But it’s easier said than done. Every second that passes with this angel under my roof makes it harder to keep my distance,and I drag a hand over my beard with a heavy sigh, desperate for a distraction.
“Let me show you where you’re sleeping,” I say, starting down the small corridor that leads off the living room. I hear Josie follow, the floorboards creaking beneath us as we reach the door at the end, which I push open to reveal the spare room. It’s not much. Just a bed and a dresser. Never have any use for it as a bedroom, so one wall is lined with storage boxes, mostly full of tools.
“Sorry for the mess.” I shove the storage boxes farther back into the room.
“It’s okay,” Josie says. “The bed is all I need, anyway.” She gives me a small smile. “Thanks again for letting me stay.”
“No problem. Just wish I could give you somewhere nicer to sleep.” I frown at the boxy little room. “I can sleep in here. You can take my room across the hall.”
“Thanks, Brewer, but this room will do fine. It’s really cute.”
I nod, swallowing hard. It was a bad idea for us both to come in here. We’re barely a foot apart in—boxed in with nowhere to go. It feels dangerous as hell to be alone with Josie like this, standing so close to a bed…a bed I want to throw her down on…make the springs groan and the headboard shake…
Fuck.
My cock stirs, swelling against my boxers as I look at Josie. Her bright green eyes blink up at me, and tension wraps itself around my lungs, squeezing tight until it feels like I’m about to suffocate.
“We should probably talk about earlier,” I murmur.
Josie’s freckled cheeks turn pink. “What about earlier?”
“What you said about me ignoring you.”
She breaks eye contact, looking down at her feet.
“It doesn’t matter,” she mumbles.
I frown. “It matters to me. Matters a hell of a lot.”
“Honestly, I don’t know why I even mentioned it.” She shakes her head, looking annoyed with herself. “It’s not like you owe me your attention. I’m just the girl who serves you breakfast at the diner.”
“That’s not true.”
Her gaze flickers up to meet mine, and I take a step forward, so close to Josie that we’re almost touching. She has to tilt her head right back to look at me, her auburn hair streaming down her back.
“You’re more than that,” I tell her. “Much more.”
For a moment, we don’t move. Don’t breathe.
“Then why have you spent a month refusing to look at me?” Josie asks, her voice barely a whisper.
I open my mouth to reply, but I don’t know how to tell this perfect girl how I feel…how I’ve been obsessed with her since day one, and desperate to fight it because she deserves better than a grumpy old brute twice her age. I was convinced she could never want me. Convinced the unbearable longing I felt was all one-sided—the pathetic obsession of a middle-aged man who should know better.
“Brewer?” Josie asks after a few moments of silence, my name like a quiet prayer on her lips.
Everything I’ve ever wanted to say to her sticks in my throat, frustration coursing through me. I wish I were better with words. Better at talking about my feelings instead of hiding them. But as she looks up at me, all soft and sweet and beautiful, I feel my restraint snap. All the emotion—the weeks of frustration—it all bubbles to the surface until it feels like my skin is boiling.
I can’t tell Josie how I feel.
But I can show her.
I lift my hand to her face, cupping her soft cheek and running my thumb over her bottom lip. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t pull away. Doesn’t flinch at my touch.
“Come here, beautiful,” I mutter, heart thumping.
Our noses brush as I lean in. I don’t hesitate. Don’t second-guess myself. I grip the back of Josie’s neck and capture her lips in a bruising kiss.
Fuck yes.
