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Roxie brings our orders and I finally let go of Jesse's paw to move my coffee mug out of the way. I thank her with a smile and wait until she heads back to the kitchen before leaning forward over the table.

"Speaking of clients and work," I say, my voice low. "How soon before you think you'll be ready for another one?"

He winces. "Just thinking about it makes my butt hurt. Not for a week, at least. Why?"

I look down at my plate and pick up my silverware, industriously cutting pieces off my omelet as I stall, trying to think of a good way to say this. "We got a call this morning."

"Are you kidding?"

"He wants to meet tonight."

"You've got to be kidding."

"I said yes."

"Oh, my God, you're not kidding," Jesse says, burying his face in his hands. His long ears fall forward, the tips nearly ending up in his plate. After a moment, he looks up at me, and he's not happy. "I thought your job was to take care of me," he says. "Did you even consider how sore my ass must be before you said yes, or were you only thinking about the money?"

Conversations drop dead around us as several people at nearby tables turn to look. I feel my face turn red under my fur and I force a chuckle. "Not nearly as interesting as that sounded," I tell them. "His last boyfriend was a donkey, bad breakup, still real sore about it, owes me money." They turn away and go back to their meals and conversations. I lean over the table toward Jesse. "Keep your voice down. And no, to be honest, I didn't think about you, or the money. It happened so fast, I didn't think about much of anything. Though I did remember to ask his species. He didn't like that. Called me a speciesist. So I won't be doing that again. And it's just a meeting. We don't have to agree to anything else. Okay? I'm sorry. I would have checked with you, but you were in the shower."

"That's okay," Jesse says. "I'm sorry I got mad. You are looking out for me." He grins across the table at me. "Nice save, by the way. My jackass ex-boyfriend owes you money." He giggles and picks up his fork. We eat and talk about stuff -- the weather, the people walking past the windows, our food -- and it's Jesse who brings the conversation back to the move. "I don't think we should go," he says.

"Why not?" To be honest, I had expected this.

"It's crazy," he says, pushing bits of lettuce around his plate. "We barely know each other. What if it doesn't work out?"

"Before my grandfather died, do you know what he told me?" I say. "He said, don't be afraid to take chances. His only regrets in life were the chances he didn't take."

"Don't play the wise old dead grandfather card on me," Jesse says with a crooked smile. "Everybody says that."

"Than it must be true," I reply and smile back at him. "Look, there are very few sure things in life. It might not work out. We might end up hating each other and going our separate ways. But wouldn't you rather do that in a city where you don't have to worry about running into that damned rhino? Because I think we can both agree that if he finds you, it's a sure thing that he'll hurt you."

"That is a good point," Jesse says, casting a worried glance out the window. "So, what's the plan? Just rent a truck and hit the road?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," I say, forking my last bite of omelet into my mouth. This has to be the best breakfast that I've ever eaten. I chew and swallow. "I figured we'd talk about it and come up with a plan together."

"Really?" he says, his ears standing up in surprise.

"Yeah, really," I say. "We're partners, remember? Fifty-fifty. Which means you owe me for half of this check." I drop my napkin on my plate and pick up the slip of paper from off the corner of the table.

"What?" Jesse says and takes a last drink of coffee as I slip out of the booth. "I thought you were buying me breakfast."

"I'm just teasing," I say, dropping a five on the table for a tip. It's a bit more than etiquette suggests, but it's been so long since I felt able to leave any sort of tip, I feel like being generous. Besides, the food was fantastic and the service excellent. What more can you ask for? I pay for the meal and follow Jesse out into the gray mid-morning foot-traffic. People hurry past, their shoulders hunched and heads down, and it doesn't take us long to figure out why. A bitter gust of wind howls between the buildings, throwing stinging chips of ice in our faces.

"Maybe California doesn't sound so bad," Jesse says, turning up the collar on his coat and tucking his ears close to his head. It starts to snow before we reach the apartment, the dry, powdery flakes swirling along the sidewalk in whorls and eddies. In the bare, dirty lobby of our apartment building, we stop and shake the snow out of our clothes and fur before climbing the three flights of narrow, creaking stairs to our apartment. Big surprise, the furnace seems to be out again, the living room nearly as cold as outside. We keep our coats on.

Jesse flops down on the sofa in front of the TV, but doesn't turn it on. "So, is fifteen thousand going to be enough to move to Colorado? 'Cause, if it is, then we don't need to bother with this guy tonight, right?"

"It probably is," I say, rubbing my chilled hands together before shoving them into the pockets of my coat, "but I'd be more comfortable if we had more of a cushion. I was thinking we could save a couple thousand each, just in case it doesn't work out. That leaves us, say...ten thousand. Let's say we put aside half for rent. We can probably find a place for about a thousand a month. With first, last, and deposit, that's three to four months. We also need stuff. Most of my things are shit I found in alleys and dumpsters. I'd just as soon leave it all here and buy new wherever we end up. That will probably take most of the remaining five."

"But how are we going to get there? It we don't take anything, we won't need a truck. Do you have a car? 'Cause I don't."

"No," I say, sitting down beside him on the sofa. It smells like moldy cheese. "Do you know how to drive?"

"No. Do you?"

"I know how, but I never bothered to get a license. I suppose I can afford to get it now, but that's less money for the move."

"Could we fly?" Jesse asks and I shudder. I took a plane once for a graphic designer's conference in Vegas, and I hated it. If I never fly again, it'll be too soon. "Maybe airfare would be cheaper."

"I can check it out," I say, "but usually flights are full and all the cheap seats are gone this close to the holidays."

"Oh, that's right," he says, shifting closer to me, until his shoulder rests against mine. "I forgot it's almost Christmas. Do you celebrate?"

"Used to, when I was a kid. Didn't see any point in it when I was on my own."

"We should get a tree."

"Trees are expensive."

"Just a little one? And we can make our own decorations."

"Do I look like Martha Stewart?" I tease, but my protestations are only half-hearted. It sounds like fun, actually.

"We can string popcorn and make paper chains and make bells out of tin can lids." He gives me a lopsided smile. "My mother was real crafty."

"Okay, we can get a tree," I say with an exaggerated sigh. "But...all of this stuff will eat into our moving money, you know."

"I know," Jesse says. "I think we shouldn't rush into this move. You should get your license and we should get a car. A decent one that's not going to breakdown in the middle of nowhere and leave us stranded. And I think we should wait for the weather to get better. No sense driving out of one blizzard and into another. And in the meantime, I'm going to earn as much money as I can so we can get a nice place, not some cheap cracker box with a furnace that doesn't work."

"It works...sometimes," I say, though I don't know why I'm defending this crappy little apartment. I'm freezing. "Okay, that sounds like a great plan. Just don't go thinking we're so desperate for money that you have to take clients that you're not comfortable with. If this guy tonight won't wait, then we don't need him."

"Did he give you a name?"

"Joseph. He's a snow leopard."

Jesse groans. "Great. Predators give me the creeps."

"Hey!"

"Present company excluded, of course," Jesse says with a giggle. "Besides, you're not like a real predator, all rawr_and _grrr. You're more like a cute, black, fluffy bunny with a long, bushy tail and soft, pointy ears...and big, sharp teeth," he says as I give him my best predatory smile.

"And don't you forget it," I say, growling low in my throat and fighting hard not to laugh as I lean toward him.

"Eeek! Somebody save me!" Jesse squeals, his laughter infectious as he squirms beside me, pretending to be trying to get away. I play along, grabbing his arms and pulling him toward me. "It's the Big Bad Wolf!"

"That's right, and I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your--" He slips, or I pull too hard, or something, because he's suddenly in my lap, his lips pressed against mine. I'm so surprised, I just sit there. He doesn't move, either. I don't know what to do. After a moment, Jesse pulls away and I quickly put even more distance between us, helping him sit back up.

"Sorry about that," he says.

I try to play cool, but my heart is pounding, my insides fluttering. "Don't worry about it," I say as I stand up. How did that go from cute and fun to weird as fuck in ten seconds flat? Did he just slip, or did he kiss me? Or does he think I kissed him? I open my mouth to ask, but I can't find the right words to make it sound not-stupid. After a moment, I clear my throat and try to pretend that kiss-thing never happened. "So, you wanna go shopping for decorations?"

"It's snowing outside," he says, glancing over the back of the sofa toward the window.

"Yeah, but stores have heat."

"Excellent point," he says, and scrambles up off the sofa. Pulling the apartment keys out of my jeans pocket, I follow him into the hall. Yes, pretending it never happened is definitely the best thing for both of us.