Page 29 of Long Story Short

I can’t do anything. I stare at her, barely noticing the taste of the chocolate cake because I’m focused on the icing that’s on the corner of her mouth.

She sets the fork down for a moment as I chew, her gaze still focused solely on me as she studies my reaction. Without even thinking about it, I reach between us and swipe my thumb over the icing on the corner of her mouth. Before she can react, I pull my finger back to my mouth and lick the icing from my skin, wishing I was able to lick it straight from her skin instead.

“Delicious,” I rasp, my gaze moving to her mouth. Her lips part before they close again as she swallows slowly.

When I meet her gaze, I find her staring at my mouth.

I’ve never wanted to kiss someone more in my entire life. It’d be easy to lean in and seal my mouth to hers, but even with the hungry way she stares at my lips, I don’t know if that’s what she wants. I’m shocked, after her insistence on working instead of spending time together, that she even asked me to come in tonight to begin with. I don’t want to push too far and kiss her and make her pull away from me completely.

But fuck, I’ve never wanted to kiss someone more than the way I want to kiss her. If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve never felt an instant attraction to someone the way I have with her. From the moment she came chasing after her damn cat and I saw her for the first time, there was something that instantly pulled me to her. I’m dying to get to know her more, and I don’t know if she’d allow me to do that if I kiss her too soon.

A loud meow comes from Mouse at our feet, breaking both of us from whatever moment we were having.

Josie swipes a hand over her mouth before softly clearing her throat. “Was the rest of the food at the party tonight as good as this cake?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“The food was pretty incredible,” I finally answer, wondering if I’m thankful that Mouse broke up the moment between us or if I’m mad at a cat for stopping me from kissing my neighbor.

Josie takes another bite, her mouth turning into a smile around the tip of the fork. “Dang, maybe I shouldn’t have skipped it. The last good meal I had was the one you made me the other night.”

My brows furrow. “What have you been eating?”

Josie shrugs as she takes another bite of the cake. “Things I can pop into the microwave and easy food.” She pauses and thinks for a minute before lifting a shoulder in a shrug. “Mostly a lot of snack plates. I don’t cook, remember? Not trying to set off any alarms here.”

I can’t help but frown. I don’t like the idea of her not having a proper meal for the last few days, especially when she’s having to work more to meet her deadline.

She must catch on to my silence because she drops the fork once again and looks at me with a cocked head. “What’s wrong?”

I meet her stare. “ I don’t like hearing that the last proper meal you had was days ago.”

Her lips twitch with the hint of a nervous smile. “Oh, don’t worry.” Her chin dips low as she grows quiet for a moment. She stares at the ground with her next words. “This is actually pretty typical when I’m on a deadline. I live off snacks, caffeine, and a dream.”

I scrape a hand over my mouth. “Well, for the rest of this deadline, you won’t be living off snacks.”

Josie looks up, her gaze meeting mine as she stares at me in confusion. “What? Unless I become a chef overnight, snacks…”

I sit up, leaning in ever so slightly. I allow my lip to turn up in the hint of a smirk. “You won’t be living off snacks because I’ll be feeding you.”

SEVENTEEN

JOSIE

A nervous laugh bubbles up from deep in my throat at Tyson’s words. I stare at him for a few seconds, wondering how he keeps taking me by surprise. “What?” I ask, shaking my head at him.

He stares at me with a smirk that tells me he’s made up his mind, no matter how outlandish his words may have sounded. “Whenever I make food for myself, I’ll make some for you too. That way, you’ll have proper meals while still being able to work toward your deadline.”

I continue to shake my head. “No, that isn’t necessary.”

“I think it is.” He holds my stare, the confident smirk he wears not budging in the slightest.

“No it isn’t, Tyson.”

“When will you start calling me Ty?”

My mouth hangs open as I just stare at him, ignoring his comment about the nickname because I’m still hung up on him thinking he needs to feed me. “You don’t need to make extra food for me. I’ve made it through plenty of deadlines like this. It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, but those other deadlines you didn’t have me. Now, you do.”

His words take me by surprise. He’s only just met me, yet he’s being so nice. I’m not used to it, and if it were anyone else, I might think the gesture is fake or because he wants something. But there’s something about him that seems like he’s genuinely just trying to be nice and cares. “You just met me. Why do you keep doing all these nice things?”