Page 34 of Sand in My Boots

“Yep.” Her hand covers her mouth, as if she didn’t mean to give away that piece of information.

“Over twenty?”

Her fingers still covering her mouth, she shakes her head slowly, though the truth wins out when she quickly starts nodding. I rub my hands together, thinking of ways to get the real number out of her.

A brilliant idea hits. “How long could you go without washing towels if you take one shower a day?”

“A long time. I’d say at least a month.” Again, the way she so nonchalantly gives the information is a surprise to her. “Damn.” A lift of her right shoulder. “Well, now you know my secret.”

“You own over thirty towels for bathing. That seems excessive.”

“It’s become a weird joke in my family. I get at least four new ones every Christmas. I tend not to toss any old ones because with the rotation schedule, they don’t get too old or worn out.”

She makes this too easy.

My eyebrows raise. “‘Rotation schedule’? An actual schedule.”

Her low gasp echoes around the quiet room. “I plead the Fifth.” And because she’s quite the vixen, she snaps out of her stupor and sits up on her knees. After adjusting the robe so she makes sure her boobs are showing, she crawls over to where I sit on the bed. Batting her eyelashes, she coos, “Hungry?”

She doesn’t mean food. In no way do her hooded eyes and tongue licking her lips equate to food. Tell that to my rumbling stomach.

“Do we have to leave the room?”

“I’m certainly not getting dressed. I’ll have steak fries.”

“Same as yesterday?”

“Yep. That a problem?”

“Nope, confirming those are the ones you want. What else?”

Sliding herself onto my legs, my breath hitches as her legs straddle mine. Apparently, our “break” is over.

“Surprise me.” Her lips find my neck, making it difficult to focus on anything else except how the softness feels.

I allow her a minute or two to work me over before rasping, “Food, Jude. Gotta order the food.”

Reluctantly, she obeys my request, though not before rubbing herself back and forth over my erection. “What are the odds someplace will deliver condoms?”

Her boldness is such a turn-on. “Work on that while I order food.” My voice is high-pitched, sounding nothing like me.

We’ve yet to have sex.

What happens when we do?

I don’t know how she did it, but she found a place to deliver condoms, even so discreetly as for the driver to leave them on the mat outside the door in a plain bag. I don’t want to know what she paid to make it happen. Especially because after dinner, the girl was hyped up with energy. And the two orgasms in the middle of the afternoon were child’s play compared to the way her body performed with more sustenance.

Ironically, Ms. I only use a towel once wasn’t put off by the mess in the bed. The lights—except for the night-light—were off by midnight, and had I wanted to leave, there was no way she was letting me. We cuddled together on the least messy side of the king-size bed. In the dark, we traded stories. The good, the bad, and some of the ugly. She didn’t feel like a stranger, nor someone I only wanted to spend one night with. However, she also wasn’t the teen I crushed on so many years ago. She was a woman, and if possible, after the day we shared, the crush I harbored ignited stronger than ever.

In the morning, the alarm on my Apple Watch vibrates me awake. Sometime during the night, Juli slipped out of my arms, resting about a foot next to me in the bed. For a few moments, I simply stare at her.

Her head rests slightly below the pillow, her blond tresses she didn’t bother tying back up after I undid her ponytail fan around her head. The sheet covers to the top of her ass, her bare back and arms on full display. If I had more time, I’d wait her out—or wake her up if I grew impatient—but unfortunately, I have work to attend to. However, she somehow convinced me to take the rest of the week off after our boat excursion today. Hard to say no when I had a mouthful of her pussy.

Climbing quietly and softly out of the bed, I leave a kiss on her forehead. She stirs to life, flipping onto her back. I weep at the sight of her bare breasts I don’t have time to fondle.

“Morning.” Her sleep-laden voice makes me smile.

“Hey. I’ve gotta do the things I mentioned last night, but we’ll meet for breakfast at the buffet. I’ll see what I can do to get an employee discount.” A running joke she brought up last night. As if she can’t afford all the meals this week.