Her bedroom window was closed, as were all the other windows in the apartment—at least they had been when she had gone to bed—so he couldn’t have sneaked in that way.

Susanne gritted her teeth. Franzi must have let him in. Earlier, when they had returned from the restaurant and Muesli had given his usual tap-and-meow concert on the other side of the French door, Franzi had voted for letting him in, but Susanne had refused. So much for her sister respecting her decision. Franzi had probably intended for him to sleep on the couch with her, but instead, Muesli had gone looking for Susanne.

It was strangely touching. Yeah, well, he probably thinks the bed is more comfy than the couch.

Should she pick him up and put him outside? It would be the right thing to do, or he would get attached to her and then end up being hurt when she left.

Muesli stretched out more comfortably on his side and kneaded the covers at her hip with his front paws.

The rhythmic touch and the soft purring were soothing and chased away the loneliness that had settled over her at the abrupt ending of the dream.

Loneliness. Bah. She scoffed. Since when do you get lonely? You’ve got work, and Franzi is in the next room.

But despite that pep talk, she couldn’t bring herself to climb out of her warm bed and put the cat outside. Besides, if she kicked him out now, he would probably keep her and Franzi awake with his tapping and yowling.

“Don’t get used to it,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes and curled around the small, warm body. She fell back asleep within seconds.

A wet tongue licked a path up her neck.

Susanne moaned. “Mmm, a little softer, honey.”

The rough licking stopped, then something pulled her hair.

“Ouch! What the fuck?” Susanne pulled her head away and opened her eyes.

The cat sat next to her pillow. When he saw that he had successfully woken her, he jumped off the bed and strutted to the half-open door, where he paused and looked back at her with a demanding “meow.”

Susanne sat up and wiped her neck. “You honestly think I’m gonna feed you as a reward for waking me up—again?”

“You talking to me?” Franzi asked from the kitchen. The hardwood floor in the hall creaked, then she stuck her head into the bedroom. “Ah. This is where he ended up. I thought so. I’m making coffee. You want a cup?”

“Yeah, in a second.” Before she could take her sister to task about letting the cat in, Franzi disappeared.

Muesli followed.

“Don’t feed him,” Susanne called after her.

“Why not? No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend if this is how you treat your overnight guests!”

“Haha.” With a grunt, Susanne tossed off the covers and padded to the kitchen.