“Nope. I’m pretty sure you scared them off for good.”
She looks away from the fire and shoots me a smile so damn sweet that I almost choke on my whiskey.
Fuck.
I wish I wasn’t so damn tongue-tied. There’s so much I want to say, and my jaw tightens in frustration as I picture myself letting it all out and telling Josie everything I’ve been thinking since the day we met.
You’re made for me,I’d say.
I’ve been waiting my whole life for you, and I’m never letting you go
But I stay silent. She’d probably shout out to Clay and Savannah to come rescue her from the crazy giant in the living room. I wouldn’t blame her.
“It sounds pretty bad out there,” Josie says after a particularly vicious howl of wind from outside.
“Was snowing hard when I arrived.”
She nods. “Same here.”
Dammit, now we’re talking about the weather.
This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about Josie, and I’m wasting it. Clay and Savannah could be back at any second, and then the moment will be lost.
“So, you live in Cherry Hollow?” I ask, trying to sound conversational.
“Yep, I rent the apartment above the pizzeria. It always smells of pepperoni.”
“Hm. That a complaint or a selling point?”
Josie laughs. “Definitely a selling point. The apartment’s pretty small, but the proximity to pizza makes up for it.” She sets her hot chocolate on the coffee table and smiles at me. “You live up here on Cherry Mountain, right?”
“Yeah, about a mile away. How’d you know?”
Josie shrugs, coloring slightly. “Savannah must have mentioned it.”
“You been talking to her about me?”
The question slips out before I can think better of it, making my stomach jolt. I’m not always great at having a filter—one of the many reasons I’ve been trying to avoid talking to Josie for so long. I’m convinced that once I start talking, I won’t be able to stop, won’t be able to control the words that come out of my mouth.
“I…” Josie looks embarrassed. “Yeah, I might have mentioned you once or twice.”
There’s a pause. I know I shouldn’t push it, but I can’t help myself.
“What did you say about me?”
She doesn’t answer right away, and the silence stretches on for several beats too long. I hear the crackle of the fireplace, the howling wind outside, the bustle of Clay and Savannah in the kitchen. But it all fades to nothing as I watch Josie. She runs the tip of her pink tongue over her bottom lip, avoiding my gaze like she’s debating something internally.
“I…I told her you come to the diner every day.” Her gaze flits up to meet mine, almost defiantly. “And that you always ignore me.”
There’s a flicker of hurt in her eyes, and it hits me straight in the chest. I’d convinced myself I was invisible to Josie. Just another customer she had to serve breakfast—the big, ugly brute in the front booth. I’ve tried not to look at her for a whole damn month, and it never once occurred to me she would notice. That she would care. That she would spend that same month wondering why.
The sound of a door opening wrenches me from my thoughts, and I feel Josie jerk in surprise, like she’d forgotten there was anyone else here but us. My brother walks out of the kitchen holding a large pan of lasagna, Savannah following behind with a stack of plates.
“Dinner’s ready,” she says brightly.
Josie leaps up from the couch like she’s been burned. She doesn’t look back at me as she heads for the table, and I follow, my heart racing as I think over what she just said.
You always ignore me.
