Despite her mood, Olivia laughed. “Oh God, the cat pee smell would have woken us uphoursago!”
He paused in his task to stare at her. “It … smells?”
She nodded. “It’s the worst.”
Jake shuddered, and got back to work. Her brain finally caught up to Jake’s and Olivia grabbed towels from him and laid them on the kitchen tile. They were going to need more.
Jake handed her the wet ones.
“I’m going to see if the ones we used last night are dry,” she called out.
“Squeeze these over the tub, maybe they’ll still be usable.”
“It’s worth a shot.”
Doubtful.
Ugh, the last thing she wanted was extra laundry.
Olivia wrung the towels out over the tub then threw them over the shower curtain rod. Snatching up the dirty towels from last night, she walked back into the kitchen.
It almost worked. They had to finish up with what few kitchen towels fit into the small kitchen. Jake laid the soaked-through towels they’d used out in the tub while she filled Kusanagi’s water dish, only halfway this time. The little perpetrator calmly cleaned herself on the counter.
“Kusanagi, getdown!” She shot her human a snooty glare, primly jumped down, and waltzed out of the kitchen with her tail in the air.
Olivia scrubbed a hand over her face. She had a sink full of dishes and no way to dry them. And now she easily had two four-dollar loads of laundry to do if she wanted to shower tonight.
“Now Ireallydon’t think your cat likesme,” Jake said from the doorway. He must have found the small fan in her closet, because he had placed it on the floor facing the damp carpet.
“It’s not you; she’s mad at me. Not only did I lock her out all night, but I’m five hours late getting her breakfast.” At that, she turned and grabbed Kusanagi’s kibble and poured out her food.
“Does she usually sleep with you?”
“She usually hops up at some point during the night. She has a couple of different beds, and one of them is in there, too. I think she’s mostly upset about the late breakfast.” Her stomach chose that moment to growl.
“Sounds like she’s not the only one.” Jake chuckled as he turned the fan on, setting it so it oscillated back and forth over the huge wet spot in the carpet. “How about we get dressed and go find ourselves some breakfast? Or brunch, I guess.”
Olivia nodded. “That sounds great.”
Olivia threw on jeans and a t-shirt, and considered how calm Jake had been through the whole ordeal. If that had been her dad, he would have lectured her on how she shouldn’t keep an animal.
She would never forget the one time she’d brought Kusanagi with her to her parents’. It was the first Christmas she’d had her, and she couldn’t bear to kennel her after just adopting her. So they made the drive south to Virginia Beach, and Kusanagi had worn out her welcome in about three hours. She’d clawed the couch. Her fur had ended up in the turkey stuffing. Not to mention that her mother had caught her trying to eat the raw turkey set out to thaw. Then to top it all off, while they were occupied with Christmas Eve dinner, Kusanagi had bolted up the tree, causing it to fall and smash about a dozen antique heirloom ornaments.
Her father’s red-faced, two-hour rant had basically ruined Christmas.
But Jake … Jake had quickly assessed the situation and formed a solution. Was that just the way he was raised? Or was it something he picked up from football? His gentle response had soothed her nerves. It was refreshing, and damned attractive.
He’d just accepted the ordeal, and the cat, and her. The reason Olivia had stayed single was mostly because she hadn’t found a man that could accept all of her, and that was fine. That was what vibrators were for. But she couldn’t deny there was something to be said about the real thing.
