Page 87 of September

“I love when you do that,” Juliet said when Gwen rose up to meet her lips in the shower.

“I love whenIdo that,” Gwen replied. “I feel like your clit might just be made for my mouth. It seems to fit pretty perfectly when I put my lips around it.”

“You can’t say things like that when I can’t come again right now and have to go two days without,” Juliet said and pulled Gwen in for a kiss.

“We can come again tonight. Just over FaceTime.”

“Not a bad idea, but also not the same,” Juliet replied, wrapping her arms around Gwen’s neck and pulling her in for a tight hug as the water ran down Gwen’s back. “I think part of the reason I wanted to wait was that I knew how good this would be with you, and I didn’t want to miss it when I traveled.”

“Do you regret not waiting?” Gwen asked.

“What? No,” Juliet said, pulling out of the hug a bit to look into Gwen’s eyes. “Not even a little bit. I know we metbecauseI’m traveling a lot, but I wish we had met that night at the bar or something. When I walked in with Molly and saw you there, I wish we had talked there and ended up here.”

“Because then I wouldn’t be your dog walker?”

“Because I wouldn’t have met you only because I have to leave all the time,” Juliet said, kissing Gwen’s nose. “We would’ve talked over a drink and decided to go out.”

“Would you still have ordered that ridiculous martini you didn’t drink?” Gwen teased, trying to keep things light.

Juliet laughed and said, “Probably. I wanted to be cool around you. I don’t suspect that would’ve changed if I’d only met you then. I might have even made it more ridiculous by asking for it shaken with the olives in the shaker and the ice included in the glass or something.”

“Candace would’ve just killed you.”

Juliet laughed again and said, “Let’s get out of here. The water’s cooling off.”

They dried off and dressed in comfortable clothes for their quick walk around the block with Carly. Juliet held on to Gwen’s hand the whole time as if she didn’t want to let go, and when they got back to the apartment, Gwen checked her day’s schedule on her phone while Juliet dressed and did her last-minute packing.

“Bring a vibrator!” Gwen yelled.

“What?” Juliet asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway of the bedroom.

“FaceTime sex.” Gwen wiggled her eyebrows at her.

Juliet laughed and went back to packing.

“Hey, can you take her with you tonight?” Juliet asked her a few minutes later.

“I was already planning on it,” she replied.

“You were?”

“I assumed that would be okay with you.”

“It is, obviously, but–” Juliet stopped. “Wait. You didn’t charge me.”

“Huh?”

“Babe, you stopped charging me,” Juliet pointed out as she emerged from her bedroom holding out her phone and showing it to Gwen.

“Yeah. So?”

“So, you’ve been taking care of Carly without getting paid?”

“Jules, we’re dating now. I can’t take your money.”

“Babe, this is your job,” Juliet said, sitting down next to her on the sofa. “If you’re taking care of her when I’m gone, you get money for that.”

“You wouldn’t ask Molly to–”