I rolled my eyes. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Wait! I’m ser—”
Hitting End, I let out a deep breath, put the phone on the counter and pulled the T-shirt off my head. I needed a hot shower and then I would think about Lucas—and my woohoo—and how desperately it wanted him.
Lucas
I COULDN’T GET the image of Paige in her panties and bra out of my head. I stood in the shower, my cock in my hand, jacking off. She was upstairs, in her own shower. Naked.
“Fuck,” I groaned as I pumped harder. It was a new record for me. My cum was hitting the shower wall only a minute or two after I started.
“I’m going to make my dick raw if this keeps up. Jesus, I must be sixteen all over again.”
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, the water running over my body, my eyes closed as I replayed every second of us in the living room. A smile grew, and I filed that memory away to bring out over and over, most likely in the shower or in my bed, with my hand on my dick again.
“Asshole,” I mumbled as I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. When I reached for the towel, I looked down to see Oreo sitting in the middle of the bathroom.
“I see you managed to stay out of the war zone.”
She gave me a meow.
“Don’t look at me with those judging cat eyes. Did you see her? She looked hot as hell, dripping in blue paint and dressed in practically nothing.”
The cat stood, whisked her tail around and walked over to the small cabinet against the bathroom wall. She reached up and pawed at the door.
“Okay, go on. There is no food in there for you, Oreo. Go find Paige and stare at her with your judgmental eyes.”
She stretched up again and pawed the handle, this time hitting just right and causing it to open.
I looked in and couldn’t believe my eyes. A key was hanging in the small antique vanity.
With a quick look at Oreo, I asked, “Is this the key to the attic?”
Oreo meowed. Then I cursed.
“Holy shit, I’m talking to the cat like Paige does.” We’ve both lost our damn minds.
I took out the key, holding it up. “I would bet my left nut that you open the attic door.”
Oreo rubbed against my wet legs, leaving a trail of cat hair in her wake.
“Fine, I’ll admit that you’re a smart cat. There, I said it. Now go bother Paige.” I watched as the cat walked out of my bedroom. I quickly shut the door and found some old jogging pants and my favorite Def Leppard T-shirt. I tossed my clothes in the trash and made my way into the living room, only to find Paige already cleaning up. I couldn’t help but stop and watch her. If Milo hadn’t interrupted us, I would have kissed her, and I’m glad he did. Because I knew we needed to talk before anything else happened between us. So far I’d acted like a freaking prick, touching and kissing her when I knew damn well I shouldn’t.
I smiled when she started talking to Oreo. “The carpet is trashed, but maybe that’s a good thing. I’m thinking we rip it up and see what the floors look like under here, what are your thoughts?”
Oreo answered, like always.
“Agreed. Now to get Lucas on board for ripping up this carpet.”
“He’s on board,” I said, walking into the living room. Paige spun and smiled when she saw me, and the air from my lungs was sucked out. There wasn’t anger, or hurt, or mistrust in her beautiful caramel eyes. She was looking at me like she used to. Like the sight of me made her happy. God, how I hoped I was reading it right.
“Hey, you clean up pretty good,” she said softly, then chuckled when she looked around the room. “We made a mess.”
I laughed as I did the same. “We certainly did.”
“You agree to ripping up the carpet?”
With a nod, I walked over to her and stopped just short of her body. I could tell she was holding her breath.
“Yes, but I think we should keep it down until the painting is done. If the floors are decent underneath, it will protect them.”
She smiled the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen. “I think they will be. I remember William talking about when he had the carpet put down, he told them not to destroy the original floors. May wanted the carpet. She was worried the grandkids would get hurt on the wood floors.”
“How do you remember that, Paige? How do you remember all those conversations with Granddad?”
Paige shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve always loved this house, and I guess anytime William talked about it, I filed it away. Just in case we…”