16. Tyson
SIXTEEN
TYSON
Josie stares at me with wide eyes. She rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet as her eyes trace over me, pulling her lip between her teeth before she looks at the box in her hand.
“So, no drink for you, but what about cake?” She holds the box up as a tentative smile takes form on her lips. Her entire face lights up, the view of it absolutely radiant.
I run a hand over my mouth, not having the heart to tell her that I’ve never been much of a chocolate person.
“Sure,” I get out, unable to turn her down.
I just want to spend time with her, and for some reason, I have it in my head that if I tell her no, she might just suggest I turn around and leave before our night together even begins.
Josie smiles and nods, making me feel better about accepting her invitation to share the cake with her. “Perfect. You can follow me into the kitchen, then.” She hooks her free hand over her shoulder, pointing in the direction of what I assume is the kitchen.
I nod before sliding the dress shoes off my feet and leaving them at the door. I follow closely behind her, my eyes roaming over the space. The house is breathtaking. It seems to be straight out of the catalogues Winnie’s been showing me for inspiration for my own home.
“Sorry if it’s messy. I haven’t done much but stare at my computer screen the past few days.”
My eyes find hers as she steps into the kitchen. I wait for her to flip on a light, but she doesn’t. She sets the box on the counter before walking around the large island in the middle of the room.
I pull my gaze from her just long enough to look around the space, my eyes roaming over everything as it glows underneath the moonlight filtering in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“This doesn’t seem messy at all,” I respond as I slide into one of the countertop stools.
“I just wasn’t expecting company, is all.” Josie opens up a drawer and pulls out two silver forks. They gleam underneath the moonlight as she closes the drawer and makes her way to me.
I slowly let out a breath as I sit back a little further. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to be creepy at all by standing on your doorstep. I was just trying to decide if it was better for me to knock and give you the cake or to just drop it off and hope you noticed it was there.”
Josie slides into the seat next to me, her knee briefly brushing against mine as she gets comfortable. “I didn’t think you were creepy at all.” She hands over the fork, and something about her demeanor makes me believe her.
I relax at her words as I grab the fork from her and watch her open the box with the cake in it.
Her eyes go wide the moment she looks inside, and even in the darkness of night, I swear there’s a gleam in her eye when she looks up at me.
“This looks incredible.” She rocks in her chair, almost as if she’s doing an excited little dance, and it might be one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen.
“Everyone was raving about it at the welcome party.”
“Did you not have any?” She stabs a bite of the cake, making sure to get equal parts cake and icing.
I shake my head. “I boxed up my piece for you.”
She holds the fork in front of her lips as she stares at me with wide eyes. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I shrug, not knowing how to respond. I know I barely know her. But I want to get to know her, and because of that, I can’t help but want to do things to put that smile on her face. “I know. But I did. Now, try it and let me know what you think.”
She stares at me for a few more seconds, and there’s something about the intensity of her gaze that makes me want to shift underneath it.
Nothing about her expression gives her away, but she stares at me as if there’s more she wants to say.
Whatever it was, she keeps to herself. She lets out a breath of air before placing the cake in her mouth.
Her eyelids flutter shut as she lets out a soft moan that I feel throughout my entire body.
I find myself closing my eyes, too, when she lets out another moan. This one goes straight to my cock. I have to shift in my chair just to make sure she can’t see the proof of my growing arousal.
Fuck. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her the cake. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to rid my mind of that sweet, perfect moan.
“This might be the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth,” she mutters.
Air hisses through my teeth as mental pictures pop into my head that absolutely shouldn’t be there.
I don’t think she even realizes how much I’m holding on by a thread with the dirty pictures she’s put into my head with that moan and her words.
She quickly stabs the piece of cake and takes another bite, completely oblivious to the way I’m picturing making her moan with something else in her mouth.
“Take a bite,” Josie prompts, pushing the cake in my direction. I blanch as I sit up, hoping she doesn’t notice how turned on I am right now.
I cough, completely taken off guard. I was too busy imagining all the fun ways I could get her to moan like that—or even louder—and I forgot that I’m supposed to be eating the cake too.
Apparently unsatisfied that I haven’t taken a bite yet, Josie scoops a bite of the cake herself and holds it in front of my mouth. I pause, my gaze moving between the loaded fork inches away from my mouth and her soft stare.
She lifts her eyebrows and waves the fork. “You have to take a bite. Try it. This is the best cake I’ve ever had, just don’t tell anyone else I ever said that.”
My lips part as I open my mouth. It doesn’t matter that I don’t like chocolate or that I had zero intention of trying the cake I brought her.
She could ask me to do anything right now, and I’d do it because I’m so swept up in her presence, and my entire body is still buzzing with arousal at the sounds she made a moment ago.
Her smile grows as she places the fork in my mouth. My lips close around it, the chocolate hitting my tongue as I take the bite she’s offered.
“Delicious, isn’t it?” she asks, her eyes bright with excitement as she stares at me.
I can’t do anything. I stare at her, barely noticing the taste of the chocolate cake because I’m focused on the icing that’s on the corner of her mouth.
She sets the fork down for a moment as I chew, her gaze still focused solely on me as she studies my reaction.
Without even thinking about it, I reach between us and swipe my thumb over the icing on the corner of her mouth.
Before she can react, I pull my finger back to my mouth and lick the icing from my skin, wishing I was able to lick it straight from her skin instead.
“Delicious,” I rasp, my gaze moving to her mouth. Her lips part before they close again as she swallows slowly.
When I meet her gaze, I find her staring at my mouth.
I’ve never wanted to kiss someone more in my entire life.
It’d be easy to lean in and seal my mouth to hers, but even with the hungry way she stares at my lips, I don’t know if that’s what she wants.
I’m shocked, after her insistence on working instead of spending time together, that she even asked me to come in tonight to begin with.
I don’t want to push too far and kiss her and make her pull away from me completely.
But fuck, I’ve never wanted to kiss someone more than the way I want to kiss her.
If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve never felt an instant attraction to someone the way I have with her.
From the moment she came chasing after her damn cat and I saw her for the first time, there was something that instantly pulled me to her.
I’m dying to get to know her more, and I don’t know if she’d allow me to do that if I kiss her too soon.
A loud meow comes from Mouse at our feet, breaking both of us from whatever moment we were having.
Josie swipes a hand over her mouth before softly clearing her throat. “Was the rest of the food at the party tonight as good as this cake?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“The food was pretty incredible,” I finally answer, wondering if I’m thankful that Mouse broke up the moment between us or if I’m mad at a cat for stopping me from kissing my neighbor.
Josie takes another bite, her mouth turning into a smile around the tip of the fork. “Dang, maybe I shouldn’t have skipped it. The last good meal I had was the one you made me the other night.”
My brows furrow. “What have you been eating?”
Josie shrugs as she takes another bite of the cake. “Things I can pop into the microwave and easy food.” She pauses and thinks for a minute before lifting a shoulder in a shrug. “Mostly a lot of snack plates. I don’t cook, remember? Not trying to set off any alarms here.”
I can’t help but frown. I don’t like the idea of her not having a proper meal for the last few days, especially when she’s having to work more to meet her deadline.
She must catch on to my silence because she drops the fork once again and looks at me with a cocked head. “What’s wrong?”
I meet her stare. “ I don’t like hearing that the last proper meal you had was days ago.”
Her lips twitch with the hint of a nervous smile. “Oh, don’t worry.” Her chin dips low as she grows quiet for a moment. She stares at the ground with her next words. “This is actually pretty typical when I’m on a deadline. I live off snacks, caffeine, and a dream.”
I scrape a hand over my mouth. “Well, for the rest of this deadline, you won’t be living off snacks.”
Josie looks up, her gaze meeting mine as she stares at me in confusion. “What? Unless I become a chef overnight, snacks…”
I sit up, leaning in ever so slightly. I allow my lip to turn up in the hint of a smirk. “You won’t be living off snacks because I’ll be feeding you.”