Fuck, I had completely forgotten that we were meant to be meeting up tonight for the game and beers. I looked at Ashlyn, who was now looking down at her kindle, and I knew there was no way in hell I’d be leaving her tonight.
“I’m going to have to give tonight a miss, something has come up.”
He scoffed loudly, and I knew he would call me out. “What? Don’t be a fucker. Get your ass to your apartment.”
I was about to reply and state the fact that I would not be there, when my phone was ripped from my hands by Ashlyn.
“Hey, handsome. Josh was helping me with a couple of things in my apartment, but he is finished now. Yeah I know. You truly are a ladies man, Duke. Yes, I am sure you are overdue for some random pussy as you so lovingly call it. I sure will. Talk soon.”
She touched the screen to end the call and handed me back my phone with a smile. “Go out with Duke.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” I stated matter of factly.
“I’m okay. I’ll be locked in, and no one will be getting in. I have a hot date with my kindle, the couch, and ice cream.”
“Nope, not leaving.”
She turned and gave me Bambi eyes. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you go out with Duke, you can use your key and come spoon with me tonight.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“Spooning or no spooning, the decision is yours.”
“You play a hard bargain, Ashlyn Hart.”
Her smile told me that she knew she had me by the balls.
THREE HOURS AFTER JOSH finally left to meet up with Duke, and only after doing a complete walkthrough of my apartment to make sure everything was okay, I found myself slowly beginning to relax.
After giving myself a stern talking to, I kept myself busy by cooking a huge pot of spaghetti and taking a long bath. I would not let Lachlan take away my love of baths by making me fear them. No matter how strong I tried to be, the fact that I turned up the television louder than usual and played music throughout the apartment while I was in the bath wasn’t lost on me. Silence was no longer my friend, but my worst enemy. Like a vindictive stalker, silence would consume me with fear.
As I got lost in another chapter, the sound of keys tore me away from my characters. Josh couldn’t be back yet, he’d only been gone for three hours, and nights with Duke always lasted into the early hours of the morning.
“Hey,” he grumbled as he entered my apartment. After placing his wallet, keys, and phone on the coffee table, he leaned in and kissed my cheek. “How’s your night been? Everything, okay?”
“Um, it’s been good,” I replied in complete disbelief.
He gave me the once over, running his gaze over every inch of my body as if he was checking to make sure I was indeed okay. With a nod, he headed to the kitchen, and I watched his every step in fascination. It was like I was watching a movie and waiting for the punchline to hit so I’d understand what the hell was going on.
“Josh, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you still with Duke?”
“What? A guy can’t decide to come home and make sure you are okay?”
I put my hands up in defense, waving the white flag of surrender. “Okay, sorry. I was just asking.” I pulled my legs back to my chest and rested my kindle on the top of my knees. If he was going to be in a crabby mood, then I was going to get lost with my latest book boyfriend. I heard him move around the kitchen, and then the smell of the spaghetti I made earlier hit me. Even when a fresh beer was placed on the coffee table in front of me, I didn’t shift my gaze from my kindle.
“What are you reading? You haven’t looked up once,” he asked softly from behind the couch.
“A book,” I mumbled the obvious answer.
I was lost in a scene where the hero had just pushed the heroine up against the wall, when I first felt him. Hot air blew on the side of my neck and teased my cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I found him reading over my shoulder.
“Yep, he is totally going to fuck her against that wall. Have you had wall sex before? We should try it one day.”
He had absolutely no filter. Wall sex? Damn it, why did it sound so good? The rules I had set were slowly but surely being forgotten.
In one swift movement, Josh hurled himself over the back of the couch, causing my body to shudder from the force of him connecting with the cushion, and he moved in close so we were shoulder to shoulder.
“Next page, Ashy,” he demanded with a wiggle of his brow.
I looked at him with wide eyes. Were we seriously going to sit on the couch and read a book together?
“Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
Josh ripped the kindle from my hands and, after pressing all the wrong buttons, finally figured out how to turn the page. I sat there stunned and staring at the screen, but not reading a word.
“I knew it! Now that is what I call a good fucking,” Josh said with a hoot, his eyes firmly locked onto my kindle.
“Are we seriously reading a book together?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yep. I need to see what all the fuss is about with these so-called book boyfriends you have. You never know, I might find myself a book girlfriend if I’m lucky.” He winked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Oh my god, he was hilarious. I burst out laughing and, before I could stop myself, I clicked onto the next chapter and we fell into silence. Josh grabbed his bowl of spaghetti from the coffee table and ate while we read.
After he finished, he took his empty bowl and left the living room. I locked my kindle and placed it on the coffee table, before shifting on the couch until I had a good view of the kitchen. I watched as he put the leftover spaghetti in containers, packed the dishwasher, and made me a hot chocolate in my favorite mug. His eyes flashed to mine, and he offered me a divinely sweet smile as he held up the packet of marshmallows in silent question. All I could do was nod and watch him pop three into the mug. This Josh Crawford—the sweet, considerate, hot-chocolate making, kindle-reading guy—was extremely dangerous to my plans of putting a halt to my ever-growing feelings for him.
Right at this second, he could have asked me to do absolutely anything, and I would have.
The light from the kitchen disappeared, and the only light filling the apartment was coming from the lamp in the far corner of the living room. Josh returned to the couch and pulled me against his chest. The warmth his body provided had an instant effect on me. I curled into him, and got lost in the scent that was all Josh: musk and sandalwood, with a hint of vanilla.
“Can we stay awake all night?” I whispered against the fabric of his shirt.
“I don’t plan on leaving, so we can do whatever you want,” he said softly while his breath caressed my cheek.
My mind was a crazy mass of emotions. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lachlan being in my apartment. Was this the first time he’d snuck in, or was it something he did regularly? Shit, had he sat on this couch? When did he become so damn creepy?
A shiver ran down my spine, and instinctively I tightened my arm around Josh’s waist. The warmth of his body and the rhythm of his heartbeat below my cheek was exactly what I needed, and the thought of losing it was something I couldn’t comprehend.
“What’s going through that head of yours?” he asked quietly.
The screaming of my head to stay away from Josh had been silenced, because it was him that was here, and it was his arms that were comforting me. My body was a traitorous whore when it came to Josh Crawford—a whore who wanted to deliver herself to him on a platter and say take me however and whenever you want. My heart, however, felt like it was wearing a chastity belt with the key thrown away, never to be found. But right now, in the dim lights of my living room, I wished I had a map to find the key, because I’d be handing it to Josh and telling him to keep it forever.