack. “Maddie insisted I’d enjoy it. It was a thanks for finding her a loan dress for some awards event in Sydney last December.”

“So for all your protestations, I find out you got her a dress and she got you wine. You two really do like each other, don’t you?”

“It depends on what day you’re asking.” Ah. She withdrew the bottle of Rockford’s Eden Valley Riesling 2015.

“Felicity,” Cooper drawled, “this sounds perilously close to friendship, which you claim not to do.”

“Fine. I admit that I like Maddie well enough—if pressed, under torture, and with the fewest witnesses possible. We’re not exactly friends, but we’re not not friends. I wouldn’t take a bullet for her, but I’d stop someone shooting her, all right?” Felicity rolled her eyes. “But you know the rules: never quote me.” She hunted for a corkscrew. “Well? Feel like trying it? I hear the Barossa makes beautiful wines.”

“Love to.”

Felicity brought out filled glasses a few minutes later.

Cooper, now curled up on the luxury butter-soft leather couch, accepted the glass. “I think my dog’s much better at coping with all this than me.”

“All this?” Felicity sat beside her.

“It’s one thing you saying what you do. It’s another seeing”—Cooper waved at the multi-million-dollar view—“all of this.”

Brittany plopped down off the armchair, padded over to the couch, and jumped on it, squeezing herself between them. She curled up in a ball, head on her paws, looking like she was in heaven.

“Is this going to be weird?” Felicity asked, deciding to ignore the fact a dog was now on her nine-thousand-dollar designer settee. “Because it’d be unfortunate if it was. I had hoped to celebrate my birthday, after figuring out what’s up with Harvey, by taking you slowly in my bed half the afternoon and all night. And trust me, my bed is every bit as impressive as this room.”

Cooper’s eyebrows shot up in interest. “Is that so?”

“It is.” Felicity took a sip of wine, never taking her eyes off Cooper. “So are you done freaking out yet? Can we move on?”

Brittany placed her head on Felicity’s thigh. Felicity gave her an absent pat and then froze. Brittany was as soft and warm as she’d imagined. Better, even. It was too tempting…and she was only human. She thrust her fingers deep into her fur, played with her ears, and scritched and scratched her back. The dog gave a happy sigh. Her heart matched it.

Cooper watched her wordlessly, lips curling, and quietly sipped her wine. “This is lovely.”

“Yes, Maddie’s taste in wine is exceptional. But as I say, she is on the world’s longest winning streak right now, so I’d expect nothing less.”

Cooper smiled. “You might be on a bit of a winning streak yourself. I mean, come on, you’re nailing the career, and then there’s this place… Christ!” Her gaze swept the room again. “My family would go nuts over this.”

“Where are they from? You said ‘all over’ the first time I asked, and I know your father’s military, but where’s home for them and you?”

“I sort of call New Jersey home, even though I live in New York.”

“I’ve never once heard you order cawwwfee.” Felicity smiled.

Cooper laughed. “Well, I never picked up the accent. I think it’s because I’d traveled too much before then, following Dad around from posting to posting.” She sighed. “As a kid, I really hated it. Always a new school, leaving my friends behind. Mom hated it, too. So when I was fourteen, she left Dad and took me with her. My brothers stayed with him—they were both over eighteen by then.”

“So just you and your mom? Was that when you ended up in New Jersey?”

“Yes. We stayed with Mom’s mom for a few years. I got the stability I wanted, and I got to look after my nana’s dogs, too. Through them, I found my calling.”

“Do you see the rest of your family often?”

“Oh sure. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and so on. My brothers have families of their own now. They’re over in Normal, Kentucky.”

“Normal?” Felicity eyed her skeptically. “Are you for real?”

“I can’t believe you of all people are asking me that when you’re one step away from Hell.”