“Okay, I’m a grouchy teddy bear.”Xander tickled Harper.“Just call her back and get the details then make a decision.”
“He said he didn’t want to do it, okay?”Josie stood.“I got to go.”She felt Xander’ gaze on her but ignored it, grabbed her cane and started towards the back door.
“Hey!I’m driving you,” Ares said.
He threw on his jacket and grabbed her bag.His movements were brisk and she wondered if she upset him but she didn’t care.
Xander was getting on her nerves.
In the warmed-up car on the way to the city, Josie’s phone buzzed.
[Cecilia] On my way in.Need lunch.Want to feed me?
Ares is dropping me off.I left a new batter for Avery to try.
[Cecilia] Ooh!Another morning after.How did it go?
It feels chilly at the moment.
Josie tucked her phone away, unsure what to say.Every time she went to break the silence, she saw Ares clench his jaw.
Ares pulled up to Carter’s.Josie’s stomach still futtered when she saw Carter’s truck in the lot.She reached out and squeezed Ares’s thigh.
“I didn’t mean anything-" The rest of the words caught in her throat.
“It was so damn funny,” Ares flashed a wide grin at her, breaking out into laughter.He threw his head back against the seat rest.“You don’t have to defend me in front of my brother, sweet girl.He’s used to getting his way.”
“I wasn’t defending you,” Josie unsnapped her seatbelt and crossed her arms over her chest.“He was annoying me.”
“That makes it funny.Come here,” he brushed his lips against hers, capturing them in a deep, long kiss that sent warmth flowing to her toes.
“I felt like I belonged there for a moment.But I ruined it.”
“You didn’t ruin a thing,” Ares touched his forehead to hers, then kissed her.Sweetly this time but with enough force it made her nipples tighten.
Across the lot, a car door slammed.Carter got out of his truck, walked straight into the restaurant.
“Is he bothering you anymore?”
“No.”
She left out how she tried to always have someone on site with her.Cecilia’s car drove into the lot.
“I said I’d give Cecilia lunch and I have work to do.”
“Two days until Christmas Eve dinner,” Ares looked out the windshield.
“You're nervous?”Josie tilted her head.
“No.Maybe.”
This man was wealthier than in her wildest dreams, could have anything he wanted and he was nervous about dinner?
“Ares, you’ve known my mother forever.”
“That ‘forever’ puts the emphasis on how old I am.I have not dated her daughter before.”
“It’s hardly an age gap.”
