Page 49 of The Love Duet
“I’m desperate here,” I grumbled as I signed back.
“Just...search the internet for the meaning of baby steps, and maybe that will help you,” she teased.“Remember, let the man come to you.”
“And if he never does?”
“Then he wasn’t the one for you, Pepper,” she signed seriously.“And it’s okay if all you two are meant to be is friends.It’s okay to just be what Josiah needs right now and only right now.”
“I love you,” I signed and said.
“I love you more,” she signed and said back, and even all these years later, her voice still shocked me when she used it.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I signed, and Roxanne blew me a kiss before hanging up.
After removing my phone from the stand, I dropped back down on the bed, then stared up at the ceiling, wondering if it was in me to be able to pull this off.I’d been so...so quiet and invisible for so many years, and I didn’t want to go back to that.I hadn’t felt comfortable in that stranger’s skin, and I’d felt so liberated after the divorce and opening up the shop.
I’d felt happy.
As I thought about how much I’d have to change in order to pursue Josiah, I realized that maybe we were destined to just be friends.After all, relationships never lasted when you weren’t being true to yourself, and I had the divorce papers to prove it.
Chapter 9
Pepper~
Now, while we normally didn’t work Saturdays, I’d had a bunch of flowers delivered yesterday for an inventory season change, and I usually worked during the weekend when this happened.While my attire and life might be a chaotic mess, I ran my store like a tight ship, and I didn’t fuck around when it came to my inventory.I also had a seasonal poster hung up at the shop to give people an idea of what we had in stock and the possible price for anything that wasn’t in season.Granted, bridezillas were the only ones that I ever had trouble with, but still.
At any rate, when I had mentioned working today, Josiah had easily volunteered to help, so that everyone else could enjoy their weekends, knowing that they all relied on having Saturday and Sunday off, something that I understood as Leah was only able to visit during the weekend while in college.
Now, having gone to bed with my hair wet, I’d taken another quick shower this morning, and after brushing my teeth, then throwing on my robe, I headed downstairs to put the coffee on, and I couldn’t lie and say that I wasn’t surprised to hear the downstairs shower going.I’d given Josiah a key to the backdoor weeks ago to grant him access to the bathroom, and now he used it for his online counseling sessions, too.Nevertheless, I was still surprised that he’d chosen to show up.
With my nerves threatening to make an appearance, I did my best to ignore Josiah showering in my bathroom, then went to make the coffee.While I didn’t care for the stuff too much, I’d learn that Josiah was a coffee drinker, and so I always made sure to have a fresh pot ready for him each morning.I couldn’t imagine that he got any kind of decent sleep outside in the shed, no matter how many blankets I’d given him to make a bed.
When I heard the shower stop, I forced myself to pretend like everything was okay, getting Josiah’s mug from the cupboard, acting like my stomach wasn’t fluttering with anxiousness.
As soon as I heard the bathroom door open, I said, “Coffee’s on, and I was thinking maybe breakfast burritos on the way.”Keeping my back to him, I added, “If I stuff myself this morning, then I’ll be useless at the shop, so I figured I’d let someone else decide my meal portions this morning.”
My entire body froze when the scent of Josiah’s aftershave hit my nose, both of his hands latching onto the counter on either side of me.If I moved even an inch, I’d be touching him, and after last night, that wouldn’t be a good idea.
I felt his warm breath on my ear as he said, “After tossing and turning all night, I woke up wanting something more than just breakfast, Pepper.”
Oh, Sweet Baby Jesus.
“Instead of eggs and bacon, I woke up wondering what it’d feel like to eat your pussy for breakfast,” he went on, his voice a dark rasp of need, and when he pressed himself against me, I felt just how much hewasn’tlying.
I stood there, wanting so badly to demand promises from him, but I knew that I couldn’t do that to him.Roxanne had said to let him come to me, and even I could recognize how big of a step this was for him.Last night could have ended everything, but instead, Josiah had chosen to try, and that had to be enough right now.
Hoping that I wasn’t making the biggest mistake of my life, I turned around, then looked up into Josiah Austin’s gorgeous face.“If I let you do that, then we’ll never make it to the shop.”
“You have no idea how okay I am with that, baby,” he said, stepping back a bit.
Instead of letting him distract me, I said, “I have a better idea.”
“There are no better ideas,” he insisted, his damp hair dripping little drops of water onto his broad shoulders.“There is no better idea than having you spread out for me.”
“I disagree,” I said as my right hand reached through his towel, the man letting out a low hiss as I wrapped my fingers around his hard length.“I can think of a way better way to start the morning.”
“Pepper, I won’t last two seconds if you do what I think you’re thinking of doing,” he confessed, and his vulnerability warmed everything inside me.“I haven’t been with a woman in years, and it’s going to show...glaringly.”
“So, are you saying that youdon’twant me on my knees in front of you?”I taunted as I began running my hand up and down what was a rather big freakin’ dick.
