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“Enough so that people will bother to return him, but not enough to attract a con artist.”
“And in dollars, that would be-?”
“A hundred maybe?”
“Ouch,” she said, typing it in. “But okay. Anything for David.”
“I’ll split it with you,” he said. “Fifty-fifty. Which would be fifty-fifty.”
“No,” Lucy said. “You paid for David in the first place and it's my fault he got lost, so I should pay the whole amount.”
“We're in this together,” David said. “And he's my cat, too- remember the visiting rights?”
“You can't visit what isn't here,” Lucy said. Her voice broke on the last word.
He put his hand on her shoulder. “He'll be back.”
Lucy did think the pizza smelled kind of good when it arrived, but as soon as she looked at it, her stomach tightened and she felt sick again, all shivery with a sudden chill, so she put it back down and excused herself for a moment. She went into the bedroom. She had left her window open and it was freezing in there. She closed the window, then went to her closet to get a sweater. When she opened the closet door, she let out a scream.
David came ru
She was squatting down, her back to him, but now she stood up and turned to him, gray fur clutched to her chest. “Nothing. Nothing. Everything's right.”
“The litde guy!” He stroked the cat's head. “How the fuck-? Is he okay?”
“I opened the closet and he was just there.”
David wrinkled his nose and peered into the closet. “Smells like he left you a present in there.”
“It's not his fault-he must have been in there for hours.” Lucy cuddled the kitten tightly against her chest. “Oh, David, you scared the shit out of me. Don't ever go missing like that again.”
“He didn't go missing,” David said. “You must have shut him in there.”
“I have no idea when or how I did that. And I swear I checked in there when I was looking all over for him. I know I did.”
“Maybe he was sleeping then.”
“We should feed him,” Lucy said. “And give him some water.”
“And take him to the litter box,” David said. “There may still be something left in him, although, to judge by the bottom of your closet, I doubt it.”
He took care of the kitten while Lucy cleaned up the mess then David the human went back to eating his pizza while David the kitten crouched on the floor and lapped eagerly at some water. Lucy sank into a chair and took a deep breath. Everything was okay. She had her kitten back.
“Sure you don't want any?” David said, as he took another piece of pizza from the box.
She realized with a sudden ache in her stomach that she was starving. Relief had brought back her appetite with a vengeance. “Yeah, actually, I do,” she said. She reached over and snagged the biggest slice that was left and devoured it.
She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a slice of pizza like that-the whole thing from the top of the triangle to the bottom, without bothering to blot the grease with a napkin or pick the cheese off or leave the crust or play any of her usual calorie-cutting games.
“I can't decide who looks more blissed out, you or the cat,” David said as she swallowed the last bite. “Of course, the cat has a slight advantage in being able to lick himself clean.”
“Does that mean I have pizza sauce on my face?” Lucy said. She didn't even care. Nothing bothered her. David was back, safe and sound.
“Just a little. On your chin.”
She swiped at it with a napkin. “Did I get it?”
“Not yet.” He leaned forward. “Right there.” He touched his fingertip lightly to the right side of her chin.
She wiped at the spot. “That better?”
“Yeah.” He was still leaning forward.
“Thanks,” she said.
He let his arm fall. “Want another slice?”
“God, no. It was good, though.”
He closed the pizza box and stood up. “I should probably head off.”
“Oh, right.” Her contentment suddenly dropped away. “You left someone waiting. I’m sorry I wasted your whole day. And for nothing.”
“It's okay,” he said. “I’m glad it turned out to be for nothing. Here he is, safe as can be. No one's going to be experimenting on this little kitten tonight.”
“Or ever.” She stood up as he moved toward the door. “Hold on,” she said.
He turned back, questioningly.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was a total idiot about everything. Panicking about the cat when he was fine the whole time.”
“You're not an idiot,” he said.
“I totally overreacted. I was a hysterical girl.”
“It's okay to react to things,” he said. “Not everything has to be a thought-out position in life with a defensible argument, Lucy. Sometimes it's okay to just react.”
“Even if it makes you look like an idiot?”
“Especially.”
They were both quiet for a moment. Then, “Thank you,” Lucy said, moving forward. “For coming today and caring about David.”
“You don't have to thank me for either.”
“Thank you, anyway,” she said, and hugged him. He hugged her back. They stood like that a moment, their bodies pressed together in friendship.
And then Lucy felt something move against her leg. For one ridiculous moment, she thought of the cat. And then she realized it wasn't an animal.
David had a hard-on.
So maybe it wasn't just friendship.
The polite thing to do was to ignore it, she thought.
And then she deliberately pressed her hip against him.
“Excuse me?” he said startled and taking a step back.
“I didn't say anything.” She moved up against him again and pushed her thigh right where his dick was jutting up inside the light fabric of the scrub pants he was wearing.
There was a pause. Then: “Yeah, about that,” he said, twisting away from her. His face had turned red, and he wouldn't look at her. “I’m sorry. I can't always-you know-control it-and we were kind of… shoved up together there. And all men are pigs. Did I mention that before? That all men are pigs? Because that pretty much sums it up. And these scrubs don't hold you back at all. Or the boxers, either. Anyway… I should probably go. I already stayed too long.”
“No,” Lucy said. “Don't go.” And, pressing the length of her body against his-making sure her hip was right up against his erection-she lifted up her face and offered him her mouth. Which he accepted, at first uncertainly and then with growing enthusiasm.
The kiss didn't do anything to subdue or calm the hot dick against her leg. It bobbed about even more enthusiastically than before.
When they finally came up for air, Lucy hid her head in his shoulder and said, “I can't believe we're doing this.”
“We can stop now,” David said. He cleared his throat. “I could still go.”
“You sure you can walk?”
“I could probably limp out of here.” He took a deep breath. “Seriously, Lucy, if you want me to go, I’m gone. We still have to work together. I’m not saying I haven't dreamed about this- okay, fantasized about this-from day one, because I have. But you made it clear a long time ago that it was never going to happen and I’ve accepted that.”
“Have you?” Lucy said, looking down at the tent in his pants.
“Yeah,” he said. “Intellectually I have. Maybe not so much physically. But I can still walk out of here and never say another word about any of it.”
“Really?” she said, gently bouncing her leg right where his dick was straining hard against the thin fabric. “Just walk right out of here?”
He closed his eyes with a little moan and said, “I think I can.”
“You sound like the little engine.”
“Are you just torturing me or is there a point to what you're doing?”
She answered his question by taking him by the hand and leading him into her bedroom.
There was a pause after she rolled off of him. They lay side by side on their backs, eyes closed, breathing hard. And then he said, “I thought I could, I thought I could,” and they both cracked up. “Uh-oh,” David said suddenly. “We're not alone.”