“We should feed you, then.” Eve trailed her fingers up Josie’s spine.
“Come on.” Josie sat up, giving Eve’s hand a tug. She turned toward the dresser beside the bed, and Eve used the moment to wipe the moisture from her cheeks, emotions now firmly in check. Josie pulled open a drawer and tossed Eve a hot pink T-shirt.
Eve lifted it, eyeing the rainbow-colored cat face on the front. “Really?” she deadpanned, arching an eyebrow.
“Would you rather wear this one?” Josie asked, holding up a purple shirt that said I LIKE PUSSY in big letters across the front.
“Nope. This one is good.” Eve tugged it over her head and slid off the bed. The shirt hit her mid-thigh, possibly the most ridiculous thing she’d ever worn.
Josie took one look at her and doubled over in laughter.
“I know you own other shirts,” Eve said.
“Maybe I just wanted to see you in that one.” Josie winked as she led the way to the kitchen. “Do you like roast beef?”
Eve nodded, accepting the package Josie held toward her. They worked in comfortable silence in the kitchen, fixing sandwiches, which they brought into the living room to eat. Outside the window, the sky was brightening with dawn. The clock read 6:04.
“You live like a vampire,” Eve said, taking a big bite of her sandwich. No wonder she felt so delirious. She’d been up a full twenty-four hours at this point, had worked a half day at the office yesterday before Dragonfly’s grand opening.
“It’s not always this bad,” Josie told her with a grin, wiping mustard from her cheek. “We’re only open until four on Friday and Saturday nights. The rest of the week, we close at two, and if I’m really lucky, I’m in bed by two thirty. But yeah, this job has definitely turned me into a night owl.”
“Were you not a night owl before?”
Josie looked wistful for a moment. “I guess I’ve always been a bit of a night owl, but I definitely kept a more normal schedule.”
“What did you do for a living before you inherited Swanson’s?”
“For about a year beforehand, I had been supporting myself on the income from my YouTube channel.” Josie looked down at her plate. “I was a full-time kitten rescuer.”
“Oh.”
“I mean, it helped that I was renting this apartment from my dad, and he was cutting me a deal on rent,” Josie said, her expression a million miles away.
Eve had the uncomfortable impression she’d hit on a sore subject, although she wasn’t quite sure why, unless Josie was just missing her dad. “Did he live here too?”
“He had the apartment on the top floor.” Josie gestured above her head. “It’s much bigger and nicer. I rent it out now. Well, you know that.”
Eve nodded. She had known that. She was just so tired, she couldn’t think straight. As part of her work forDo Over, she’d been over every inch of Josie’s financial records. Which is why you shouldn’t be here now, in a rainbow pussy shirt, eating sandwiches in her living room.
“That income helped keep me afloat this year, but you know that too.” Josie smiled sadly.
“I think it’s best if we don’t talk business while we’re dressed like this.”
Josie glanced over at her. “Yeah, right. I didn’t really mean to talk about business, just answering your question.”
Eve turned her attention to her sandwich as an air of awkwardness descended between them, reminding her of all the ways she’d fucked up by sleeping with Josie. This was so much more than sex. She was so screwed. “My mistake for bringing it up.”
18
Josie practically shoved the sandwich down her throat, feeling reenergized now that she had food in her belly. Beside her, Eve had gone quiet, posture stiff, staring fixedly into her water glass. The sight of her here in Josie’s living room, hair mussed, makeup smudged, wearing Josie’s ridiculously big and super-gay T-shirt…well, it was the most beautiful thing Josie had ever seen, but maybe it was too much. Maybe she’d pushed her too far.
She leaned over, nudging her shoulder against Eve’s. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Eve’s shoulders rounded as she tossed a small smile in Josie’s direction. “Me too.”
“You know I don’t give a shit about mixing business with pleasure,” she said, hoping to put to rest whatever was bothering Eve. “And I don’t for a minute expect you to go easy on me when you come in to consult next week.”
“Good, because I won’t.”
