Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
There were too many things distracting me. His back muscles. The way his boxers clung wetly to his ass. The tenderness he was showing to the tiny ginger puppy as he cleaned her off. My ovaries might have passed their use-by date, but they were still in danger of exploding. The only thing that stopped them was the poop on my boobs. It would wash out, but it had ruined the romantic ambience I’d been going for.
“You were saying you wanted me to move out?”
“No! That’s the opposite of what I’m saying.” I turned so I was facing the door instead of ogling his body and reached down to scratch the overly alert Merlin behind his ears. “I’m so glad you never did anything like that.”
“What?”
I raised my voice so Wade could hear me over the water. “I’m saying I don’t want to be your landlady anymore, but I’d still like you to stay here. Live here. You and Wanda. Until you find the right place,” I added at the end, like a coward. “Chick said he’d love to move into the apartment, as long as you agreed and we put his bed in there.”
Even when he was trying to be helpful, he was persnickety.
When Wade turned off the shower, I held out two towels without thinking, one for him and the other for the puppy. He snagged one and dried Wanda off first, still all but naked and dripping on the mat. Then he looked at me.
“Take off your shirt.”
What? “Now really doesn’t seem like the time—"
“I want you to hold her, but you’ve got something on your shirt.”
“Oh. Right. Of course.”
I whipped off my top and he groaned, making me glance down at my new bra. It did look amazing on me. At some point in my hermitting, a genius had invented a comfortable bra for my size that also looked feminine and sexy. Lace, sheer fabric and sturdy support? Sign me up for life.
Judging from Wade’s expression, I’d need to buy them in assorted colors for every occasion.
I held out the other towel and he growled under his breath before handing her over and taking it. “Don’t move, August. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
Drying off quickly, he wrapped the towel around his waist and picked my shirt up off the floor. “Can I squirt some stain remover on this before I drop it in the washer?”
There he was, taking care of things again. Why was that so sexy? “Sure.”
He tucked it under his arm and went to the crate to pull out the mat, blanket and toys. “I’ll put these outside and hose them off later.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”
“Just keep ahold of her, and stay where you are.”
When he left the bedroom, I rocked Wanda in my arms. She was shivering a little, but she licked my chin and stared at me as if I were the most important person in the world.
“You’re such a good girl. I’m not even mad that you pooped on me.” I was baby-talking. That’s what she’d reduced me to. “How did you know I needed a boost of confidence right now?”
I saw the fresh mat on top of the bag Bernie had sent along and decided to help out. Luckily, the crate itself had gotten off poop-free, so I slipped in the new mat and a small extra blanket, then lowered her back inside.
Wanda shook herself off, nearly falling over on her cute little legs and sending Merlin’s tail into a wild frenzy of pure joy.
“He really does like her, doesn’t he?”
I turned to see Wade standing in the doorway.
“I think he was lonely.” There was a tug on my heartstrings as I thought about how long he’d been mourning his person.
Wade walked over and took my hand, guiding me back toward the bathroom. “I believe we were in the middle of a conversation.”
He turned the shower back on without letting go of me.
“You want to have this conversation in the shower?” I asked.
“We both need to get clean. And water seems to work for us.”
I huffed out a laugh. “What about dinner?”
I’d had a plan for tonight and nothing was going the way I thought it would.
“Dinner will keep. Right now, you need to get naked so we can talk.”
“That’s not how things usually work between us.”
But when he shucked his wet shorts, the sight of his cock at half-mast had me stumbling in my haste to get rid of the clingy yoga pants and my confidence-boosting bra anyway. I joined him in my walk-in shower and the hot water instantly soaked my new hairdo. I was secretly glad Chick had snuck in a picture earlier. It might never look that perfect again.
Wade made quick work of washing himself off, his attention never leaving me. Then he took my pink mesh loofah, added body wash—the human kind—and turned me around so he could scrub my back.