You've Got Tail Read Online Free

back?”
    â€œThat’s a story for another day, darlin’.”
    Yeah, I knew the story. Not so sure I wanted the blow-by-blow again. I felt his arms go under me, and I opened my eyes, staring into the deep abyss of his gorgeous, Midwest baby blues.
    I let him carry me upstairs to the apartment. I’m not a small woman, but he held me like I weighed next to nothing, which made me think kindlier of him. With my arms around his shoulders, I could smell an unidentifiable musk and spice to his skin. He sat me down on a couch—the scent went from musky to musty—then he went into another room. I heard water running in the sink. More than a whisper of regret passed through me. I barely knew the man and I missed being in his arms. I looked around the living room.
    This was the seventies place where my vision had started. The retro decorum lacked any sophistication that could’ve made the space sensational. I knew this had been where Judah lived when he’d been in town. He’d rented this building before his disappearance, and Chav had used out stake to purchase it during her search for him. His vanishing had hit her hard.
    Chav told me once that she hadn’t agreed with her oldest brother’s “lifestyle choice,” but she respected him. I’d asked her what she meant, but she had shaken her head, unwilling to elaborate. I knew it wasn’t as simple as him being gay or anything like that, because Chav, like myself, was socially liberal. Hell, she’d have started her own PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) in Peculiar if that had been the case. No. There was something else she hadn’t approved of.
    I heard the water turn off in the kitchen. Babel returned and proceeded to wipe my face and neck with a cool cloth.
    â€œThere now, all better.” For a second, he sounded like my father. Which totally squicked me, considering the hard-core fantasies I had about him. He put the washcloth in my hand and patted my shoulder. “I’m going to jump in the shower real quick. I’ll be back in a few.”
    Part of me wanted to watch him walk away strictly for the view, but since that part seemed to have done gone and lost its damn mind, I waited until I heard water running before looking in his direction.
    He’d left the bathroom door open. Perv.
    I couldn’t believe it, less than an hour in a new town and I’d witnessed a Red Shoe Diary moment, and the star was lathering up less than ten feet away. I would’ve been downright disgusted by the whole morning if I hadn’t been so preoccupied with thoughts of slippery suds sliding along his perfectly formed pecs. (Now I understand how bad porn gets started. Bow chick-a bow-wow.)
    I will not go stare at the naked man. I repeated this mantra in my head over and over as I ran down the stairs to the kitchen.
    Grabbing his clothes from the freezer, I contemplated where they’d been and how they got there as I carried them back up stairs. They were cold and held the scent of sweat, but at least he’d have something to put on so he could go away. I placed them on the couch, and dear Lord, it was a really ugly couch. It would be the first piece of furniture to go when Chav and I started fixing the place up. And with that thought, I went downstairs to wait for him.
    Fifteen minutes later, the light flickered on in the stairwell. Babel’s arms and face glistened with dewy goodness as he walked down the steps. He rubbed a tea towel, barely big enough to dry a fish’s butt, against his loose mane of wet hair. His blue T-shirt clung to his chest. Water soaking through the fabric made spots the color of midnight.
    He must have felt me staring, because he dropped his arm to his side and looked at me. “Where’d you find my clothes?”
    â€œThe freezer.” I wrapped my knuckle on the counter. “Guess you can go home now.”
    â€œGuess so.” He shrugged