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“What are we doing, Joseph?” I stare at him. “I mean, aside from the mind-blowing sex and the bad decisions?”
He flashes me a grin, and it’s like the heaviness of the suggestion of meeting people dissipates. I’m not sure if it’s because of my joking, or because he was never actually serious. All I know is that his grin makes the weird fizzle in my stomach settle.
“Mind-blowing sex, hey?” he teases.
“Well, I thought so.” I laugh.
He takes a step towards me, puts his hand on my waist, and pulls me closer to him.
“Life-changing,” he murmurs, then leans down and kisses me.
"Life-changing," I repeat.
“It’s always been life-changing with you, Dee.”
He sounds so sure, so sincere, so sinful. I feel a little weak at the knees, and my thoughts are racing.
Bad choices.
Bad decisions.
Drowning in the antivenom.
Trying to avoid the inevitable consequences.
Ignoring all the red flags.
“I’ll be late opening the shop,” I murmur between kisses. “You’ll be late for your interview.”
“I. Don’t. Fucking. Care.” Every word is punctuated with a kiss and his hand moving an inch further up my dress.
Turns out, I don’t care either.
***
I close the shop door, pull the shutters down, and then walk to the door to my flat. Sometimes it feels a little inconvenient to get back into my house via the front door, but the area isn’t always the best at night, and the shutters in front of the shop window are necessary.
Knowing Joseph is upstairs makes me smile as I unlock the main door. I wonder how his interview went. I’m sure he charmed the interviewer because he has so much charisma. He draws people in like a magnet, though I expect he doesn’t realise it. He’s been drawing people in all his life, so it’s probably second nature.
My phone buzzes as I reach the door to the flat. I pull it out of my bag, seeing the message from Maddie as I push the door open. I feel guilty that I’ve ignored her since we went out for dinner. We’ve messaged, but I know she was upset with me when I pushed our cinema trip back by another week. Verity had promised me that Maddie is so busy with the end of the school year that she doesn’t mind it being pushed back, but I still feel guilty. Joseph is proving to be a distraction that has kept me busy, even though he’s hidden from everybody.
I’m glad Maddie’s sulk about the cinema is over, given she’s messaged me. There’s something about wanting to borrow a bag for a party she’s going to tomorrow, but I’m distracted from answering when I catch the scent of food coming from the kitchen.
“Just in time,” Joseph calls. He walks out of the kitchen.
“Looking very domesticated,” I tease, focusing on the tea towel that’s slung over his shoulder.
My phone buzzes again. I glance down at it and sigh.
“Everything okay?” Joseph asks.
“Yeah, it’s just Madeline. She wants to pop up and borrow a bag. Apparently, Verity is driving her through town now. Would you mind…?” My voice trails off.
I feel rude because I want to tell him to hide away. Our conversation this morning about the potential of meeting those in our lives was cut short by the fast and frantic sex we had, and when we were finished, I barely had enough time to get down to the shop for opening on time, so we didn’t discuss it again. I’ve thought about it for most of the day, though. About what it would be like to introduce him to the people in my life.
Now there’s the proximity of Maddie due to arrive, and it suddenly feels too soon and too much. I wish we’d had a proper conversation this morning; at least then he’d understand that he needs to hide, because I’m so not ready for any of this. I’m not ready to face up to the reality of the world that exists outside my flat. We’ve had a little protective bubble around us that nothing has penetrated, and I’m terrified that it’ll burst.
Before I can gather my thoughts, there’s a knock at the door, and then it pushes open. I regret that I ever gave Verity and Maddie a key to the doors to the flat.
