Page 49 of How You See Me
“Not in my vocabulary.”
“Oh, I know.”
The woman soon re-emerges carrying a square box, big enough for a—
“You didn’t.”
Josie tosses me more sunshine in the form of her blinding smile and it’s not helping. Not. One. Bit.
“I did.”
Her accomplice removes the box top to reveal a rich brown cowboy hat, braided leather band and all. Josie hops onto the counter like she owns the damn place, sets the hat on my head, and says three words that nearly undo me.
“You look hot.”
She means to tease, but something about the way her eyes soak me in makes it seem all too honest. Too raw.
Her legs dangle off the counter. One shift, and I’d be standing between them. I envision making the move and how she might react. Would she accept me? Wrap her arms and legs around me and pull me in? Or tell me to back the hell up? For that split second, both responses feel right. And that weakness is completely unacceptable.
“Women will be all over you tonight with that on,” Josie adds, yanking me back to reality.
She’s flirty by nature not sending signals. It would be best to remember that.
“I already told you—”
“I’m not talking about one-night stands.” On a quick eye roll, she twists to see the woman standing behind her. “All men have a one-track mind.”
“Don’t I know it.” The woman tsks, shaking her head. She closes the box like this transaction is a done deal.
“Josie.”
“Hayes,” she matches my exasperated tone. “You have the cowboy mystique now. Don’t fight it.”
The woman nods, and I hold the hat out to her. She ignores me, her hand resting on the box lid. “You’ll need it where y’all are going.”
“Where are we going?”
Josie folds a leg on the counter, showcasing her inner thigh all the way up to where her leg meets her hip. She’s trying to kill me. There’s no other explanation.
“Jules here recommended a place a block from here.” She tosses a thumb toward the city behind her like she hasn’t been seducing me.
Probably because she isn’t, you idiot. She’s just comfortable in her skin, and oblivious to how she drives me crazy with it.
She and Jules talk for a bit longer about the next destination before Josie comes back to me, holding out her arms for me to help her down.
Fuck me.
That confirms it. She’s trying to end me. I wish I could say something like,you got up there, get yourself down. But that would make me an asshole, and my momma and the Marines didn’t raise one of those.
Needing both hands for the task, I set the hat back on my head, earning me a satisfied grin from Josie.
I grip her waist and her hands lift to my shoulders. Setting her on the floor, I pretend not to notice the way her fingers tighten as if she doesn’t want to let go, and I don’t want her to. That’s the damn problem.
We’re not dating. We’re not even supposed to be flirting. But she’s unraveling me thread by unruly thread. Doesn’t help that I haven’t been with a woman for at least a year. That must be what’s fueling the magnetic pull. It’s not her glow, her unmatched beauty, or how she makes me feel significant in a world that’s been swallowing me whole lately. It’s something carnal, natural, and uncontrollable.
“You two make a beautiful couple,” Jules says, and Josie jumps away from me.
I shove my hands into my pockets since they can’t be trusted.
