"Like what?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Like taking over her life. I never dreamed I'd be waiting tables. I've met more new people in the last two months than in the rest of my life combined. Denver's a big city, so that's weird to say, but I'm sheltered. I have my bubble."
"I'm sorry if I rushed you into it."
"No, it's not your fault. You're drunk, anyway, right?"
He squinted his eyes at me, and the playful expression caused a whooshing, rushing wave of heat through me. "Would you have come up here with me if you really thought I was?" he asked. He still had his hands on me, gently holding me near him.
"I’m not answering that," I said. "I will say I trust you more than I usually trust strangers."
"You're right to trust me," he said. A few charged seconds passed.
"Yeah, I know," I said.
He squinted. "Is that permission to do it again?"
My heart. It would not stop pounding.
I shrugged, trying to look casual. "It wasn't the worst experience I've ever had."
Alex let out a breath. "It feels like I could improve on that," he said.
"No, I didn't mean it like that," I said, shaking my head a little.
He put his hand on my cheek and stared at me. "Josie, I'm kissing you again, okay?"
We stood in the entryway of his hotel room for what must have been ten or fifteen minutes, kissing softly. He was so gentle with me that I was aching to be closer. By the time we decided to break away from each other, I had experienced what it was like to kiss a man. He was slow and tender with me, but our kiss had progressed, and I had felt the inside of his mouth. I felt all sorts of physical sensations I had never felt before.
Alex had told me that I was a good kisser, and he made me promise it was my first time. I told him a few specific stories about coming close with a few guys, and that seemed to make him believe me. He didn't want to stop, and he didn't want to let me go, which was sweet and made me feel good.
But we both knew I had to be going.
"This was the perfect way for this to happen to me," I said, stepping away from him, finally. "Doing that with someone like you gives me a confidence boost. I felt like I couldn’t mess up with you. And it's good that we'll never see each other again."
"I guess. Did you… like it?" He seemed a little disappointed, and I sighed and put my hand on his arm.
"Oh, yes. That's what I'm saying. You're so good there's no way I could be bad. I really did like it. Ijust, I know you are just passing through town, so I was just making sure you knew I was good with it."
"That you're good with never seeing or talking to me ever again?" he asked.
"Yes, but in a good way," I replied.
Chapter 6
Josie
A year later
"Turn Left toward St. Mary's Avenue. Turn right onto I-Ninety, Main Street."
My GPS was starting to talk in circles because I got off the route. It was louder than necessary, and I reached out to turn it off using the knob for the stereo. It was only doing its job, telling me how to stay on track. But I had to make a stop. I needed to ignore it and turn into this parking lot.
"Okay, this is a nice store," I said to Luna. "It's clean and open, and you can go potty in here."
"I gotta go baaad," she said, kicking her little feet.
"I know. We're here. Hold it for one more second."
