Page 67 of The Other Room

She peeked over her shoulder, and the look in her eyes would have dropped me to my knees if I wasn’t already laying down. Desperate to touch her again, I sat up and reached for her, but she danced just out of my grasp.

“Ah, ah, ah!” She shook her finger as she backed toward the door. “Later. Now I shower.”

With a kiss blown off her fingertips, she ducked out of the bedroom.

Holy shit.

I was with Jo. My Jo. This thing between us was happening. Finally. And even though I’d just held her in my arms and kissed her, I still struggled to believe it was real.

Yesterday I’d thought I had a whole life of yearning for her ahead of me. A life of chanting just friends any time she would walk into a room. A life of pure torture when she settled down with someone else and I’d have to shake his hand and watch him be the one who got to kiss her. But today that man was me. Today there was a new vision for what my life would be. A life with her at my side and in my arms. A life I’d never dared to dream was a possibility.

“Feed Petunia!” she called, and I heard the shower start up.

I looked down the bed and found Petunia retaining her threatening stare.

“Hey, Petunia. So, I’m gonna move now. And I’m gonna need you to not attack me. Especially because, well, I’m naked, Petunia. And your claws don’t need to come anywhere near me and my bits. So, let’s just do this nice and slow.”

One cautious move at a time, I peeled back the covers, keeping as much space as I could between myself and the scowling cat.

“Easy, now.” Moving my hands to shield my crown jewels, I stood and took one cautious step after another between the bed and the wall, inching past Petunia. Her intense gaze remained fixed on mine while I crept by, holding my breath as I got within swiping range.

“Easy. Eassssy, Petunia.”

After I made it clear of the immediate danger zone, I leapt to the corner of the room where Jo’s beach towel was draped over a chair. Quickly wrapping it around my waist, I exhaled my first deep breath.

“Okay. So, I’m coming closer again to get your food. Okay? Can we agree you don’t attack me? Deal?”

Her golden eyes remained unblinking.

I padded to the food bowl, then reached to the shelf above and pulled down her food bag. When I glanced over my shoulder, the cat was no longer there. While I swiveled in circles to locate the missing threat, I felt her soft body rub up against my legs.

“Holy shit,” I breathed while I looked down to see Petunia purring against my leg. She chirped and looked up at me, the malice in her eyes replaced with the same softness she’d previously reserved only for Jo.

“So, this is it? I just had to feed you to get you to stop trying to kill me?” I laughed as I poured the food into her dish. She dove in headfirst, purring while she chomped on the little brown morsels of food.

I placed the food bag back on the shelf, and backed away, carefully stepping over her since things were still pretty vulnerable down below, and one swipe of her claws could end the fun I intended to have with Jo tonight.

Tonight. Ugh. Tonight felt like an eternity before I could taste her again. Explore every inch of the body I’d fantasized about since I even knew what things I could fantasize about. After twenty-plus years of waiting, even the four times we’d done it last night couldn’t satisfy the desire I had to touch her again. When we’d run out of condoms, our unquenched desire still unsatisfied, Jo had said she was on birth control and we’d dove back in headfirst. The feeling of our bodies connecting with nothing separating us had been an ecstasy I’d never imagined possible.

I listened to the shower water hitting the floor and felt jealous it got to touch her naked body when I couldn’t.

Or could I?

With a mirthful smirk, I tiptoed out of the bedroom and over to the bathroom. Carefully twisting the handle, I opened the door and slid through, pressing it closed behind me. Jo stood naked just on the other side of that curtain.

A curtain that couldn’t keep me away.

I pulled it back, and she gasped, spinning toward me.

“What are you doing?” she demanded as she stood naked before me, her hands buried in the white suds on her head.

“You said you had to shower.” I dropped my towel. “You didn’t say I couldn’t join you.”

“Matt...” she warned. “I can’t be late for work.”

“It’s called multi-tasking, Jo. You just keep washing your hair, and I’ll put out that fire you’re so worried will be burning all day.”

I stepped inside the small space, pulling the curtain closed behind me. A cocky grin played on my lips as I edged closer to her.