Page 23 of A Christmas Negotiation

“Unless I somehow managed to get another one, yes.”

Isabel rushed over to her, crouched down and offered her hand. Cat rubbed up against the kitchen island, then did the same to Isabel’s fingers. She immediately began to purr, pacing back and forth and brushing Isabel’s knees with her tail. “She’s so sweet. And so friendly.” Isabel went ahead and sat on the floor, Cat purring even more loudly now that Isabel was able to pet her with both hands.

“Yeah. She’s been coming to my back door for a while now. I saw her the other morning and it was so cold out, I couldn’t leave her out there. My housekeeper put up flyers in the neighborhood and the veterinarian said she isn’t microchipped, so we don’t know who she belongs to.”

“Must just be a neighborhood cat. We had a few of those around when I was growing up. My mom was crazy about cats.” Isabel looked up at Jeremy. “They all ended up living at our house in one form or another. Even the ones who were too skittish to come inside got taken to the vet and immunized and fixed. My mom bankrolled it all.”

“Wow.”

Isabel’s heart felt heavy just thinking about her mom. In her mind, she could see her out on their back patio, dishing up wet food for any cat who cared to show up. She talked to them all, gave them all names. She was a woman who was so full of love that showering her kids and husband with it simply wasn’t enough. It said a lot about her—Isabel and Sam had never gone a day without feeling truly loved by their mom. “I need to get a kitty when I find a place.” She’d never taken the time to get one when she lived in DC, but now that she was shifting her life in a more meaningful direction, a cat or even a few were an obvious choice.

“I know where you can get a pretty cute orange one.”

Isabel grinned and looked Cat in the face. “If I adopt you, you’re getting a new and better name. No question about that.”

“Go for it.”

“Are you seriously not going to keep her?” Isabel asked, getting up from the floor. “She has such a wonderful personality and she seems to be comfortable here.”

Cat meowed and rubbed up against Jeremy’s leg.

“I’m just not a pet person. My life is so crazy with work, it’s hard to imagine caring for another living thing.”

Isabel nodded. She’d felt that way for a long time. Not anymore. “Right. Work. I guess you’d better show me to my room so we can get something accomplished today.”

Having Isabel in his home—a woman he’d kissed, laughed with, made love to and even argued against—was leaving Jeremy off-balance. A different energy had tiptoed into his private world, and it was both confusing and exhilarating to experience. There was just enough inkling of his past to make him again question what in the world he was doing by allowing himself to be so drawn to her. He and Isabel might be opponents professionally, but there was no denying that they could effortlessly slip into comfortable conversation. They seemed to naturally fall in sync. There was a part of him, deep in his core, that craved that so badly he would do anything to have it. But a bigger part of him had hardened around his needs and desires. That shell was there to protect him, but it was exhausting to carry around all day. He could set it aside when he was at home, and with the snow coming down outside and the weekend stretched out before them, he was in no mood to put it back on again.

With her suitcase in tow, he led her upstairs to the guest room, carrying it inside and setting it down on a bench at the foot of the bed. “It’s no Bacharach, but the mattress is incredibly comfortable.”

“I’d say it’s a big step up for me. I haven’t heard a single fire alarm since I got here.” Isabel took her handbag and laptop bag and placed them on the bed. She smoothed her hand over the butter-soft duvet. “Ooh. Nice.”

Just like the night they met, Jeremy was having to remind himself to slow down. It would be way too easy to kiss her right now and show her exactly how nice that bedding was. “You have your own bath.” He traipsed over to the door and flipped on the light for her. When he turned back, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking as perfect as he could imagine.

“Thank you. Seriously. This works out great for me, and not just because I needed a place to sleep. I’m eager to get this case squared away. It’s of monumental importance.”

“To the Eden family or to you?”

“Take your pick. Yes, it’s a job, and I’m being paid well to do it, but over the course of the last few weeks, Mindy and her sisters have been amazing to me. They’ve even invited me to celebrate Christmas with them.”

“I thought you didn’t celebrate.”

“I haven’t made the effort, but that doesn’t mean I won’t take part. I love this time of year and I used to be the sort of person who lived for every minute of Christmas. It’s just been a while since I took much joy in it. Like a bad habit, which I suppose is possible for anyone to fall into. Something doesn’t feel as good as it used to and so you turn your back on it.”

That got the gears in his head going. It was an incredibly insightful thing to say. Jeremy didn’t want to tread too heavily on Isabel’s personal life, but he was curious. “Any particular reason it stopped feeling good? Work? Career?”

“Work definitely kept me away from it, but this started way before that. My mom. And my dad.” She pulled in a breath through her nose, her shoulders rising up to her ears. “They both passed away the same year. It’s just been Sam and me since then.”

“Oh, wow. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

She nodded and painted a smile on her face, like she felt a need to comfort him. “So that’s why it’s important to me to make the Eden sisters happy. You don’t luck into a new family very often.”

“That sounds nice. A tidy little package.” Jeremy decided against giving in to his greatest inclination at the moment, which was to express the depths of his skepticism. In his experience, families like the Edens would turn their backs on you just as easily as they welcomed you in. “Your brother must be part of this for you, too.”

“Absolutely. I love seeing him happy for once in his life, and he’s so over the moon for Mindy. They are so in love, it’s amazing. I doubt they’ll ever get around to planning a real wedding. They just want to get the show on the road.”

“I wish them the best of luck.”

“Don’t you mean happiness?”