At the door she toed off her shoes without me having to ask her, which was nice. Most people who visited didn’t bother, and I always felt like a dick if I made them.
I hung my keys on the hook just inside the door and pushed my shoes into the closet out of the way before leading her into the house. I paused at the kitchen island. “You want something to drink, or did you just want to hop in the shower?”
She looked down at herself. “I’m feeling pretty grubby after cleaning all day, so shower and then a drink?”
“Shower it is,” I agreed. “There’s a shower down here.” I pointed down the hall toward the bathroom I used to wash Walter. “Or you’re welcome to use the one in my room since I saw you eyeing it up earlier.”
She blinked at me. “You saw that, did you?”
“Kind of hard to miss,” I teased.
“I can just shower down here. I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have.”
Normally, I would never offer my bathroom, but the idea of Nat showering in my bedroom was hot. “Take mine. I’m sure your muscles will thank you for the extra jets.”
“You sure?” She bit her lower lip as she looked up at me.
Damn, this woman. I really shouldn’t want her as much as I did.
“No problem. Come on, let’s get you sorted.” I walked toward the stairs, trusting that she would follow me. Once inside the bedroom, I powered straight to the bathroom. There was no way I was stopping near the bed with Natalie within arm’s reach of me. Not touching her took all of my control.
Needing a distraction, I grabbed a couple of plush towels out of the linen closet and handed them to her.
She reached out and took them from me. “Navy, very practical,” she said as she set the towels down on the bathroom counter.
“Yeah. I’ve wrecked a few towels and have learned between Walter and me, we need dark colors. Plus, Walter likes blue.”
“Did you just give me the dog’s towels?” She placed her hand against her chest like she was appalled.
“No, I don’t keep the dog towels in my room.” I pretended to scowl at her. I might be a guy, but I had more class than that. “But if I did give you Walter’s towels, that would be a pretty high honor. He doesn’t share his stuff with just anyone, you know.”
At that moment, Walter wandered into the bathroom. “Ask him yourself,” I said.
“Well, I’ll have to see if I can get into his good graces,” she said, leaning down to give the dog a scratch between the ears. He closed his eyes and leaned against her leg.
It didn’t seem like she was going to have to work too hard to win my dog over. I cocked my head to the side as I watched them. Seemed my dog liked her too, which was interesting considering the last woman I’d had in my bedroom Walter had done nothing but stare at her and growl. It had made getting intimate a challenge, especially when I kicked him out of the room and he’d howled continually until I’d given up and taken her home.
Cockblocked by a dog.
“He likes you.”
“Of course he does,” she cooed. “Walter is an excellent judge of character. Aren’t you, sweetheart?” She kissed the dog on the tip of the nose, and Walter, honest to God, looked at me and smiled.
Rub it in, why don’t ya? “All right, buddy, well played,” I grumbled.
Walter’s grin grew.
“What?” Nat asked.
“Nothing, just my dog being a dick.”
“How’s he being a dick?” Her forehead crinkled as she looked at Walter, then at me.
“Forget it.” I shook my head. No way I was explaining this to her.
I walked to the shower and turned on the tap. “You can adjust which shower heads are on and how they spray with this.” I pressed a couple of buttons on the display panel.
She bounced on her toes. “I can’t wait to get in there. That is quite possibly the coolest shower I’ve ever seen.”
