By happenstance, they sat at the table where Rose had recently experienced her ill-fated dating-app experience. She almost asked for another spot, but the place was pretty full.
Instead, she chatted briefly with their waitress, who had been working at the café since its opening. Across from her, Josh looked uncomfortable. He kept glancing around at the restaurant’s eclectic mix of old record jackets and pictures of vintage bicycles. Perhaps he was avoiding eye contact.
Perhaps he really liked records and bicycles.
“…and thank you sososo much for the toaster you sent, sweetheart. It was so nice to have one that didn’t smell like Joe’s onion bread.”
“My pleasure.” Rose smiled. “I’ve never been divorced, but it seems like the sort of thing you’d want to celebrate.”
DeeAnne chuckled. “It is if you were married to Joe.”
Rose glanced at Josh, who’d moved on to carefully arranging and rearranging his silverware. “Hey, Dee. Could you give us a minute? Maybe grab me a cup of decaf?”
Josh glanced up. “Same here. High-test though. Please.”
Rose raised her eyebrows as Dee walked away. “Going to a rave later?”
“If by rave you mean another stupid deadline, then yes.” He drummed his fingers on the table. His face contorted, all frowny and harsh. “I’m supposed to be taking time off, but my idiot boss keeps sending me changes for a project that was technically finished weeks ago. He forgot or chooses to ignore the fact that I told him I’d be out of town, so my lack of a swift response has put me in the dog house.”
“Because you answered your email a little late?” Yikes. And Rose thought her job was stressful. “Unless you’re working on some top-secret national security type of project, it can’t possibly be so life and death that he can’t give you some wiggle room.”
“It’s a long-standing problem.” He leaned forward in his seat. “Since I lost Harrison’s after-school care, I asked to work from home. Norm approved it, but he’s been on my ass ever since. I still put in the same effort, maybe more, since I no longer have people stopping by my desk to chat all day. Most weeks I put in fifty or sixty hours, but he seems to believe I need to prove my worth or something. I can get ten things done but if I don’t manage the eleventh, then he wants to know what the hell I’m doing with my time.”
Poor guy. He had his hand wrapped around a butter knife so hard, he’d turned his knuckles white. She reached out and smoothed a finger across them, offering what little support she could.
“That’s ridiculous,” Rose said.
“So is bacon-scented soap, but my Christmas gift from David last year will tell you it’s real all the same.”
Bacon-scented… “That’s a thing?”
He winked. It made her lady parts want to act inappropriately. From a wink. Shame, Rose. Since when are you so easily swayed?
Since Josh, apparently. He’d always been that guy for her. Whether she liked it or not.
She took a healthy swig of her water. “Tell your boss to go blow himself.”
Josh laughed. “Didn’t Victoria say you work in HR? Sounds like a no-no.”
Rose’s face heated. “Victoria promoted me from an assistant position. I love her for it, but I don’t like to be the morality police. I have to tell people they can’t claim tortilla chips on their medical spending fund, even if they are available at the pharmacy. Three times this month, I’ve had to tell people not to email penis pictures when I personally have no problem with the swapping of digital genitalia. Aside from the fact that it’s a future political scandal waiting to happen.”
“You said that was just one guy though.”
“We’re still not entirely sure what’s going on. It’s sure annoying though.” She shook her head. “Sorry. This stuff isn’t your problem.”
He put his hand on hers as she’d done a moment ago. “I’m happy to listen.”
His touch felt a little too good. She pulled her hand away to rub at her sore temples. “It’s just all a little sad. I see the ugliest parts of people. Last month, we had to fire a sales guy because he rubbed his crotch against his coworker’s butt while she was bending down to grab a box of file folders. Who does that?”
Josh winced. “Sicko. Everyone knows that behavior is only acceptable on public transportation.”
She gave him her best look of disdain. He laughed.
“Sorry. I’m trying to lighten the mood.”
Was he trying to insinuate she wasn’t as fun as she used to be? Because that was just wrong. “Hey. I’m light. I’m practically glowing.” Except she knew she wasn’t, not then.
“No arguments there.”
Huh? “What?”
“Nothing. I mean, I understand what you’re talking about. Not the crotch-rubbing part, but the part about feeling like you don’t fit in your job. Sometimes I feel the same way. I’d leave, but the benefits are good, Harris is too young to be home alone, and babysitting is outrageous. I’m too young to go dipping into my savings. If I took another position, they’d make me show up at an office. My boss gives me crap but at least he lets me be home with my kid.”
The restaurant had shifted to dinner light, dimmer and warmer than they had during the day. She couldn’t help but notice now they gave his eyes a nice burnished coal look.
Damn. She was staring. “What? Oh. Babysitting. I can only imagine.”
The look on his face was hard to read. “Let’s change the subject,” he said. “I’d like to talk about something.” He scooted her water glass away from her side of the table.
“What the hell are you doing?” Frowning, Rose reached for the glass. Took a drink for good measure. Take that, man trying to tell me what to do with my water.
“It’s just that I have the feeling what I’m about to say could either make you happy or make you want to throw a drink in my face. Figured I should hedge my bets.”
A nervous ping hit the center of her chest. “Okay, so tell me. How bad is this? Did you rob my house? Smash my fish tank? Do I need to get something more hostile than water, like that hot cup of coffee, so I can really bring the pain?”
He opened his mouth. Then his eyes went wide. “You have a fish tank?”
“Not the point.”
Pets. Kids. Rose’s parents had left her and her sister with a laundry list of complexes. She wouldn’t make another living being suffer for her emotional issues.
Josh stared, looking concerned—or maybe confused, she couldn’t tell—until she waved a hand in front of his face. “Hello? Whatever you wanted to say, just spit it out.”
Inside, her belly fluttered. This had to be the “let’s be friends” speech coming up. Which was fine. Totally fine. She had no expectations of Josh, no hopes. Not this time. Hopes were the things that killed. Still, the grim expression on his face made her nervous.
“I just, uh… You know.” He toyed with his napkin. “The last time we were together… Before I moved to Boulder, I mean…”
My place. The morning after Dave and Vicky’s wedding. We made love with no sheets on the bed because you’d spilled wine on them the night before. You told me you couldn’t wait to move in with me, so we could start every day naked together. Then you got a strange phone call. You left, married Kara, and never spoke to me again.
“I remember,” was all she said.
“The last time.” He rubbed a hand across his chest. “I didn’t know it would be the last time. There was no closure. Coming back here and seeing you makes me feel a lot of things I don’t even know how to articulate. Not to mention it’s downright impossible to keep my hands off you.”
His words spurred her heart rate into a gallop. Dammit, why did she still have such a strong reaction to him? A few tables away a glass shattered and then one of the bus boys started up a vacuum, forcing Rose to lean closer when the turn of their conversation made her want to back away.
“The thing is,” he continued. “Victoria will have her baby. Harris will need to return to school. Eventually, my boss will insist I end my vacation even though technically it hasn’t really begun. But…I love that we still have the same chemistry we had before. Maybe even better. I just…” He cleared his throat, and then cleared it again before slamming back into his chair. “I don’t want to lose your friendship again.”
Right. Rose lifted her chin. Above the thumping in her chest, she heard herself say, “Say no more. It’s fine. Honestly, it’s a relief. We both know this has an expiration date, right?”
His eyes widened, and then his brows drew together. “Oh. Yeah. Right. Of course.”
Yeah. Right. I haven’t forgotten that you hurt me, but I also know you had good reasons. It turns out my feelings for you never faded. There’s something about you that makes my pulse rush and probably always will. But I won’t sit here and let you dump me again. This time, at least, I get to have some control.
“Absolutely,” she said. “You and I, we have too much uncomfortable history. I’m Victoria’s best friend and you’re basically her family. Once those two crazy kids pop out that baby, you know they’re going to get remarried. Things between us would get weird. Family gatherings turn into an embarrassing string of awkward, alcohol-fueled encounters where one of us would eventually confess to the other’s date that we’d played tonsil hockey in a rental car once upon a time. Right?”
The expression on his face was hard to read. “Your version was much more colorful.”
She forced a laugh, pressing down the cramping sensation in her stomach. “Just calling it like I see it.”
John tugged at his collar. “I really have missed spending time with you.”
“Same.” Though admitting it wasn’t easy. “So. Listen. We’re good? Friends and whatnot?”
A storm flashed across his face. Some swirling of emotion she couldn’t name, because she didn’t know Josh as well anymore. Didn’t look warm and fuzzy, though, with the tight press of his mouth and the groove between his brows. “Absolutely. Friends.”
“Good.” Another nervous chuckle slipped out as she offered her hand to shake. “I’m glad we can be friends. I’ve missed having that with you.”
His smile lit the room. “Me too. I’d been hoping we could be friends.” Though the way he grasped her hand and held it a little too long, Rose’s heart sank a little. Friends was good, but nobody’s touch had gotten deep inside of her the way Josh’s still did.
“Awesome, buddy.” Buddy. Really? “This is good, then.”
It was. Wasn’t it? Her long-ago, not-really-a-breakup with Josh was one of the reasons she’d since avoided emotional attachments. The aftermath was uuug-LY. She hated strings.
So why in the hell couldn’t she convince herself this was a good thing?
Josh laughed again. Shaky and nervous, but a beaming smile appeared after. She could get used to that smile. If she had to, that was. Under duress. Certainly not now, when they’d agreed seeing each other again was an awful idea.
Her chest ached. Dammit.
“Well.” She forced a smile to her face. “Thank goodness, right? We should order. The mac and cheeze comes with this bread that’s to die for, and they always sell out before the end of the night, so hurry up and pick. Wine would be good, too.” Decaf coffee wasn’t going to cut it, after all. This kind of conversation required a drink. She aimed a mega-grin his way to hide her discomfort. “See? This is great. We talked. You survived with your pants intact. Everything’s great.”
Nice one, Rose. Keep saying “great” as if you’re trying to summon Bloody Mary.
She waved at Dee, who was a few tables away. Their waitress smiled from behind a trayful of steaming plates. “Hey guys. I’ll be with you in just a sec—”
Dee’s shoe caught on the vacuum cord, still stretched across the aisle between the tables and the café bar. The swift grab of a patron stopped her from toppling—but her tray soared toward them with an astounding amount of grace.
With a mighty crash, the tray hit the floor and flipped its contents into the air.
Josh jumped up, covered in what appeared to be a coconut curry sauce. Dee frantically dabbed at him with a cloth but there was just too much.
“Shit.” Josh gritted his teeth. “Did you put her up to this?” He waved Dee away, who seemed to be getting too close to his crotch for comfort.
Rose giggled. “We got it, Dee. Thanks.” She inhaled deeply, grateful for the unorthodox tension breaker. “Actually, could you please box up an order of that curry dish for me to go? It smells really good.”
Curry was one of her favorite comfort foods. She might be needing a lot of comfort over the coming days.
Josh paused in cleaning his khakis. She could have sworn she saw a flare of heat flash in his eyes. “Oh yeah? My pants are making you hungry, huh?”
“That sounded awfully flirty, Mr. Hale. I thought we agreed to be just friends about a minute and a half ago.” She tipped her head to give him an extra judgy look.
Josh closed his eyes and sighed. “Right. I suppose we did. Habit, I guess.”
Damn. “It was your idea, I believe.”
“My idea? You’re the one who said it.”
Double damn. “You know…” Rose bit her lip and drew imaginary pictures on the glass tabletop with her finger. A heart. A star. A square. Not that stalling was helping her focus much. “I’m just thinking. One could argue that this fling or whatever you call it was never really anything at all, since we didn’t actually have sex. We kept getting interrupted. So, one could also argue that it would only be fair if… I mean, we could—you know—maybe finish what we started first.”
“Finish what we started.” He nodded as if this was a serious topic of conversation and not a desperate justification for let’s go get naked. “Right. Sure. And then after that, we would go back to being friends?”
Rose shrugged. That was tomorrow’s problem. “The logic is sound.” It was not. Not in the least. Finish fucking so they could go back to ignoring that it had ever happened? That logic was so unsound it was silent. But… “Your hotel is practically around the corner. Nice place like that? Pretty sure they have laundry service.”
Josh’s eyes darkened. “I’ll get the check.”
To Rose’s disappointment, Josh kept his hands to himself during the short ride back to his hotel. Though the clench and release of his fists at every stoplight gave her some idea of his sense of urgency. Her own hands clenched on the steering wheel in concert with the squeeze of her thighs until they arrived at the hotel and she—as politely as possible—hurled her keys at the valet.
Thank goodness the elevator was empty.
His lips pressed against hers the second the doors closed. One hand curled around the back of her neck. The other slid down to grab her ass, a move nobody had pulled on her since high school. Sometimes nostalgia was nice.
“God, I want you,” he murmured against her mouth. “You taste so fucking sweet.”
“That’s the four sugars I added to my coffee.”
“Nah, I’m pretty sure you always taste this way.”
She paused. “Hey. Wait. The elevator isn’t moving. We should probably—”
The doors binged open.
Josh’s hand flew from her butt as they jumped to separate corners.
Staring at them with no small amount of judgement was an older couple dressed as if they’d just come from something fancy. A ballet or maybe a really exclusive dental appointment.
They’d forgotten to push the button to go up.
“We’ll wait for the next one,” the lady said with lips pursed and eyebrows raised.
Josh’s disgruntled “fuck” barely waited until the doors closed. “We keep getting interrupted. You think this is the universe telling us to keep our hands to ourselves?”
Rose couldn’t keep her lips from twitching into a tiny smile. “Maybe it’s just the universe telling us not to miss your floor.”
Mere seconds after the doors had closed, they re-opened in the right place.
“Huh.” Josh huffed. “Yeah. That’s definitely more useful. Pragmatic even.”
Josh backed away to hold the door open, moving at the speed of a hundred-year-old turtle.
Still, the heat in his eyes made a tight knot in Rose’s core. “Do you think you should move a little slower?”
He grinned. “We agreed this is only going to be a one-time thing, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Not counting the other two, yes.”
“Those didn’t count. So, we’re going to finish this thing, and we’re going to take the time to savor.”
Oh. “Savor?”
“Savor.” He reached his hand out, extending a finger to gently trail along Rose’s collarbone. An oddly intimate move, given that he wasn’t touching her anyplace particularly private.
She managed a rough swallow. “You were in quite a hurry before.”
He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. “Well, I do have curry on my pants. It hit me, though, that rushing keeps nearly getting us into trouble. We need a new approach.” He chuckled. “Besides. I’m a single dad with a rare night alone. My chances for a long night of naked time are few and far between.”
“I thought you had to work tonight.”
He shook his head. “Someone suggested I tell my boss to blow himself. I’m giving the idea serious thought.”
Rose pulled Josh’s keycard from between his fingers. Thankfully, it had been in his wallet after all. “When you put it that way, I almost feel that I have a duty to help you get laid. Almost like community service. By the way…” She drew the key card from its sleeve. “You know, you shouldn’t use these. It has your room number right on it. If you do misplace your card, anyone could break in.”
They reached the door. He pressed his chest to her back as she worked to slide the card through the reader. “Thank goodness you’re here, Rose. You’re saving me from all sorts of things tonight. Blue balls. Robbery.”
A room service cart rattled past them down the hall. They both froze, but then lost their composure and laughed. The man pushing the cart had the decency to pretend not to notice their shenanigans.
They snickered louder, too obnoxiously for the quiet hall. Rose liked it though, the reverberation of his deep laugh against her back. “I think you got some of that curry sauce on the back of my skirt.”
“Then we’d better get you inside and take it off.”
“You’re right. We should. We would, in fact, if you stopped distracting me.”
His hand slid up her thigh, taking the hem of her skirt along with it. His thumb extended, making a slow tease toward her underwear. Thank goodness she was facing the door or anyone walking by would know she’d worn her lucky pair.
“Problem, Rose?”
The lock beeped and the light blared red. Hands shaking, she tried again. “Damn. Are you sure this is the right key?”
“I’m sure.” His thumb edged along the crease of her inner thigh. “Thought you wanted to hurry, Rose.”
It only took her four tries to get the door unlocked.