Chapter 1

Poppy hears what she recognizes as her cat, Marmalade, hissing in her kitchen, so she hurries to see what’s wrong. As soon as she comes into the kitchen, she sees her neighbor and friend’s small corgi, Mister Woof, eating her cat’s food while her kitty growls at him from a distance. Marmalade is a coward when it came to dogs, even small dogs who would run away if he batted at them.

“What are you doing here Mister Woof? Jamie will be worried about you!” Poppy scoops up Woof, who tries to lick her face, and Marmalade instantly stops growling and starts winding around Poppy’s legs as if thanking her.

“Let’s get you home,” Poppy says to the arm full of corgi happily wiggling against her chest.

Awkwardly with one hand, Poppy opens her backdoor. It has a cat flap, and she’s sure that’s how sneaky Mister Woof came to be stealing a dinner of cat kibble. The gate between her and Jamie’s yards has come unlocked again as it often does when Mister Woof jumps against it. This isn’t the first time he found his way to Poppy’s home. She closes it behind her.

Poppy finds Jamie’s back door is open, which isn’t that unusual on a hot day like today. Poppy calls out to Jamie and doesn’t get a reply, but she can hear pounding rock music coming from somewhere in the house. She walks inside, knowing that Jamie won’t mind and would want Mister Woof safe. She follows the sound of the music to Jamie’s bedroom and knocks on the closed door. There’s no reply, and Mister Woof whines.

Worry threads through Poppy as Jamie has very severe arthritis. She’s fallen before and hurt herself badly. After the last time, Jamie gave Poppy keys to her place and permission to come in any time if she thought there was need. Afraid now, Poppy puts down Mister Woof, and he wanders off as Poppy opens the door and steps inside.

The sight that greets her isn’t what she expects. Jamie isn’t on the floor. She’s on her bed, spread eagle and totally naked, like not even wearing socks naked, the most naked a person can be in Poppy’s opinion, and she knows her focus on Jamie’s brown toes is probably a shock response to seeing her good friend and crush naked.

“Gah! I’m sorry!” Poppy yells, covering her eyes with her hands.

Music turns off and she hears Jamie’s rich laugh. “Relax, babe. No harm, no foul,”

“I thought maybe you’d gotten hurt. I called your name, and I knocked. It’s just Mister Woof got out of your yard and into my house again,” Poppy explains in a rush, still shielding her eyes.

“Is Woofy okay?” Jamie asks, seeming totally relaxed with the fact she’s naked.

“Fine, had an extra lunch on Marmalade.” Poppy laughs nervously, hiding her eyes.

“Oh, God. I’m sorry. Greedy boy. I hope Marm is okay?” Jamie says as if she weren’t naked.

“Marmalade is fine. I might give him some extra treats. Um, I should go.” Poppy has had a crush on Jamie, and they’ve started flirting the last few months. She never expected she would see Jamie naked under this situation, even though she’s had many fantasies about Jamie nude.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Poppy. I’m not. I’m the one who was caught trying to masturbate, and I say trying. My damn fingers are so sore and stiff today, I was having no luck,” Jamie says without a hint of shyness, but then she’s always been pretty confident in the time Poppy has known her.

“Sex toy?” Poppy suggests, and she would cover her mouth if she weren’t covering her eyes. She isn’t bold like Jamie. She wishes she were. She wants to be, craves that freedom. She’s spent so many nights waking up from dreams of Jamie, sweaty and alone in tangled sheets, wishing for the phantom taste of Jamie on her lips to be real.

“The vibrations on any battery unit hurt my hands at the best of times, and to be honest, a dildo is not what I’m craving.” Jamie sighs.

Curiosity calls to Poppy. “What are you craving?”

“Really want to know?” Jamie’s voice holds a challenge. Poppy doesn’t like to back down from those.

“Yeah.” Poppy would deny to anyone that her voice shakes a little.

“I’ll tell you if you look at me,” Jamie says in a husky voice.

Poppy wants to pinch herself, sure she’s landed herself in one of her dreams, but the warm summer heat and the scent of flowers coming from the open window are too real, layers her dreams don’t give her. And Poppy wants to believe this is happening, so she uncovers her eyes and turns to look fully at Jamie.