Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
I take a step to the side of the counter and try to dispel her preconceived notions that I see brewing in her hostile gaze. “Now, Josie…it’s not what you think—”
Josie’s eyes snap from Stacy to me, and after a brief flash of hurt they light on fire with fury. “Really, Reed? You waited all of twenty hours for me to be gone and now you’re hooking up with another Barbie? And by the looks of it, you are now onto Business Barbie. So fucking typical.”
Stacy’s head swivels to look at me and she mouths the words Business Barbie?
I don’t respond because Stacy can wait for an explanation. Josie can’t. By the time I move my attention back to the doorway I’m stunned to find it empty and Josie is gone.
“Shit,” I say as I scramble the rest of the way around the counter and fly toward my door. I call out over my shoulder, “I’ll be back, Stacy. Make yourself comfortable.”
By the time I make it down my steps, Josie’s door is slamming shut. I race up to her porch and fortunately find her door unlocked. I expect her anger made her forget to lock me out and I’m grateful for it.
I burst through, and as soon as I step over the threshold, a book comes flying at my head. Thank God for my catlike reflexes, because I manage to move my head to the right and the book goes sailing out her front door.
My eyes lock on to Josie and I see her grabbing another book off her coffee table. I glare at her and hold my hands out defensively. “Don’t you even fucking think about throwing that book. That was not what you thought it was.”
Thankfully she doesn’t throw the book, but she does snarl at me, “Oh really? I didn’t just find you in your home with another freaking Barbie doll?”
“She’s my sports agent,” I say blandly. “She brought me a new endorsement deal to sign.”
I have a small measure of satisfaction when I see the blood drain out of Josie’s face. Her mouth drops open and for a moment she’s speechless. If I wasn’t so intent on trying to rectify the mess I made yesterday, I would actually laugh at her, but I know that wouldn’t be well received.
“She’s your agent?”
I smile softly and step into her living room, closing the door behind me. “Since I got drafted in the NHL. Stacy Nichols. I’ll introduce you to her in a little bit.”
Josie groans and flops backward onto her couch. Laying her head on the cushion she stares up at the ceiling and says, “Oh God. I just made a fool of myself, didn’t I?”
“Just a little bit,” I tell her as I come to sit beside her on the couch. “But for what it’s worth, it was adorable.”
Josie’s head rolls on the cushion to look at me. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
I grin back at her. “Nope.”
Josie smiles wanly, then rolls her head away and stares at the ceiling again. Her silence I can handle, so I let her have at it. What I can’t handle is not being able to touch her for another minute, so I slide my hand over and take hers in mine.
I give her a squeeze and say, “Where were you all night?”
She squeezes my hand in return and lets her head roll back my way once again. Her eyes are clear and without any guilt, and that relieves me. Although my anxiety skyrockets when she says, “I stayed at Aiden’s last night.”
I start to pull my hand away involuntarily, but she won’t let me. She holds on tight and squeezes again. “It’s not what you think. I went over there, got drunk, and ranted. I couldn’t drive home, so I slept in his guest bedroom.”
“So you really went over there like I told you to?”
Josie cocks an eyebrow at me. “After you practically dared me to? Of course I went.”
I’m hesitant to ask, and I really don’t want to know the answer, but it must be asked. “And what happened?”
“I kissed him as soon as he opened the door,” she says matter-of-factly.
I push up off the couch and turn to face her with a glare. “Jesus fucking Christ, Josie. You actually kissed him?”
She smirks at me with dancing eyes. “You told me that’s who I should be with. That he’s what I needed. So how else was I supposed to know unless I tested whether or not there was still some chemistry there?”
“I can’t believe you actually kissed him,” I say in disbelief.
Her smile turns a little more mischievous. “If it helps, it was a terrible kiss. I knew right away he wasn’t it for me.”
Those words and the way in which she says them, knowing that she’s highly amused by my discomfort, causes all of my anxiety to melt away. Josie just said that Aiden was not the one for her. And if her lips had to touch his briefly to figure that out, I’ll be fucking thankful for it.