“W—what are you going to do?”
Shifting to my feet, I slid my boot over his injured hand and stomped hard. Screams echoed through the night, but out here, no one would hear a thing.
“Trust me, it’ll be worse than what you did to her.”
26
JOSIE
Five nightsof refusing to knock on JR’s door so I could get a simple night of sleep. And I knew sleeping in my car was out of the question. He’d just wake me up and tell me to sleep on his couch.
I hoped.
Who knew what he actually thought after the scene at his house.
But I was too mortified to even consider seeing him again. Thankfully, he disappeared for a couple of days, making it easy to avoid him, but since he returned, I had to be on guard at all times.
I purposely hid from him, making sure he was gone when I had to leave the house. I only went to the store when I knew he was working and I wouldn’t have to risk running into him.
And then there was the small problem of the woman who had come the other day and, as far as I knew, still hadn’t left. Was he in a relationship with this woman? Was he sleeping with her?
Not that it really mattered. I only wanted to use his couch, not his bed. Unless, of course, she was still there. Then I would be intruding on their time together.
Then again, he had kissed me, which suggested he wasn’t in a relationship. Or he was a cheater. The possibilities were endless, and no matter how much I told myself not to go over there, that I wasn’t at all curious, I knew I couldn’t take another night of no sleep.
I was desperate.
My body was so tired and my eyes were burning from lack of sleep. Even my stomach was upset. I needed sleep, and I was going to have to suck it up if I wanted to get even a few minutes of shut-eye.
Wrapping my blanket around myself, I made the trek across our lawns, noting that the curtains moved across the street. By morning, everyone in town would think I was having an affair rather than a one-night stand. They didn’t realize my brother and his fiancée were keeping me up all night, and I could barely function.
Marching up his steps, I banged on the door, knowing he was still awake. I had timed it perfectly, waiting for him to walk inside and have enough time to go to the bathroom before I slipped out of my house.
When the door swung open, I didn’t give him a chance to talk. I marched right under his outstretched arm that was braced against the door frame, and headed for the couch.
“I know you must be sick of me, and I’m sorry about the rumors in town, but I’m desperate,” I said, spinning around. “I haven’t slept in five nights. Their sex noises are so loud and disturbing, and when I do finally start to drift off, they start over again!
“I’m making mistakes at work. I was supposed to give Mrs. Abernathy chamomile for her inflammation, but I was so tired that I gave her ginseng instead! Do you realize how bad that is?”
I spun around, not giving him a chance to answer.
“And yesterday, I put diesel in my tank! It was only thanks to Wyatt that I put the smallest amount in before he saw what I was doing and stopped me. Of course, he called me an idiot before he left, but that’s beside the point.”
I gripped my hair, feeling my sanity slipping away by the second. I couldn’t take this anymore. “I’m losing my mind, and if you don’t let me stay here, I might actually die of sleep deprivation, and then that will be on your head.”
Tears pricked my eyes as I rushed forward and gripped his muscular forearms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. This isn’t your fault. I’m just so tired. Please, take pity on me and let me sleep on your couch. I’ll pay you anything you want. I’ll give you Delilah. I’ll make you breakfast every morning and dinner every night. I’ll wash all your windows! If you want, I’ll even?—”
His hand slapped over my mouth, cutting off what I was dangerously close to bargaining with him. And he seemed to know it.
“Be careful what you say.”
“Right,” I scoffed out a laugh. “Because of her.”
“What?”
“The woman!” I said, my finger pointing toward the hall. “She’s here and I’m interrupting. And I get it, okay? You’re hooking up or in a relationship. Whatever! I really don’t care. I just need someplace to crash for the night so I don’t completely fall apart and have a nervous breakdown!”
“Josie, you?—”
