Page 42 of Cupcake of the Month
Josh waited until his brother was out of earshot. “Thanks for helping me with him tonight.”
“You can tell him about his parents, you know,” Barb said. “About what they did. Better that than he find out on his own you’ve been lying to him for eight years.”
“Protecting him.”
“Tomato, tomahto. Just be careful.”
Josh saluted Barb as she drove away. He hoisted his backpack off the pavement along with the bag of goodies for the apartment residents’ Sunday night dinner and checked his mail box. Several flyers addressed to current resident and nothing else. He stared up the staircase to the landing, then sighed and lowered himself to bottom step, absently thumbing the gouge in the wooden bannister. Zach deserved answers, and Josh had run out.
Berry’s door remained closed, so either he had checked in when Zach flew upstairs or the man was out.
Part of him was grateful for the solitude. The rest of him burned.
He shuffled his phone out of his pocket and stared at the blank screen. Finally he swiped.
Found a recipe I’m going to make for breakfast tomorrow, he texted Jordan, followed by a link. For an anchovy gelatinmold with chipped beef and toast.
It took only a few seconds for her to text back.Delish. Think Ms. Eulalee would approve?
I won’t know unless I try.
And that went for more than just the food.
Chapter 8
Crap, crap, crap. Jordan was so late. She flung open the door to the renovated stable and darted inside. She was supposed to be at Mrs. McGraw’s office in less than an hour to get familiar with the office and to discuss a small party to put Jordan in the public eye so she’d be recognized when holding her Government Talk. The timing would have been fine, but the temple sisterhood member who was supposed to clean up after morning services had been sick. Jordan had volunteered to help.
She could still make it to the congresswoman’s office if she managed to change her clothes and get back in her car in the next ten minutes.
She dropped her purse on the coffee table in the common room, then unbuttoned her blouse and let it fall to the floor. She reached for the zipper of her skirt. The distinct clank and slide of a coffee pot being put back on the maker echoed from the kitchen and she froze.
“By all means.” Josh’s deep and husky voice came from behind her. “Keep going.”
The instinct to shriek and run to her room almost prevailed, but her heart gave her a jolt. Fun, she reminded herself.
Jordan put her hands on her hips and turned around. “What are you doing here?”
Josh leaned against the counter in the galley kitchen, coffee in hand. His eyes lingered on her exposed skin, and he raised the mug in cheerful acknowledgement. “You mean other than ogling you?”
“Oh, I forgot. This is the day you’re working the double.”
“Wendy said you’d be gone by now and I’d have the place to myself. Sorry for the intrusion.”
“I’m running late.”
“I’m taking a break between shifts in the other guest room until they’re ready for me.” He took a deliberate swallow of coffee, his gaze centering on her breasts. She barely held back a shiver as his eyes darkened with desire. “And ogling you.”
Jordan sashayed to him in her skirt and shoes, drinking in the raw need on his face. Josh’s gaze never strayed from hers as she slowly slid one bra strap down her arm, then the other. The distance between them closed, and she reached behind her to unhook her bra. It fell to the floor.
He swallowed. “Kissing you again has been foremost in my thoughts for the past week or so.”
His voice was dark and delicious.
“Just in your thoughts?” She hungered for him, her breasts tingling, her nipples hardening.
She stopped before they touched, when the heat from his body warmed her. With her shoes still on, they were the same, perfect height. She leaned forward, seeking his mouth.
His lips whispered against hers in a gentle caress, the only part of them that touched. Oh, God. After eight years, he still filled her breath, her mind, her being. She raised her hands to his shoulders but let them hover. Her breasts ached to fill his hands, but still she waited, her own form of torture that stole her breath and consumed her. No other man had ever made her feel like Josh did. And she had tried to find one.
