Page 16 of Cupcake of the Month (Just Add Peaches #2)

There. Short and sweet, polite but not probing.

And not a burden on his monthly text allotment.

He put the phone on the wood floor and picked up The Three Musketeers .

Before his parents fled, before he became Zach’s guardian, video games and movies and driving his flashy car and going out drinking were his forms of entertainment.

After, when money was tight and he had to think about more than his own needs, the library had become his social center.

Books were free but filled with riches that didn’t drain his funds.

He was halfway through the chapter when his phone buzzed back. Josh, right?

He cracked a smile. But now that she’d responded, he didn’t know what to say. He could ask about her enjoyment of the chicken meatball. He could cajole her into sharing what had made her cagey earlier so he could help her decide what to do.

Before he had kissed her and maybe made things worse.

She solved his problem for him by texting first. No extracurricular baking for you tonight?

Ooh, ouch. He didn’t want to confess the truth.

Let her think he got his jollies by picking up rich women at catering events, by letting them use his body in exchange for a nightly thrill.

It would be easier if she were disgusted with him.

I like to go at least 24 hrs between kissing different women.

He could go another eight years between women since tasting Jordan again. There had never been another like her.

When she didn’t answer immediately, he picked up his book again, but reading was a farce. For once, the high-adventure world of Dumas didn’t transport him. He was too busy waiting for a response.

Sorry I ruined your timeline.

He could hear prim and proper in her voice. Ruin was too mild a word. She would have destroyed it, demolished its existence with her mere presence.

His thumbs hovered over the touchscreen. The desire to keep this fragile connection with her kept his mind working to find the right thing to say. Before he could write anything else, the dots on his screen winked at him, indicating she was typing.

It would be rude to interrupt.

The dots stopped their movement, but no text came through, leaving him hanging. He raised his head and slammed it back into the pillow a few times.

When the dots appeared again, euphoria of her participation eased over his body.

Actually, I’m really not.

He sat up so fast the book tumbled to the floor. What did that mean?

But I’m not going to compete with them.

Josh’s pulse echoed though his body as he stared at the sentence on his phone. It didn’t disappear. It didn’t change. She didn’t text a j/k.

You’d win.

I better. ;)

He lay down again, Dumas forgotten on the floor.

He could imagine Jordan next to him, her soothing presence, her sharp mind, her fingers trailing along his stomach, and lower, like they did That Night.

He used to know how to make a woman feel special, how to caress her with words. Now it was a foreign concept.

He took a deep breath and continued typing.

***

The soft rumbling of a car coming up the drive roused Jordan from her slumber.

It was still dark outside, which meant Josh was once again at Fountenoy Hall.

Her belly wriggled at the thought of him.

Her internal debate about Mrs. McGraw and what to tell Brandi and Wendy had kept her up most of the night.

At least, that was the reason she kept telling herself. It was even partially true.

She took her glasses from her nightstand and blinked when the room came into focus.

She could go into the kitchen. To see if Josh needed an extra hand.

The University of Georgia t-shirt she used as a nighty would work to give off the casual, breezy feeling she wanted to portray, especially after her furtive text last night about not competing.

They’d spent an entire hour passing flirty messages back and forth, each one lessening the distance between them. But late-night texts were one thing. Being in person was another.

Jordan pulled on a pair of shorts and twisted her hair into a clip, then left the stables and crossed the brick patio to the rear door of the Hall.

It was unlocked when she entered the kitchen.

Josh’s back was to her, and she drank her fill of his thighs and great ass encased in a pair of jeans.

The muscles of his lean body flexed and relaxed under a simple t-shirt as he dug around the contents of the fridge.

He turned so suddenly that he almost caught her gawking.

“What are you doing here?” His arms were laden with eggs and vegetables, a block of cheese and cream.

Steady, she warned herself. It was easy to get lost in the banked desire in Josh’s eyes. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Hungry?” A corner of his mouth crinkled into a half-smile.

Very, but not for food.

“Let’s see what’s for breakfast.” Josh crossed over to the paper Wendy had hung next to the doors to the dining room and trailed his finger down the page.

Jordan suppressed a shiver as she imagined it trailing over her back. “Let me guess. Eggs?”

“How well you know Ms. Eulalee.”

Her belly fluttered at the easy-going camaraderie. “Need help?”

“I’m flying solo today, so using you would be cheating.”

She nodded and perched on one of the stools that sat tucked under the island. Her fingers drummed on the flat surface.

Josh measured the water and sugar and poured it in the saucepan. “Something on your mind, Jay?”

Her stomach squiggled at the nickname. “No.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything else, just stirred the mixture he had going on the stove.

“I got a job offer.” She hadn’t meant to say anything, but the words left her mouth before she realized what she had done. The tension she’d been holding since talking to Mrs. McGraw seeped away.

Duarte came in the back door, whistling a peppy tune as he placed the open cardboard box of vegetables on the counter. “Some good peppers today. Green beans, too.”

Josh inspected the offering. The interruption was a sign. Jordan needed to take a step back and put her head back on, not let the warm feelings from texting last night take over her reality. “Where’s Mac?”

“I expect you’ll see him in about half an hour to check up on me. He told me I was on my own today.” Duarte inspected the kitchen. “Ms. Eulalee, too?”

“Yup.” Josh hefted a pepper, then placed it next to his already-selected green beans and beets.

“Those crazy kids.” Duarte picked up the box. “Good luck,” he said before leaving.

Josh took the saucepan off the heat and turned off the burner. He crossed the kitchen to lean against the island across from her. He locked eyes with her, and her skin tingled at the intensity of his gaze.

“You can talk to me, you know.” His voice was a caress.

She closed her eyes and inhaled his soapy scent, letting it wrap around her. “Works both ways,” she murmured.

His body stiffened, and he moved to the stove.

He opened a cabinet and took out a large bowl.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his back to her. He braced his hands on the counter.

“For what I did to you. I didn’t mean for things to happen like that.

But so you know, if I hadn’t left when I did, you would have left me soon after. ”

His words hit her like a line drive, and she inhaled a quick breath. Now? He chose now to apologize? After eight years of carrying around the ghost from That Night? “Why are you telling me this?”

“In case you were still dwelling in the past.”

Ego much? “Like in case I’ve spent the past eight years crying into my pillow at night, wallowing in self pity because I wasn’t good enough or pretty enough or another female thing that relies on a man to validate me?”

He let out a snort. “No, that’s never been you.”

“Damn straight. Geez, Josh. We were friends. I wasn’t some random bar pickup.” The attraction between them so long ago had been instant, but they had taken the time to get to know each other, letting the fire between them burn until it consumed them.

He dipped his head once in acknowledgement. “I can’t change what I did, Jordan.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

The defensive posture sent a surge of weariness through her. “No. You can’t.” She leaned against the island, her thoughts jumbled. Her heart yearned to trust him, but her head prevailed. “I didn’t mean to get into this. You had your reasons. And I’m sure they had nothing to do with me.”

He gave a slow, singular nod.

“But if you want to hash it out...”

“I’m good.” He turned back to his prep work and cracked a few eggs into a bowl. And scrambled them with a frenzied vigor. After a moment, his scrambling slowed. “So tell me about the job.”

Fear at losing her business flared within her. She fought to keep her voice level, but something caught in her throat as she spoke. “Taking on this new job is a great opportunity.”

Josh washed up, then lifted her hand into his strong, warm palm. His thumb stroked small circles on her skin. The steady movement mesmerized her.

“There’s more to it, isn’t there?” he said. “Let me be here for you now, Jay. Talk to me.”

She lifted her eyes to his, the warm blue inviting and coaxing. Her resolve to solve her own problem melted.

“I’m scared.” Her voice was a whisper and she cleared her throat.

She blurted out every last detail about being sued.

“I could lose everything. The lawyer’s fee is getting so high, but I need someone guiding me through this.

I know my brothers would help, but I built this business on my own.

I need to fight for it on my own.” A burning sensation filled her eyes, along with a growing mortification of having spilled her guts.

She tugged to free her hand. Instead, Josh pressed a kiss to the back of it and covered it with his other hand, sending a surge of warmth through her.