Page 54 of The Love Duet
I leaned forward, then placed a kiss on his bare chest.“Luckily for you, I’m agreeable to that.”
Taking my face in his hands, Josiah leaned down to kiss me, and it had to be the sweetest kiss that had ever touched my lips.It was like he was trying to prove to me that this thing between us was about more than just sex, but I could already feel that it wasn’t, so he didn’t need to worry about that.
Pulling back to look down at me, he said, “I can easily fall in love with you, Pepper Milo.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Always so direct,” he chuckled.
“Answer the question,” I ordered, eyeing him closely.
“Since everything about you is good, then I’d have to say that it’s a good thing,” he finally answered.
“Are you still scared?”
“Terrified, baby,” he admitted, but the smirk on his lips suggested otherwise.
“Good,” I teased.“If it’s not scary, then what’s the point?”
Epilogue
Pepper – (One Year Later)~
“How can a holiday meant to honor mothers turn into such a bloodbath?”
I laughed as I turned to see Josiah slumped in his chair, the day finally over, the front door to the shop finally locked.Laurie and Wilmar had already left an hour ago, and even the part-timers had gone for the day, leaving only me and Josiah.
“Now you know why Leah had visited on Friday,” I chuckled.
A year later, Leah was still thriving in college, Tullie was killing it in Colorado, and my parents and Roxanne had finally met Josiah, giving him the final stamp of approval.I had also met his parents, Josiah finally coming clean with them about six months ago.It’d been rough and emotional, but also therapeutic and freeing.In fact, Josiah spoke to his mother almost every day now, and I totally understood where she was coming from.
As for how we were getting along, Josiah officially lived with me now, and along with working for me, he also had another part-time job at the new veteran’s center that Royce and Roxanne had started, and it still brought tears to my eyes whenever I thought about how much they had devoted to making the center happen.Yeah, it wasn’t anything big or newsworthy, but it was enough to have three counselors and a 24-hours crisis hotline, and there was even a dormitory setting on the second floor for homeless veterans, and though it was equipped to house up to ten people, Macon had only four, eliminating any overcrowding that you’d experience in big cities.
At any rate, though our house belonged to me, Josiah paid half of everything, including half of the mortgage because‘that’s what men did’.Nevertheless, what he didn’t know was that all the lingering fear from the attack had gone away the first night that he’d slept in my bed, and no matter what, I knew that I would always be safe with Josiah.
Of course, with life never a perfect thing, it hadn’t been three months into our relationship that Josiah had finally had a nightmare, and though it hadn’t been pretty, he also hadn’t run, and that was something that I was grateful for every day.Now, while seven in a year might seem a lot, the center went a long way in making sure that it wasn’t more, something else that I was thankful for every day.
“It’s a good thing that you called your mother first thing this morning,” I quipped.
“I have no idea how Wilmar does it,” he remarked absently.“Even with the extra help, it’s brutal out in them streets.Hell, I thought being in the military was rough.”
“Just goes to show you just how important mothers are,” I said, grinning.
“Fathers really are just along for the ride,” he agreed.
Walking over to him, I waited until he repositioned himself on the chair before I climbed over him, straddling him in a way that always benefitted the both of us.Though unsanitary and probably illegal, Josiah and I had sexa lotat the shop, so this wasn’t anything that he wasn’t used to.
“Well, it’s a good thing that you’ve had combat experience and know what it’s like to deal with a Mother’s Day mob because I’m turning forty-six soon.”
Josiah’s hands went to my hips as he asked, “So?”
“Menopause is just around the corner, bud,” I informed him.“And since we promised to always be transparent with one another, I should warn you that things are about to get rough soon enough.”
“Bring it on,” he dared.“I love you too much to care about some random mood swings.”
“Says the man that’s never dated a woman while she’s in menopause,” I chuckled.
Suddenly, the carefree banter was gone as Josiah took my face in his hands, saying, “Pepper, you could set the house on fire while stuffing your face with chocolate éclairs, and I’d swear to the police that I did it.”
