Chapter 22 #2
Joe in all his tit-ified, ass-ified glory.
He was wearing a puffer coat again though, thank god. So, even though Marty ducked his head, surreptitiously trying to ascertain if Madison had been telling the truth, he couldn’t see shit.
“I can’t tell,” he muttered through the side of his mouth to Madison, who grinned.
Joe had a bushel of apples in his arms. Blocking the view even more than his coat did. He headed straight for me, then paused at the end of the register, obviously not sure what to do since I had company.
I still got a little thrill at the fact he was the one approaching me.
Joe’s eyes darted between me, Madison, Marty, and Mrs. Beele.
“Hey—” I said, biting my tongue so I wouldn’t call him baby. I wasn’t sure I was ready to confirm the town’s assumptions just yet. Thus far, I’d been pretty good at dodging. That felt just as momentous as bringing him with me to the gala.
The gala next week.
One week away.
God.
That was barely enough time to stress about it.
Joe grunted, not even offering a full word in response as he continued to stare nervously at the others. I saw the moment he locked-in though, standing up a little straighter, his lips set into a firm line.
“Hello,” Joe said to Marty, then Madison, then Mrs. Beele. Three separate, very serious “hello’s.” Ohmygodlookatmybabygo! Talking to people! Networking! Just like I’d taught him!
Mrs. Beele tittered while Marty grinned and offered Joe his hand to shake.
“Nice to finally put a face to the name,” Marty said.
Joe looked confused as he shifted his apples over to take his hand. He shook it in a macho-firm kinda way before he dropped it. No lingering. Not even a little.
“A face to the…name?” Joe echoed.
“You and Jason are the talk of the town,” Marty explained. “Which I’m sure you already know.”
Joe, did not, in fact, know, if his expression could be believed.
Before Marty could ask to see his tits—or outright tell Joe that everyone and their dog thought we were together-together—I cleared my throat.
“I can swing by after my shift tomorrow,” I told Marty. “See if I can’t help you get the lights up.”
“Thanks, Jason,” Marty replied. “The missus and I really appreciate the help. Couldn’t find a friend with a ladder to save our asses, and we don’t have the funds to buy one when we’ll really only use it twice a year.”
“I get it,” I smiled. “Don’t you worry. I’ve got you covered.”
It was a solid distraction. Normally, I’d appreciate it. Normally, I filled my holiday season with as many tasks as was physically possible so by the time Christmas actually rolled around, I was too tired to feel anything but sleepy.
This year felt different, though.
Even I could tell I’d signed on for too much. Because rather than feel excited about opportunities to interact with everyone, I was beginning to feel…anxious. The list on the counter kept growing and growing.
I’d built a reputation for myself over the years. And now, even people I’d not outright offered assistance to were coming to me. A second set of hands. Errand running. Holiday traditions. You name it.
Both Marty and Mrs. Beele left. They went their separate ways, and when I turned back to Joe—and his adorable hovering—Madison twisted around to face me.
I should’ve known she was up to no good.
She had that look on her face. The mischievous one that reminded me of that time I’d caught her shoplifting and offered her a job.
“My rates have gone up. I want thirty bucks,” Madison said, right in front of Joe.
Oh Jesus. No. No.
Bad Madison.
Joe tipped his head to look at her.
I made a slicing motion at my throat so she’d stop fucking talking. But…there was no halting the train wreck coming. Not when the knowing glint in Madison’s eyes made it clear she was doing this on purpose. Outing one of my many, many secrets. Making me an honest man.
“Deal,” I said quickly, in vain.
“Forty,” she bargained.
“Yes.”
“Fifty bucks.”
“Oka—”
“Fifty bucks for what?” Joe’s voice was as baffled as his face.
“So that I’ll leave you two alone.” Her grin was positively wicked as she let the cat out of the bag like the menace she was. I groaned, scrubbing my hands over my face, too scared to look Joe in the eye after that particular pin had been dropped.
“Why do you hate me?” I lamented, still covering my face. “You’re so mean. Like coffee-addicted Regina George. Only worse. Because I bought you a coffee machine. This is bullying.”
Footsteps sounded.
I jumped when a big palm hesitantly landed on my shoulder. Dropping my hands was excruciating, but I managed. Because I knew that touch. And when Joe wanted my attention, it was impossible not to give it to him, even in these dire circumstances.
He was looking at me.
Of course he was.
Dark blue eyes, fond, gentle, the way he looked at birds and dogs and deer. Acting as though he thought I was ready to bolt. Hell, maybe I was.
Oh, how the tables had turned.
Again.
“I figured you were doing that,” Joe said quietly.
“Maybe not the money bit. But…it was very convenient that you were the only one here every time I came.” Madison, because she was actually the devil, gave me a thumbs up behind Joe’s back—like she’d been helping me, not hurting me.
Gracefully, she took her tumbler—and mine—and headed to the break room.
It didn’t escape my notice that she hadn’t asked for payment.
God, that was diabolical.
She was as tricky as I was.
“You wouldn’t talk to me,” I sighed, a fly caught in a vat of honey. Joe continued to regard me like I was something precious. He was memorizing me. I’d never had someone look at me that way. He was so fucking cute with his apple bucket tucked in one arm and his cheeks still flushed from the cold.
“I wouldn’t,” Joe agreed.
“I had to be…innovative.”
“Mm,” Joe grunted. It felt like he could see the way my heart was racing. To the way he’d wormed himself inside it, with those dinner-plate hands, and his laughter that sounded airy as smoke.
“What else have you lied about to get close to me?” Joe’s words made me freeze. My whole body stiffened up, rigid as fucking fiberglass. Apparently, that was response enough, because Joe didn’t poke again. He just nodded.
And then…he set the apples down on the counter.
For a second, I was genuinely confused. And then he was turning me with the hand he had on my shoulder. Delicately enough it was my choice to go or not. I went, twisting to the side as Joe slipped completely behind the register into no-man’s land.
He stared at my mouth.
Ogled it, really.
The hand on my shoulder twitched. It was the same nervous tick he performed when his hands were in fists. Like he wanted something. Like he was overwhelmed.
“You do…a lot,” Joe said quietly, eyes still trained on my lips. “For everyone…for me.” His acknowledgement made warmth flood through me. More warmth, I should say. Because Joe looking at my mouth reminded me of kissing him.
Oh Jesus.
We were in public!
I’d literally just been doing my best not to broadcast our relationship to the entire town. And here he was…testing me the way I’d just debated testing him.
“Joe,” his name was a warning on my tongue. It wasn’t a real one though. Just a smoke screen to hide my lust. I had no self-control when it came to him. Obviously. “You need…” The list on the counter mocked me. “Help with something, maybe?”
His nostrils flared, and he snorted. Well, it was more an exhale than anything. Like an angry bull. But amused? Hard to describe.
Any second now, his guard would begin to drop.
All I had to do was coax a little more.
“If I didn’t know any better, the way you’re looking at my lips would make me think you want to be kissed,” I murmured, in case I wasn’t being obvious enough. My heart was skipping all over the place. “Touched, maybe,” I added.
He was breaking.
His eyes took on that foggy look that made me want to crow like a goddamn rooster. Flap my wings and strut around.
“You’ve probably been so lonely all week, haven’t you? Dropping coffee off for me. Setting up the furniture we bought in your fancy house. Working that cute ass off without a drop of self-care sprinkled anywhere.” Joe inhaled sharply.
Bingo.
“And…I’m starting to think there’s a reason for that.” Again, I was bullshitting. But it was working. Joe’s hand on my shoulder spasmed.
“What?” he asked, voice so quiet I barely heard it. His eyes searched mine, like he was looking for answers inside them.
“I think…you don’t take care of yourself, not because you can’t—” Oh dear god, please let me get this right. “But because now that you’ve had a taste of it…you’re hoping I will.”
There was a war in Joe’s eyes. Sharpness fighting with the fog. Warmth and ice. His pride battling to the surface at the insinuation that he might be anything other than totally self-sufficient. But the battle was gone almost as quickly as it had come.
And I was breathless.
Because I knew what that meant.
Knew the progress we’d made.
Could see it written all over his handsome, chiseled face.
Joe nodded in agreement.
It was barely a jerk of his head, but it was there.
I hardly wanted to blink, his surrender was so goddamn beautiful.
“Is that why you came to find me?” I husked out as one of my hands curled around the back of his neck. “Because you wanted my attention?”
Again, Joe nodded.
All that ice and fire was gone now, replaced by the puppy eyes that when directed my way, made me feel like I was flying.
“Alright then.” I gave his nape a squeeze.
Tight the way he preferred. He melted. Literally.
Turned to putty in my grip, his eyes going half mast, lips parting with a needy breath.
I grinned. I couldn’t help it. “You’re such a good boy, Joe,” the words slipped free before I could stop them.
“Coming to me when you need me. Such a good, good boy. The best boy in the world.”
Words I’d never said before.
Never even thought before.
And yet…they rang true.
He really was the best boy.