Page 74 of Twice Bitten

As criminals went, she was stunning.

And extremely familiar.

I would know because I’d met her in a bar and the sneaky shit had gone home with Leo.

“Blaze?” What the hell?

“Hi, Alex.” Cat/Blaze looked far more relaxed today than she had the other night at the bar.

I stared at her, dumbstruck. Should I be pissed off? I felt more confused than anything.

Cat snorted. “Sorry. I had to check you out first before I arranged to meet. Just in case.”

I opened my mouth and snapped it shut just as fast. My eyes narrowed. “In case of what?” I said quietly. “I’m the one who has the most to lose.”

“Exactly,” Cat said. “People with the most to lose tend to be a lot more dangerous than the little guy.” She pointed to herself. “I coordinate your shipping. Undoubtedly important, but if anything gets lost, you lose money. If things go wrong, guess who you’re coming for first?”

Did this chick have PTSD from the mob or something? “So, you pulled that whole elaborate date scheme on me just to see if I was unstable?”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, there was no scheme. He really was my date. I just happened to set the location to a place I knew you’d be.” She shrugged. “I’m all aboutefficiency.”

And apparently possessed zero shame about her stellar cyberstalking abilities. I made a mental note to scrub my devices after this meeting, just in case she’d installed something or spelled my phone. “What if you were the unstable one?” I asked.

Cat laughed. “Well, we’re all a little unstable these days, but that depends on the type of instability.” She held up a finger. “I’m a great friend.” Another finger went up. “I’m a whiz at tech. But I’m also too curious for my own good, and I’m on at least one government watch list.”

She grinned and pulled me in for a hug. When she spoke, her voice was low, meant only for my ears. “The least we can do is a hug. We’ve broken the law together multiple times, haven’t we? That’s worth far more than a handshake.”

She smelled like electronics with a touch of berries, an odd scent but not unpleasant. Her hair tickled my nose.

I blinked at her and pulled back. Cat was quite simply a whirlwind.

She laughed at my befuddled expression. “It’s nice to finally meet you properly.” She lowered her voice. “Now sit down and tell me why the hell you’re messing with angelic magic.”

I would get to that, but not before we plowed through a round of appetizers.

Once we’d been served, Cat idly munched on a fried pickle and asked, “What is someone like you doing running a dark apothecary out of your basement?”

I almost clammed up until I realized Cat was literally the only person I could speak to about this. She knew everything I was doing and hadn’t ratted me out yet. Even still, I had that itchy feeling at the back of my neck telling me to run away, go home, and bury myself in a pile of blankets until the world went away.

But this time, I batted that feeling away. What would itmatter if Cat knew the reasons why? She knew almost everything else.

“I want to open up a brick-and-mortar apothecary,” I admitted. “All above board stuff.”

Cat’s eyebrows went up. “Here in town?”

I nodded. “Next to Three Little Beans.”

“Good spot,” Cat remarked. Her expression lit up. “Oh! There’s an empty building there. Is that the one you’re saving up to buy?”

“It is.” I couldn’t wait for that day to come.

“Oof. I’m surprised the city hasn’t condemned that place yet.” She grimaced. “Or a developer hasn’t snapped it up yet.”

I did my best not to fidget, but Cat was intelligent. “Oh my gods,” she said with a laugh. “Did you spell that building?”

I winced.

She clapped her hands with delight. “Holy shit! Good work. I’ve been past that place dozens of times and didn’t sense a thing!”