Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
“You think you could finish this conversation while shopping for used socks next week? Our food is getting cold.”
Josie frowned. “You don’t have to be rude.”
Opal smiled and waved me off. “Eh. He doesn’t bother me. But I should get back to Frannie anyway. You two enjoy your evening.”
“You, too, Opal,” Josie said.
I grunted and stuffed a piece of steak into my mouth.
But Josie didn’t resume eating her meal. She sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “Why are you like that?”
“Like what?”
“Rude. You act like everyone in the world annoys you.”
“Not acting.”
“Opal is just being friendly.”
“She was over here spreading gossip. And that’s what she’s going to be doing about us in thirty seconds, when she gets back to her table.”
Josie shrugged. “So? What could she possibly say? That we ate dinner together?”
“I like my business kept my business.”
Josie shook her head. “There’s a guy who takes out my garbage cans and puts on a suit for a date under that grumpy exterior. If you’d let him out more, you might be happier.”
“Who says I’m not happy?”
She searched my face like she was looking for something. “Were you always like this?”
“Hungry with a dislike for cold food? Yeah.”
“You know what I mean. Were you always grumpy? Or did it change after…”
My eyes narrowed. “After what?”
“After you lost your fiancée.”
“She’s not lost. She’s dead. And this is who I’ve always been.” The legs of my chair skidded loudly against the tile floor as I pushed my chair back. Standing, I tossed my napkin on the table. “Excuse me. I need to use the men’s room.”
In the bathroom, I splashed some water on my face. Maybe this was a dumb idea after all. Josie wasn’t a woman who would take what I could give and be happy. The fancy restaurant and flowers were only the beginning. Soon she’d be expecting me to pour my heart out. And go with her to dumb garage sales. Probably liked to spend hours talking after sex, too, instead of rolling over and getting a decent night’s sleep. I looked in the mirror and shook my head. What the hell was I thinking?
Back at the table, our plates were gone. Josie gestured to the missing place settings.
“I asked them to heat up our food.”
I took my seat across from her. “Listen, Josie, maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
“What? A date?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
“Because it’s going to set an expectation I can’t live up to.”
“What are you talking about? What expectation do you think I’m going to have after one date?”
I shrugged. “It’s just not a good idea.”
“Because I brought up your fiancée?”
My jaw clenched. “You want more than I can give.”
“Seriously? I thought I was getting diner food and mauled, and I was okay with that.”
“Maybe today, but…” I shook my head. “Down the road you’ll—”
Josie put her hand up. “I’m going to stop you right there, even if interrupting someone while they’re speaking is rude. You can’t possibly have any idea what I’ll want down the road. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t even know what I want. A few months ago I thought I wanted to be Mrs. Noah Townsend and cure cancer with miracle drugs. Now I’m happy planting flowers with the grumpy neighbor while staying in a town with a population smaller than the number of people in my building back in New York. I’m considering signing up for a knitting class, for God’s sake. The only thing I know for sure about my future is that I’m going to make decisions based on what makes me happy instead of what the right thing to do is and what others expect of me.”
I frowned. “Sorry.”
The waiter came back with our plates, but Josie shook her head. “I apologize. But do you think you can wrap those up, so we can take it to go? Something’s come up.”
“Of course. Just give me a minute.”
I felt bad for ruining the evening. “We don’t have to leave.”
Josie picked up her napkin from her lap and set it on the table. “Yes, we do. Because you’re miserable wearing that tie, and honestly, this isn’t what I want either.”
I figured she meant going out with a grumpy asshole like me. It wasn’t like I could argue she was wrong. So I nodded. “Okay.”
She leaned over and lowered her voice. “Let’s just eat the food on the back porch with a beer and go have sex.”
All the breath left my body. “You want to have sex?”
She grinned. “See? You really have no clue what I want.”
CHAPTER 19
* * *
Hungry
Josie
“I’m going to change.” Fox thumbed toward next door with one hand and lifted the bag of takeout onto my kitchen counter with his other. “You want me to heat these up?”
The ride home had been quiet. I was pretty sure my date was still shocked by my declaration that I wanted to go have sex. Honestly, I hadn’t expected to say it either. But now that it was out there, I felt liberated. Why not say what I wanted? I’d been attracted to the big grump since the first moment I’d laid eyes on him. And we had chemistry. I could feel it pulsing through my veins whenever he was near. Not to mention, I’d caught him watching me from the window and checking me out on multiple occasions when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. So I knew I wasn’t alone in my desires.