“Why are you being so passive?Any other woman you’ve wanted, you’ve gone after.”
“I’m not a stalker.”
“I didn’t mean in a stalker way.I mean in a “show them you’re serious" way, not waiting around for the girl to call you.Is it because of Trixie?”
“Enjoy Whistler,” Ares marched through Xander’s door, waved at Harper, passed by Gardenia’s office, and entered his office.
It was the smallest room, but he didn’t spend a lot of time here, and it served his purposes.He sat with his feet on the desk, closing his eyes.Xander could never let things be.Ares had loved Trixie.He dated her for five years, but it was before Xander created his scheduling app before he got himself fully together.
Trixie wasn’t the first woman or the last, but, in every way, she was perfect for Ares.she was smart, willing to try new things.He had that woman in rope so often, his hands itched now to grab a length.
Xander and he both thought that Trixie had enough interests of her own that Ares’s obligations to Xander didn’t bother her.
When Xander created the app, she cheered him on.Ares thought he was going to marry her.Until he came home one day to find her gone, with no explanation.
The night before Trixie had left, he’d had to rush to where the firm Xander was working for at the time because his brother’s severe anxiety left him locked in an office.
Ares didn’t want to chance that kind of heartbreak again.
Up until now, he dated women, even enjoyed a night of play, but he swore off relationships.
Opening his bottom drawer, he took out a coil of hemp rope and played with it, thinking of how he’d love to tie Josie.He knew he was ready to move on.
From the moment he met Josie, he couldn't stop thinking about her and she was the only woman who ever turned him down twice.
He liked that about her.
He liked how she was strong but sometimes indecisive, as if she didn’t want to go out of her comfort zone, but once she was, she did things like feed him whipped cream.He liked that she was kind to everyone and, most of all, he liked how she felt in his arms.
Josie said she was okay with Ares’s circumstances, but is she really?Part of why he has been so hesitant, or passive as his brother deemed it, is because he doesn’t want to screw this up.
There is a connection between him and Josie.He felt it in his soul.And maybe he should help her see it.Picking up his phone, he texted her.
Thinking about how you felt in my arms outside the house by the pool.I wished we had stayed outside forever.
He tossed the phone down on his desk, then brought up a secure line.It was time for him to check in with the sweepers and the prisoner they needed to do something with.
His phone buzzed before his call went through.
[JOSIE]
I liked being in your arms, too.
Warmth spread through his chest.He needed to see her that instant.
I’ve been thinking about how you want to try rope.I want to give you that experience.Want to come over?
He held the phone to his face, hoping for an answer, but after a moment, he put it to the side and went through with his call.
If he didn’t hear from Josie by the end of the day, he’d swing by on his way home and apologize to her again for being interrupted.
He wanted to make it up to her and hoped Josie would give him that chance.
9 JOSIE
“We have half an hour before we have to leave to make curtain,” Fleur leaned against the wall next to the kitchen, surveying the crowded counters.
“Sorry.Avery is late and I needed to make sure the trays were ready to go.It’s for the burlesque dancers' holiday party.”
