CHAPTER 9
Jo was quick about her shower. It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing. She'd been about to rush back out of the bathroom after finishing her business, but when she spotted the tangled mess that was her hair in the bathroom mirror, she whirled to turn on the shower instead. Jo washed her hair, quickly lathered and rinsed her body, shut off the taps, and nearly killed herself in her rush to get out of the tub, tripping over the lip and only saving herself by grabbing for the towel rack.
Grimacing to herself, Jo straightened, taking a towel as she did. She ran it quickly over her body in the most perfunctory of drying jobs, and then wrapped the towel around herself toga style and headed back out into the bedroom with every intention of jumping on Nicholas and having her way with him again. Instead, she was barely out of the room before he was slipping past her, jeans in hand, saying, "My turn." Jo whirled toward the bathroom door just in time to watch it close. A smile curled her lips and she took a step toward it, thinking it would be fun to join him, only to come to a halt when she heard the lock being engaged. Her eyebrows rose slightly at the sound, but then she glanced around at a rustle from the corner of the room. She turned to see Charlie yawning as he sat up on the desk chair he'd apparently been sleeping on. The sight immediately made her scowl.
"You know better," Jo murmured, but couldn't be too angry. She'd been letting him up on the furniture all day. Besides, she wouldn't have wanted to sleep on the carpet either. Still, the mild reprimand was enough, Charlie jumped off the chair and came to sit on his haunches before Jo, eyes appearing almost apologetic as he looked up at her.
Jo smiled wryly and bent to pet him, wondering what he'd been doing while she and Nicholas had been "busy." She'd quite forgotten the poor guy, and silly as it sounded, she was hoping he was sleeping. It just felt creepy to think of him sitting there watching them during those passionate moments.
Shrugging the thought away, Jo straightened. She spotted her jeans lying outside the bathroom door, but left them and moved to the bed intending to lie down, only to pause when Charlie whined and moved to the hotel room door, came back, and then moved to the door again. Recognizing the signal that he needed a walk, Jo sighed and then went to fetch her jeans after all. She had pulled her panties and jeans on before going in search of her T-shirt. She found it on the other side of the bed, but the moment she picked it up, Jo recalled that Nicholas had shredded it.
Wrinkling her nose, she tossed it over a chair and was debating what to do when she spotted Nicholas's T-shirt on the bed. As she recalled, it had been tossed on the desk lamp earlier. He must have collected it to take in the bathroom and left it behind in his rush to get in there.
Jo shrugged and picked it up. His loss was her gain. She couldn't walk Charlie topless. Jo tugged it on over her head, smiling as she was immediately enveloped in his scent. She paused to inhale deeply before pulling it all the way on and tucking the over-large T-shirt into her jeans. She then glanced to the bathroom door, considering whether to tell Nicholas where she was going. Jo suspected that if she did he'd protest her taking Charlie out by herself It was probably better just to do it and get it done while he was in the shower, she decided. If she was lucky she might even get back before he finished showering, and he never need know about it.
Jo moved to the table to collect the KFC bag lying there. Her gaze dipped into the bucket as she went, noting with a small, amused smile that it was empty. Nicholas had apparently been hungry when he got back and she'd slept through the meal. She noted the licked-clean paper plate on the carpet, and supposed Charlie hadn't. Jo shook her head, grabbed the bag, a plastic fork, napkins, and one of the key cards from the packet on the table and walked to the door where Charlie waited, whining almost nonstop now. It seemed he really had to go, and Jo supposed she should just be glad he hadn't had an accident in the room while they were sleeping.
Afraid of running into problems on the elevator, Jo led Charlie to the stairwell door. He followed eagerly when she opened the door and then bounded ahead, padding quickly down the stairs at a speed that forced her to jog to keep up. All Jo could think was that she'd better let him run while they were out, because there was no way she was jogging all the way back up.
They managed to slip out of the building without encountering anyone, but it took a bit of time for Jo to find a park. Once she did, she waited patiently as Charlie, who had been whining with need the entire way, spent a good few minutes sniffing every tree before lifting his leg. He then had to find another spot worthy of his performing the more messy business. Jo cleaned up after him using the KFC bag, and then dumped his offerings in the garbage before leading him back the way they'd come. They were passing a pizza joint halfway back when the door opened and a waft of cooking pepperoni and tomato sauce struck her nose and started her stomach growling. Pausing, Jo peered in the window, her mouth salivating as she watched a worker inside slide a freshly baked pizza out of the oven. She was just debating slipping inside to buy one to take back to the hotel when Charlie suddenly emitted the same strange growl he had in the apartment when Bad-Breath Boy had been outside the door.