“Yeah. One of the partners is retiring, so there was a little party today. Well, someone hired a caterer to turn one of the conferences rooms into a buffet, and there was food there all afternoon. I may have made more than one trip. Did you eat?”
Paige took off the cardigan she’d been wearing and draped it over the arm of Josh’s sofa. George immediately hopped up and smelled it, then leaned over to check out Paige. Paige pet his head; that and the treats seemed to persuade him that she was okay. “I did, a couple of hours ago. It’s almost nine thirty.”
Josh glanced at the clock on his microwave and saw she was right. “So did you come over to say hi to George or…”
Paige laughed. “Okay, honestly? I am so bad at this kind of thing. But I was just sitting at home watching TV and I missed you, so I figured I’d text and see if you were around. I’d been thinking we could chat on the phone, but when you said to come over, I was like,Great! I’ll spend the night with Josh!And the whole way over here, I thought about how to best seduce you, or how to show you that I can be passionate and spontaneous. But honestly? I am not very spontaneous.”
Josh laughed along with her. He appreciated that she’d been thinking about him and wanted to spend the night. He wanted her to spend the night, so that was enough. “It’s all right. I smuggled a bottle of wine out of the retirement party. You want a glass?”
“Sure.”
“Have a seat.”
As Paige settled on the sofa, George sat beside her and rested his chin on her thigh, so Paige clearly met with George’s approval. George looked up at her with adoration in his eyes when she started to pet his back. Josh chuckled to himself and walked to the fridge, where he retrieved the bottle of wine. He didn’t own proper wine glasses, but he had a couple of whisky tumblers, so he grabbed those and walked over to the sofa. The wine was a screw-top—“Only the classiest for office parties,” Josh said—but it smelled crisp and fresh, which seemed like a good sign. After he poured, Paige held up her glass.
“A toast to…booty calls.”
Josh laughed. “I’ll drink to that.” He clinked his glass against hers.
It was a pretty solid dry white wine. Josh took a couple of sips before he said, “I am really glad you walked all the way over here.”
“I also have tomorrow off work.”
“That’s good news. Any hot plans?”
“No, not really. Sleeping. Catching up on my DVR.”
Josh sighed wistfully. “That sounds nice. I miss lazy days off.”
“I see you finished unpacking.”
“I did. Mostly for George’s sake. He loves you now, by the way.”
George had fallen asleep with his head on Paige’s thigh. He looked totally blissed out.
Paige laughed. “He’s very sweet.” She pet his head and his purring got louder.
“It’s not all bad having a cat around the house.”
“They do have a way of working their way into your heart.”
Josh finished off his glass of wine and put it back on the coffee table. “Well, anyway…” He cupped his hand on Paige’s cheek and kissed her.
Josh wasn’t the most spontaneous person, either, but he knew when it was better to act than to talk. He licked into her mouth and felt her sigh against him. Her arms came around his shoulders and she pulled him close. Josh started to press forward, to try to get them more horizontal, but he was interrupted when George yelped and leapt off the sofa.
Paige burst into laughter, so Josh laughed along with her. “Whoops,” said Josh. “Forgot he was there.”
“I’m probably not his friend anymore,” said Paige.
“Let’s move this,” said Josh, standing up. He held out a hand to Paige. She stood beside him and put her hands on his shoulder.
“You know,” she said, “you are still a little sweaty, but it’s sexy instead of gross.”
“If that’s the case, you’re going to think I’mreallysexy in a few minutes.”
“Gonna get in another good workout, are you?”
Josh took her hands in his and then led her to the bedroom. “My old trainer used to stress the importance of cardio. Getting your heart rate up. So this is all to help us maintain our healthy lifestyle.”
