Page 50 of Meet Cute Reboot
“Are you a cat person?”
I nod.
“How many do you own?”
“Just one. But he’s at my mom and Nana’s. My landlord won’t let me keep cats.”
“Because they scratch furniture and pee on everything.”
“He doesn’t pee anywhere, but he does leave random turds around.” I shrugged. “Nana’s tired of cleaning up after him. She wants me to give him back to the shelter, but that’s not going to happen. Mom’s on my side, so he’s safe with her. It’s a no-kill shelter, but it’s not exactly well-funded, so conditions are sketchy.”
Luke leaned onto his elbows and regarded me curiously.
I shrank into the booth. “What?”
He just smiled. It shot right through me. So many unspoken words in that smile.
“Your grandmother lives with your mom?” he said after the weird, electric bolt passed through me and dissipated against the cloth upholstery.
I twirled my finger in the air. “Opposite. Mom lives with Nana. After my dad died, we moved in with her. It works out because they can both take care of Granny without either one of them getting too worn out.”
“Who’s Granny?”
“My great grandmother.”
“Four generations of Searses under one roof.”
“That’s three generations. Math is hard.”
“I was counting your cat.”
“Oh. He’s adopted. He’s not from my gene pool.”
“When did your dad die?” Luke asked. His gaze shifted from playful to concerned.
“When I was still in grade school.”
“That must have been rough.”
I straightened, pulled the seal off my small container of cream cheese, and began slathering my bagel. “It was. But I had Mom and Nana. And Granny. We all lived with Mom’s income andNana and Granny’s Social Security. It wasn’t a lot, but we got by. Nothing like how you grew up, I’m sure. Did you live in a mansion on Lake Michigan?”
“No. I grew up in a brownstone on Chicago’s north side. It was nice.”
“How nice?”
“Nice enough. Dad’s a well-known intellectual property lawyer up there. Money was never an issue.” Luke focused on his thumbnail as he scraped it with his opposite nail. “Listen. I know we just met, but I have some investment capital, and...”
“No, thank you.”
He looked at me, an amused expression on his face. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“This is only our second date. It’s too early for you to give me hand-outs. And even if we have three dates, or four, I still won’t accept your money.”
“What if we have five?”
“Then I might consider it.” I smiled at him knowing I still wouldn’t. For one, I hardly knew him. Yet. And two, I needed to learn the ropes of business ownership before I’d be willing to risk anyone else’s cash but my own.
Five dates with Luke sounded nice though. Maybe more.