Page 15 of Tattle Tail
“Ahem.” Tolerance cleared her throat loudly.
Peaceable pulled away, her cheeks burning hot. “Yes, um…goodbye.”
She ran away like her tail caught fire.
Joseph’s laughter followed her retreat.
Joseph
What was all that about?
Joseph watched Peaceable leave, the taste of her on his lips.
Specifically, he watched the swaying motion of her tail. She was almost pleasant when she wasn’t nitpicking his existence and relaxed. She had a cool exterior, like the icy starlight in the dark velvet of deep space. He wanted to melt the ice and make her purr.
Damn.
And then she kissed him. Clumsily, but she was a fast learner, and there was definitely heat under that ice.
A hand smacked him on the back of the head, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to get his attention.
“Hey!” He rubbed the spot, acting as if it hurt more than it did.
“No,” Marigold said, sitting down next to him. A container full of a gooey, pull-apart fried dough ring landed on the table. The delicious aroma of grease and sugar hit him, making his stomach rumble. Mari slid the container toward him.
“No, don’t randomly hit your brother for no good reason?” He popped open the lid and inhaled.
Mari pressed her hand to the lid, closing it while staring at him. “No, leave Peaceable alone.”
“She chose to talk to me.” He neglected to mention their sudden engagement. The more Peaceable’s mother spoke, the more the lies piled up.
Watching Peaceable squirm had been delicious, pure manna for his soul. It wasn’t compassion that moved him to pretend to be her fiancé. He wanted to see how far Peaceable would take her charade.
Apparently, all the way to kissing him.
Joseph touched his lips, remembering the feel of Peaceable against him. How much of that had Mari seen?
“You know what I mean. Drooling over Peaceable. Watching my brother eye-fuck a friend is gross.” Mari waggled her brows, then panted and gave a wolf-whistle.
She missed the kiss; otherwise, she’d be going on about that. Good.
“Why is my family so embarrassing?” he asked, pulling the scarf up to cover his face.
Mari bumped her shoulder into his. “Why does my brother flirt so badly?”
“I was not flirting,” he protested. Sure, Peaceable had her moments, but she was mostly annoying and a know-it-all, which was not his type, so there was zero flirting going on. None.
“You were totally pulling her pigtails…” She trailed off, teasing.
“No tails were touched.”
“Peaceable’s the kind of girl you’re serious with, and you’re not the kind of guy who’s serious,” Mari said.
“I could be serious.”Withher, absolutely.Forher? Possibly.
Marigold rolled her eyes.
He could. He just hadn’t felt the urge to be serious with anyone. As a pilot for cargo ships, he was always on the move, going from port to port. Every stop brought new people and new experiences. He never stayed long. Even if he wanted something serious, how could he manage that? The younger version of him loved that kind of life. Now, nearing thirty, he wondered.
