Page 73 of S.O.S. Billboard

Packing up her stuff took only minutes. Packing up thecatswas a completely different story. Apparently, they didn’t want to leave. Every time she approached them, even with treats, the little smarties would figure out her game, then run and hide.

O’Shea finally blew an errant strand of hair out of her face where it had fallen during one particularly lively chase, anddropped her frustrated ass to the living room floor beside the open, mostly-mesh kitty carrier.

She didn’t know why, but she began talking, explaining the intricate situation between her and Billboard to her new feline friends.

“Listen you two, I don’t want to leave, but it’s necessary. Billboard has to discover on his own that I mean more to him than whatever secrets he’s holding on to. If Idon’tleave, we might end up like he and his ex, Peggy; making physical contact, but with nothing cerebral behind it.” She glanced at the rapt kitties, hiding under the couch.

“I want to stay just as much as you do, but hopefully, with any luck, we’ll be back here sooner, rather than later.”

Four shining eyes regarded her. Had they moved a little closer?

“You two get it, right?”

She could have sworn Zoe nodded, but still the pair stayed a judicious distance away.

O’Shea piled it on.

“Then there’s Ethan. He’s a great kid, but I can tell he’s lonely. He’s a little nerdy, and so smart that the kids at school don’t know quite what to make of him. He was so excited about having you two in the house. He’s already planning to let you sleep with him.”

The cats had complained heartily when they’d been kept out of Billboard’s bedroom the previous night. On purpose. O’Shea hadn’t known if their tiny brains could be fried by the things that she and Billboard might get up to, but she hadn’t wanted to be responsible for scarring them for life. Now, considering the X-rated stuff that had occurred, the cats wouldnotbe invited to sleep with them any time in the future.

Out of the corner of O’Shea’s eye, while she pondered, she saw movement.

Without making it too overt, she slowly turned her head and…

Amazing.

Zoe had come out from her hidey-hole, picked Cheeto up by the scruff of his neck, and was mouth-carrying the little kit toward the carrier.

O’Shea held her breath until the pair were in, then moved furtively forward. She needn’t have bothered. Zoe had settled in, blocking any attempt of Cheeto’s to escape.

“Well, I’ll be,” O’Shea marveled as she closed the windowed door behind the pair. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you understood everything I just said.”

Zoe regarded her with her big yellow eyes…and blinked.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Three days had passed since O’Shea had moved in with the Jakes’.

It had been an easy transition, except for the part about missing Billboard. But she and her big squeeze had actually been out on two very nice dates, since. Both of which had ended up with ardent make-out sessions in the extra-large SUV that Billboard had borrowed.

O’Shea giggled, recalling the major contortions they’d managed and the things they’d done. Which triggered—

Reminder to self: Clean upholstery before the vehicle goes back into the SOS stable.

Tonight, however, she wasn’t going to get a shot at Billboard’s luscious cock. Anna was cooking Mexican, so she wouldn’t be going out. The three of them; Anna, Ethan, and O’Shea, planned to eat a home-cooked meal together.

O’Shea was hoping that after dinner she could get Anna talking about what was bothering her; most likely over the suds in the kitchen sink.

Tacos were always a big hit with O’Shea, and this instance was no exception. After the fixings were placed on the table, she loaded up and devoured five without blinking. That repast, along with Anna’s delicious Spanish rice, had O’Shea leaning back and patting her flat stomach in appreciation.

“I don’t know where you put it,” Anna laughed as they finally got to their feet to clear the table. Ethan had gone off to his room to do the last bit of homework he’d have before the school year wound down. “If I ate that much, I’d be the size of a blimp.”

“I keep moving,” O’Shea told her, “so that nothing catches up with me. At least not yet,” she laughed. “I fear there’ll be a day when my metabolism won’t be so forgiving.”

“Mine’sneverbeen that merciful,” Anna chuckled.

Anna was wrong, She had a pretty, trim figure, and O’Shea wondered if the woman dated. Maybe she and Perk…

---