Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
“Yup.” I smiled, hoping that would be enough to satisfy their curiosity. I didn’t want to get a rep as someone who came on to the customers, but Joe was different in ways I really didn’t want to dissect with Lupé.
“Deal.” Lupé waved me away. I hung up my apron in record time before heading out into the dining area. Felt weird, moving among the customers after so long behind the counter.
“Hey.” I plopped down in the chair opposite Joe.
He raised his eyebrows. “Hello to you too, Levi. Here, have a seat.”
Oops. “Sorry. I kind of presumed…”
“It’s okay.” He laughed lightly, and I recognized his tone now as being playful. “I like you presuming.”
“You do?”
“I do. You all confident and flirty is way better than you sad and stressed.”
That he cared about my mood made my insides as gooey as an order of Jess’s signature grilled cheese. “Yeah, well, it’s amazing what a good night’s…sleep can do for a guy’s stress level.”
“I bet.” Joe winked, but he also flushed like he knew perfectly well I’d meant orgasm, instead of slumber.
“How about you?” I leaned in, giving him what I hoped was a seductive look. “Did you…sleep okay?”
“Levi,” he warned, breaking out the take-charge tone and making me squirm.
“Did you come by to tell me that we can’t do that again?”
He shifted in his chair, studying the paper table tent advertising that week’s blue-plate specials. “No. That would probably be wise, but no, that’s not why I came.”
“Oh?” Hope bubbled up in my chest, but I didn’t let myself smile yet. “Why, then? And if you’re not going to warn me off, why not tell me about your…sleep?”
“Because. We might be in the coolest coffee shop in town, but I’m still not discussing that in public.”
“Oh.” I got it now. The big guy was embarrassed to be discussing jerking off. I found this strangely endearing, to not be the only one with certain hang ups. “I’ll stop. And it’s totally okay if you don’t ever do—”
“I didn’t say that.” Joe groaned softly. “Of course, I did. Barely made it into the house. Happy now?”
“Ecstatic.” I grinned at him as Lupé set Joe’s food order in front of him—sandwich, house-made chips, and a fruit cup. I immediately swiped a chip while Joe sampled his sandwich, one of Jess’s usual inventive pairings. Joe’s happy noise as he took the first bite went right to my groin. “Someday, I’d like to cook like that.”
“Oh?” Joe looked up from his lunch.
“I mean, technically, I’d like to learn anything that can make you sigh like that. But as a G-rated hobby, cooking would be good.”
“You can’t cook?”
“Not much. I guess I’m a little spoiled. I went from living at home, with Mom and Grandma doing all the cooking, to the dorms for four years, to here. Most days I’m lucky I remember how to do toast.”
“I can teach you some basics so you don’t burn your sublet down.” There Joe went, coming up with more excuses for us to see each other again. I had to smile.
“I’d like that.” I was about to run out of break time, so I drummed my fingers against the tabletop. “Why’d you come by, Joe?”
He shrugged. “Because you asked me to.”
Oh. That melty sensation in my insides intensified. He was too sweet, the way he didn’t take orders from anyone, except, apparently me. It was too bad I wasn’t looking for anything serious because Joe would make someone a killer boyfriend. My back tightened at that. I didn’t like the image of Joe with someone else. Better to return to my happy, naked-time fantasies from earlier.
“And if I asked you stop by my place later?”
He took his sweet time answering, blotting his mouth with his napkin before dropping his voice to a stern whisper. “I’d say to wear something pretty.”
“Ah.” I made a noise partway between a gulp and a sigh.
Joe having any interest at all in indulging my lingerie kink was more than I’d expected. I’d never even told Rick about my collection, especially after he’d made some negative remarks about femme things. Heck, I had never even let myself have a collection, period, until I had a single room senior year, so accidentally revealing it to Joe had been rather terrifying. And now he was telling me to wear something for him? My whole body started to hum.
Somehow, I managed to gather enough composure to toss back, “And I’d say you should bring your big…toolbox.”
Chapter Nine
Joe
Levi was hell on my self-restraint. And my sleep. He might have slept great, but I’d been tortured by feverish dreams of everything I wanted to try with him. After lecturing myself for a few hours, I’d gone to bed mostly resolved to tell him that we’d be better off as friends, but I’d woken up way more muddled. And horny. Even an early-morning jerk session hadn’t cured that desire, and my want had only grown stronger in the hours at the build site until I’d reached the coffee shop conflicted but resigned to letting temptation win.