Page 24 of Every Inch of You
Chapter Seven
BRAD
Now I had two unpredictable,irresistible females making trouble and demanding my attention all of asudden.
After Vivian left,once we’d put the little one into her bed in the guest bathroom, I started doing some online research about how to tame a feral kitten. One website recommended reading to feral cats, to get them used to your voice. When I heard that the kitten had woken up, when she started meowing and scratching against the bathroom door, I sat down by the closed door and started reading my book aloud. I was in the middle ofYou Are a Badassby Jen Sicero. I felt obligated to read all the popular self help books, because it was part of my job to challenge and inspire people on many levels when they were seeking positive change, and I needed to know what kind of language personal coaches were currentlyusing.
If you had told me even twenty-four hours earlier that I’d be on the floor reading aloud to a kitten through a door, I would have laughed in your crazy face. But it seemed to work. After about a minute, she stopped the incessant meowing. I was a little worried she had died of boredom, but when I stopped reading and pressed my ear against the door, she started meowing again. It was like she was telling me to get back to it. So Idid.
I realized—who better to transform a feral feline than a personal trainer? I just had to apply my skills and motivate her to want to live with me. I would give her clear guidelines for how to be a good healthy indoorcat.
Easy. I would cradle her in my muscular arms, compliment her, give her a hot look and watch the magic happen. I just had to remember to wear rubber gloves before picking herup.
I was so grateful to Vivian for helping me out, but I doubt I had conveyed it, even a tiny bit. I knew I was overcompensating by being a dick to her, but if I didn’t watch myself I would cross every boundary there was. Obviously it was fine to be friends with a client, and it happened all the time, but if she were merely a friend my life would have been verydifferent.
I wished she hadn’t told me about her ex and I wished that I hadn’t asked her. I had been totally conflicted about her before that, but now I was going back and forth every few minutes. If I hadn’t suddenly become a cat caretaker I would have thought about it non-stop. Part of me felt like it was now or never if I wanted to get physical with her, because I had a feeling her ex-boyfriend would want her back and I needed to make her forget about him ASAP. Part of me didn’t want to get any more attached to her than I already was in case she actually got back together with theidiot.
I was usually so good at deciding what I wanted—articulating goals and then figuring out the most effective and efficient ways of achieving them. I had gotten good at trusting my own instincts. But my instinct was to call Vivian as soon as I realized I’d have to deal with the kitten in the garage, when I could have called any of my female employees who had the dayoff.
I only wanted to seeher.
Just as I was starting to worry about how I was going to bottle-feed the kitten on my own, I got a call from her, offering to come back and help with that. I didn’t want to sound too eager, so I suggested she use it as an opportunity to go for a run. It was a nice day out, and it should only take her about ten or fifteen minutes to get to my place from hers. She balked, of course, but I didn’t let her refuse. I told her to stretch first and to give me at least twenty minutes because I needed to hop in the shower, and then I hungup.
Needless to say,the shower I took was a coldone.
I don’t know why I decided to answer the door naked with a towel wrapped around mywaist.
I could have made her wait outside while I gotdressed.
But I didn’t wantto.
When she saw me, the look on her face was priceless. The look on her face after she’d started breathing again made me think that she was the one who was naked, not me. She seemed so vulnerable. I felt totally at ease. It was prettygreat.
I got dressed in jeans and a plain white T-shirt while she was in the bathroom with the cat. I was glad that there’s nothing unsexier than bottle-feeding a feral kitten, because when she took off her hoodie, she had revealed her fitted tank top, which was very tight and pushed up her breasts in ways that just begged to be savored, and the outline of her hard nipples were practically screaming for attention. Attention that I really shouldn’t have given them, unless I was prepared to deal with theconsequences.
When she came out of the guest bathroom, she looked both disappointed and relieved that I was wearing clothes. I knew how shefelt.
“How’d that go?” Iasked.
“Pretty good. She seems calmer already. What’d you do? Wear her out by making her do crunches and push-ups?”
“Something like that. She was meowing a lot for a while, but…it’s not that bad. You think we should let herout?”
“Not yet. Your apartment is pretty big, and there are a lot of places she couldhide.”
“Right. I should kitten-proof it first. Good point.Thanks.”
“You know,” she said, “If you decide that it’s too much for you, I can ask around at work. My friend Frankie lovescats.”
“No.” I snapped. “I found her. I took her in. I feel responsible forher.”
She smiled. “Okay.Good.”
I think she was just testingme.
“Have you thought of a name for heryet?”
“I was thinking…LadyBadass.”
