Page 32 of Just A Little Joy

“I’m gonna need you to be in charge of all reviews.”

I really liked that Travis could laugh at himself. There was something about men who thought they had to be serious and stoic, and I guess, given his former profession, I would’vethought Travis was the same way. But he wasn’t. He got excited, thought things were fun, did the dumb things and enjoyed them, and it made me feel better about being a little. Not that I necessarily felt bad about being one because there’s nothing wrong with it, but sometimes it’s hard not to wonder if you shouldn’t like the things you do.

“Bub, I’m gonna need you to turn that brain of yours off.”

“Again, you can’t know what I’m thinking.”

“I know enough to tell that every time you think of something you don’t like, you tense. Then you talk yourself out of it and relax again until the next bad thought hits, and you tense right back up. You’ve done it three times already this morning.”

“It’s kind of creepy that you can do that.”

“It’s years of having to read people. You notice the little things.”

I shifted so I was facing him. “What do you mean?”

“When you’re on the ice, you have to be able to figure out what their eyes are signaling or what their feet position means.” Travis’s fingers threaded through the longer strands of my hair. “I’m gonna guess you’re thinking that sleeping with your boss is a bad idea.”

“It is a bad idea.”

We’d talked about it last night, but now it was morning, and it felt different. Last night had been pillow talk and whispered words. This morning was the cold light of day and the edges felt unfinished. How and where it would shake out was still very much unwritten, but I knew some things.

I liked how I felt around Travis. Calling him Daddy gave me the warm fuzzies, and I loved the connections I was making here. I hadn’t even been looking for a city and couldn’t remember ever not even browsing. It was like a hobby, but not one I wanted right now, and that was definitely not me.

Every time he looked at me like that, it forced something loose inside me, warm and a little scary.

“How about this…? We agree not to be assholes.”

“Is anything really that simple?” Every part of me wanted that to be enough of a solution, but it felt too simple, too easy.

“Yeah, I own the bar, but I’m not the manager.”

“And I am only working part-time for the holidays…”

“There ya go. Problem solved.” Travis shifted so he loomed over me. “Gonna need it sealed with something besides a handshake.”

“My guy, have you not heard of morning breath?” I tried to duck my head away because eww. He was lovely and sexy. Travis’s tousled hair looked more windblown than bedhead. His eyes weren’t blurry. They were hooded. No one had the right to look this good before getting out of bed.

“I don’t give a shit about that,” Travis answered before pressing his full lips to mine. Rather than keep on with an argument I didn’t want to win, I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned his kiss. Whatever worries I had about the wisdom of this were promptly shoved out of my brain.

Travis’s tongue stroked mine, and rational thought went out that window. His weight pressed me back into the pillow-top mattress. In that moment, it felt right and perfect.

Boss, smoss.

This man set my body on fire.

Casey

Uh, what is going on?

Unknown number 1

You’re in the group chat.

Casey

What group chat?

Unknown number 2