Page 386 of Small Town Firsts
I hummed through my shower and through putting out Smoky’s food and dealing with his litter box, though the indolent feline didn’t deign to stop lazing around with Ryan long enough to come investigate.
When I returned to the bedroom still dripping in my towel, she was on the deck checking out my telescope and talking to Smoky while he pranced along the railing. Spotting me, she let out a screech and ran into the bedroom with the cat right behind her.
“No, let me pick.”
I had no clue what she was referring to until she went to my walk-in closet, muttering to herself as she sorted through and discarded suits. After a minute, she chose a deep gray one with a thin pinstripe and a heather gray tie.
“Pinstriped? Where’s the matching vest?”
“Is there one?”
I pressed a button and a panel slid open, revealing more accessories. Her mouth dropped a little before she reached in and plucked out a deep gray vest.
“I figured you’d go for black like you.” I gestured to her dress.
“I’m not wearing my sex clothes to work. Talk about tawdry.”
“Sex clothes? Do you have a whole wardrobe for boudoir activities?”
She ignored me, as she so often did. “You can drop me off at home, and I’ll shower and change then head back.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
“No, you’ll go to work. You’re impossibly late.”
“And I’m the boss. Who’s going to yell at me?”
Not technically true. It was my father’s firm until he finally walked away, but I wasn’t concerned with getting a demerit.
At least not from my dad. Mrs. Donnelly, however, was another story.
“Me.” She stepped up to me and arched onto her tiptoes to kiss my freshly shaven jaw then nuzzle her lips along my neck. “You smell really fucking good. Like a badass captain of financial industry.”
I laughed and took the clothes she was holding. “And you smell like sex.”
“Literally. I haven’t showered yet.”
“I have a shower you can use, you know.”
She waved a hand. “I need fresh clothes. Besides, this will get you to work faster. Here, let me do that,” she added after I shrugged on my shirt and reached for my tie.
I’d been doing my own ties for a long time, but there was something about the way her nimble fingers tugged and arranged the silky fabric. I couldn’t help kissing the little wrinkle in her forehead as she fussed with it.
Her phone buzzed and she darted back to check it, pursing her lips.
“Problem?”
“You can handle the rest.” She bent to collect the cat and left the room before I could figure out what the heck had just happened. Maybe she had to speak to someone.
I finished dressing. Good luck on her ever telling me voluntarily.
We left a short while later. Smoky wasn’t enthused about Ryan going. He didn’t seem to care much about me.
Definitely a stunning turn of events.
I glanced back before I got into the car and he was basically Velcro’d to the window with a woebegone expression on his tiny furry face.
At least I understood his thought process. As for Ryan’s? Dream on.
