Chapter 8
Joshua
Why was this woman driving me crazy, I wasn’t sure.
But she was.
I wanted to be around her all the time, not just for work reasons. I wanted to talk to her; I wanted to laugh with her.
More importantly, though, I wanted to keep kissing her, over and over, every night, every day, and every time in between. I have never wanted that with anyone before.
But I very much enjoyed that with Tessy.
So, when she asked if she could skip a meeting to go over some stuff a few days later and just go Christmas shopping, I was all for it.
She said she needed a few more presents, but she also wanted to spruce up her place with a few more lights.
I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
So, here we were, bouncing along in her car, to the mall.
I wasn’t even sure the last time I was in a mall. But I was with her, so I was okay with it. I even had my disguise, not that I thought I’d be hounded.
“Do you still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do?” she asked, pulling into a parking spot. I gave her a smile and she groaned. “Do not tell me you are one of those last-minute people, they drive me crazy!”
“Okay, I’ll keep my mouth shut on that subject.”
She rolled her eyes as she climbed out of the car and I laughed, because seeing her annoyed was downright cute!
“How is that even possible? Like, I remember going shopping for your mom once.”
“You did. And she loved the gift. But that’s because my mom’s birthday is at the start of December. She was really surprised when I had a gift for her before her birthday and told me I had to keep the PA who knew just what to get and when to get it.”
Once more, Tessy rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t help but kiss her. She was just so dang cute when she was annoyed. And this flaw of mine was really pushing her buttons.
“Joshua,” she hissed as we pulled away.
“What?”
“You can’t do that in public.”
“Oh, hell no, Tessy. I can’t screw you every which way in public, but I can most certainly kiss you.
And I have no problem doing that.” I paused, tapping my finger against my cheek.
“Actually, I guess I could screw you in public if you wanted. Hadn’t done anything like that before. It could be really hot.”
“Oh my gosh, will you stop?”
Her cheeks were on fire, but the merriment in her eyes was worth it all.
Not that I was lying, because if she wanted to, I think I’d be up for really anything.
“Nope, won’t do that.”
I took her hand, adjusted my hat, and led her into the mall, not sure what she needed or what we were looking for, but happy all the more to just be with her.
Three hours later, I was questioning my sanity and saying yes to this woman. Don’t get me wrong, watching her face light up over gifts to get her mom or her sisters was beautiful. But helping her pick over items that all seemed the same to me was a bit too much.
This was why I was happy stressing over shopping for just a few hours, not overtime, where I could second guess my choices.
“Do you really think your mom would like the necklace? I know you said she liked the earrings.”
“Tessy,” I warned, putting the bags in the trunk of the car.
“My mom will be overjoyed. And chances are she’ll know exactly who picked them out.
I thank you for taking me but stop stressing over my family.
We’re easy people to please. And really all my mom ever wants is just us all home with her for the holidays. Anything else is just an added bonus.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
We both climbed in the car, but she didn’t start it. Instead, she sat there, chewing on her lip and I frowned. We had spent countless hours together, but something was bothering her. And it was new because this look hadn’t been there the whole day.
“What is it, Tessy?”
“Would you want to join me at my mom’s for Christmas dinner?”
She rushed through that, almost as if I would say no. Why though, I wasn’t sure. Hadn’t she picked up on the fact that I was enjoying time with her outside of work?
“Tessy, are you worried?”
“Yes,” she mumbled and I shook my head
“I like you, and I like what’s going on between us. You might be scared of the idea, but I totally would love to go to your house for dinner, to be your plus one, and to get everyone off your back. You told me about it, you know. I didn’t forget. Was just waiting for you to ask me about it.”
“I know, I know. Just…it’s a lot to ask.”
I took her hand, having to smile at the vulnerable side I saw here. This wasn’t the same woman who placed a bid on me not too long ago. This was a woman that was scared, and I was determined to make it all better, if I could, and in any way I could.
“It’s not. Now, let’s get some holiday cheer up in your place,” I told her, holding up the bags in my other hand. That eased her fears, at least for the moment. And though it wasn’t ideal, it was something I would take.
She turned the car off, grabbing my hand as we both got out of the car, and made our way to her apartment, arms loaded with presents and decorations. She showed me around her place, which I felt was far cozier than she let on, then dumped her bags.
“I like lights. I always wanted my place to twinkle, even if it was just inside and for me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, Tessy,” I told her, grabbing a box and untwisting the lights.
“There’s plenty of times I’ll sit at home, in the quiet of the night, sipping coffee or tea, and just staring at my lights.
It’s a soothing thing. Works really well when I have a role to start to focus on. ”
She looked at me, a smile on her lips.
“Another tidbit of the famous actor that’s never shared.”
I gave her a mock glare before making sure I started with the correct end of the lights.
“Okay, now, I need to start from this end so the plug in is there. Do you want me to string them up over the doorway and then run it down?”
She came up behind me, arms crossed, looking at the area.
“Yeah, that’s the short strand. We can do that, and then run this one,” she said, grabbing the other and undoing it, “the other way. I think that should work.” She started walking, putting it over her shoulders. “I like it.”
“I’ll get on that.”
She paused, tilting her head before walking back over, dropping the strand.
“But if we did this one, then we can also extend it over the other way?”
“No, the shorter one should go here, just trust me.”
“I don’t know, Joshua.”
I reached down to grab my strand but instead of moving with me, it wrapped around her leg, pulling her down, which in turn, pulled me down on her. She laughed and the glow of the white lights made her shine.
Without thinking, I leaned down, pressing my lips against hers, thinking that her, naked, with these lights, would be just the sexiest sight ever.