Chapter 20 Josie
JOSIE
He slid the key in the lock and shoved the door open, inviting me into his home once again. I was determined not to do anything crazy, like creep into his room at night and strip naked.
The way he was holding my gaze at the bar had me thinking all kinds of dirty thoughts, down to the way his eyes would look as he went down on me. Would he enjoy it? Did he ever do that for a woman? Would he do it for me?
It was ridiculous to even think about it. We were neighbors, and if we crossed that line, where the hell would I sleep when my brother and his whore of a fiancée were busy burning up the sheets?
“You can take the couch.”
“Thanks,” I sighed, flopping down on it. “God, I’m so tired. What do you think the chances are that I’ll wake up in the morning and this will all be some bad dream?”
“Not very likely.”
I rolled to my side, instantly curling up in a ball, my eyes already drifting closed. It wasn’t the most comfortable way to sleep, but there was no way I was going over to my house to grab a single thing. I might smother her with a pillow if I did.
“Um…” He cleared his throat uncomfortably, shifting from one foot to the other. This was the most reaction I had seen out of him of any kind. “Did you want a shirt to sleep in or something?”
“Oh…” I glanced down at my clothes, already feeling the buttons from my jeans digging into my stomach. It was rather uncomfortable, and as much as I could tolerate nearly anything, sleeping in a bra was out of the question.
“You know, that would be great.”
“Right,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll grab something.”
Without my own blanket wrapped around me tonight, I was left with very little to keep me warm. He had absolutely nothing around here to keep a person warm. How did he handle sitting in his living room without the comfort of a blanket?
Oh, that’s right. He didn’t sit in his living room. He didn’t watch TV. He didn’t do anything that might be considered fun and relaxing.
“Here,” he said, tossing me his shirt.
“Thanks. I’ll just be quick,” I said, skirting past him to the bathroom.
I felt disgusting. After fighting with Scarlet, sitting in a jail cell, and then hanging out in a greasy bar all night, I needed a shower, but would he be okay with that?
Cracking the door open, I peered into the hallway. “Uh…hey, do you mind if I take a quick shower?”
“Go ahead.”
I searched high and low for a towel, but the only one I found was hanging on the bar.
Picking it up, I sniffed it, deciding it smelled clean enough.
At least it wasn’t on the floor. Sawyer always left his towels laying around, whether on the back of chairs, crumpled on the floor, or on his bed. I was always picking up after him.
Stripping out of my clothes, I took the quickest shower imaginable, refusing to think of the way his eyes trailed over my face or the way he twisted my hair between his fingers. Those kinds of thoughts would only cause trouble.
I had no conditioner for my hair, but that wasn’t the end of the world.
At least I was clean. I quickly dried off and pulled the borrowed shirt over my head, cringing when I saw it wasn’t as long as I hoped for.
It covered my ass, but I somehow had it in my head that because he was a man, it would be more like a nightgown on me.
I was so wrong.
I finger-combed my hair, doing the best I could to squeeze out all the water before hanging the towel back up to dry. Gathering my clothes, I felt completely naked. There was no way I was putting day-old underwear back on, even if I was in my neighbor’s house.
Now, all that was left was to walk out the door and go to sleep. Simple enough. I would just put my hand on the knob and turn it. I reached forward, but my hand trembled at the thought.
What if he was out there? What if he was waiting on me and he saw me with my nipples sticking out? What if he could tell I wasn’t wearing underwear?
Rolling my eyes, I yanked the door open with more force than necessary and stormed forward.
Right into JR.
“Oh, sorry!” I screeched as his hands braced my hips.
His fingertips burned through the thin fabric, leaving imprints on my skin. By the look in his eyes, he could tell I wasn’t wearing anything beneath his shirt. But how he felt about that, I couldn’t tell.
With his jaw clenched hard and his eyes burning with what looked like rage, I was desperate to escape before he yelled at me for being so inconsiderate.
My mouth dropped open to apologize, to say something. Anything. But nothing came out. I swore I felt something hard stir behind his jeans, but I could have been imagining that. I mean, he was wearing denim, after all. Maybe I was feeling a button or his zipper. Maybe it was all my imagination.
A dry spell that was playing with my mind and forcing me to think of things that I hoped to happen, but deep down knew they never would.
In other words, I was going insane.
“I should…” I gestured around him, dropping my eyes so I wasn’t staring at him with that desperation I knew was dripping off me.
“Right. Sorry.”
“Um…I used your towel. Sorry, I couldn’t find another.”
“That’s okay,” he answered gruffly.
“Right.”
And yet, we still stood there. Still just centimeters from each other. Neither of us moving. At this rate, the little amount of sleep I was going to get would be null.
“Uh…I put a blanket on the couch for you.”
“Oh! Good! Thank you!”
Wow, that was way too enthusiastic for two o’clock in the morning.
Deciding to go for it, I shuffled to my left, not surprised at all when he made the same exact move.
So, I moved right, running straight into him again.
He gripped my arms and moved me bodily to the left while he went right.
And there it was. We were no longer in each other’s way, and I could go to the couch and get some sleep.
Alone.
I peeked back at him one last time, just enough to watch as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and peeled it over his head. Muscles stretched across his back, along with the most mouth-watering tattoos I’d ever seen.
And then he started to turn.
I scampered out of there so fast, I nailed my baby toe on the doorframe. But did I stop? Not even for a second when I thought my toe might actually fall off.
“Ow, ow, ow!” I whimpered, holding my foot in my hand as I sat on the couch. Tears sprang to my eyes and thoughts of cutting off my toe to make the pain stop entered my mind for just the slightest second before reality burst through.
Ice. I needed something cold. Anything cold.
Hobbling off the couch, I headed for the kitchen and flung the freezer open, but nothing was in there.
Not even a lonely bag of peas. Slamming the door, I made my way back to the couch and muttered to myself about all the unjust things in my life, starting with my lack of anything cold to put on my foot, and finishing with the skank next door who had so irritatingly worked her way into my brother’s life and essentially ruined mine.
The water shut off in the bathroom and I quickly leapt up from the couch, turned off the light by the door, then hopped back to my spot, flinging myself into a prone position.
Huffing, I grabbed the blanket and yanked it over my body, huddling deep within it so he couldn’t see my face and how badly I had wanted to join him in the shower, if only my foot hadn’t been so disagreeable.
The door swung open and…nothing.
There was no movement at all.
I held my breath, my eyes wide as I waited for him to make a move. Would he walk over to me? Would he assume I was asleep? Why wasn’t he making a single sound? Did he not realize how frustrating he was being?
I almost screamed out loud at him, but just as I was about to fling the blanket off and prove I was playing dead, I heard the creak of a floorboard.
Softly, he moved away from me, heading toward his room. The soft snick of his door shutting was the only sign I had that he was well and truly gone.
And now I could go to sleep.
Except I was wide awake—thinking of his naked back and those gorgeous tattoos…his grey eyes burning through me as his fingers skimmed my hips. God, what I wouldn’t give for a good night of sex. It had been way too long.
My fingers traveled down my stomach, itching to touch the juncture between my thighs and put myself out of this horrifying misery. They brushed just over my mound through my shirt, and pleasure tingled through me.
God, I was really desperate.
But just one touch wouldn’t hurt. Not when I very much needed this to survive. My sanity depended on me feeling a man’s touch—or as close as I could come when I wasn’t actually seeing anyone. And if my hand could get me even close to relieving the ache burning deep inside, I would take it.
In a heartbeat.
Sliding my fingers under my shirt, I whimpered as my fingers brushed my clit—
And then his door swung open.
I yanked my hand away and rolled on my side, squeezing my eyes shut and praying he hadn’t somehow seen through the walls that I was about to get myself off on his couch.
Seriously, what the hell was I thinking?
I jerked awake at the sound of his door opening and his footsteps padding down the hall to the bathroom.
Sitting upright, I shoved my messy hair out of my face, but otherwise held perfectly still. He was peeing. I could hear the splash of urine hitting the toilet, which meant I had seconds.
Scampering to my feet, I grabbed all my clothes from yesterday, then rushed to the door and pulled on my shoes, sucking in a breath when I heard the water from the sink turn on.
I was out the door two seconds later, hurrying down the steps and across the lawn, praying I could escape without him noticing I was gone yet. I hadn’t technically done anything wrong, but I had nearly fingered myself on his couch! What kind of houseguest did that make me?
“Morning, Josie!”
I spun, gasping in horror at the sight of Remi leaning out the window of his cruiser, grinning at me like the Cheshire cat.