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“I don’t mind waiting, but I am getting hungry. I was able to feed Nugget.”

“Okay. Give me five minutes, and I’ll get breakfast going.”

“Of course.” His grandmother made her way out of the sunroom.

Anthony put his arms over his head and stretched, feeling the burn in his muscles after sleeping on the sofa—once he’d finished sketching in the wee hours of the morning. He quickly splashed water on his face and pulled on some clean clothes.

He hadn’t been able to get Kaley out of his mind, so he sketched and sketched. Her. In each one, something was missing. Not that the sketches weren’t good. They were. Something more was needed, and even though he’d been able to spend some time with her one-on-one, he still couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Yet.

When he walked into the kitchen, he dropped a kiss on his grandmother’s cheek. “What would you like today?” She’d been his lifesaver, and he was happy to do whatever he could for her.

His grandmother was the one who believed in him, who’d taken him in when his parents kicked him out because he wouldn’t conform to their world.

“I’m in the mood for pancakes, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Nothing you want is too much trouble.” Anthony began pulling out everything he needed to make pancakes for her. He made quick work of well over a dozen pancakes before he sat down at the table.

They chatted as they ate. Anthony cleaned up the kitchen and dishes and yawned. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

“I’m going to sit and binge-watch one of my shows. That breakfast will keep me full for a while.” Anthony helped her rise to her feet, shuffle into the family room, and onto her favorite recliner. Once she was settled, he gave her the remotes and made sure she had her water glass and half-full pitcher next to her.

He yawned again. “Go.” She waved her hand at him. “Take a nap, I’ll be fine for a couple of hours.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Anthony made his way from his grandmother’s house to his cottage on the property. He stripped in his bedroom and climbed into bed. A nap would be welcome. He set the alarm on his phone for two hours, then closed his eyes.

The vision of Kaley from last night played in his mind. She was so cute in her boy shorts and sports bra. But the way her eyes softened, how she sucked in a breath when he tugged her braid. His sub liked being restrained. At least that way.

His sub. He’d never really thought about having a sub before. Oh yes, he’d played with a couple of the subs in the club for demo purposes, but nothing more than that. He hadn’t been in a relationship since high school.

It was by choice. Now that he was thirty, maybe it was time to start looking for a woman who would accept him for who he was. He groaned and rolled over. Old feelings he’d thought long-buried resurfaced. What woman would want him? The negative thought flowed through his consciousness.

Maybe it was time to see the therapist again. It’d had been a while since he had those negative thoughts. But he’d noticed recently they were creeping back. For now, he put it out of his mind. Sleep would help.

As he drifted off, the image of Kaley on the massage table, all relaxed with her rosy skin, stayed in his head, and his dreams were nothing short of erotic.

* * * *

Kaley rubbed her back as she climbed out of her van on Friday night. It had been a busy week. Anthony had never been far from her mind or her dreams. Night after night of sexy dreams had her reaching for her vibrator, and it couldn’t take the edge off. And today, wrestling with a ninety-pound German Shepherd hadn’t helped her back. For some reason, Apollo didn’t want a bath this month. Kaley had to pick him up and put him in the tub—not easy. Then he chose not to stay. Thank goodness she’d closed the bathroom door, or she’d have had a much bigger mess to clean up.

She was wet and tired. Making sure the van was locked up, she trudged up the stairs to her apartment. Once inside, she locked the door and sighed. First things first, a shower. She went into the bathroom, stripped, turned on the water, gave it a few minutes to get warm, and stepped in.

A moan left her lips. The hot water felt good against her chilled skin, but she really couldn’t stay in the shower long. She needed to do some bookkeeping tonight, look at tomorrow’s appointments, and eat.

After drying off and dressing, Kaley stared at the contents of her fridge. She wasn’t in the mood for cooking, so she grabbed the jelly, pulled out a loaf a bread and the peanut butter, and made a sandwich. One of the lessons she’d learned early on, peanut butter and jelly went a long way. She always made sure she had them on hand, along with bread.

Sandwich on a plate, she went to the small dining room table that doubled as a desk and opened her laptop. She found her financial ledger file and put in the day’s earnings, then updated her spreadsheet and put in each client’s date and amount.

Keeping good records was important. It made it so much easier to know which clients were regular and which were just occasional. Kaley munched on her sandwich as she input numbers, then pulled up her appointments.

Saturday was busy as normal. She had clients from eight until six. Not unusual. She checked the client’s addresses against her map app and plotted out the best route. Then she sent an email to each client—along with a text—letting them know the approximate time she’d arrive.

With that done, she sat back in her chair and glanced at the clock. Eight-thirty, not bad. A little too early to go to bed, so maybe she’d start the romance book everyone was raving about. She pushed back from the table as her cell rang.

Unknown number. Not usual. It might be a client. “Fluff and Puff, this is Kaley.”

“Hello, Kaley.” Anthony’s rich voice skimmed over her nerves.

Anthony? Kaley’s heart skittered, and she worked hard to keep her voice steady as she answered. “Hi Anthony, what can I do for you?” He’d texted her, so why was he still an unknown number? Well, it might help if she put him in her contact list.

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