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A moment passed before she complied. The insecurity he saw when she met his gaze had his insides stilling. The hateful names he’d called her over the years echoed in his mind, and he wanted to gut himself.He’dcaused that worry, dammit. Well, he sure as fuck was going to work his ass off to make sure she never felt insecure with him again.
He caressed her jaw, careful to be extra gentle as he touched the almost-healed bruise. “Roxanne Elizabeth Jameson, donotdoubt how much I want you. Because you have to know I do. Hell, you can feel how much I do.” He hurried on when she opened her mouth to speak. “But I want to take this slow. I need to. I’ve made too many mistakes with you already, and I don’t want to fuck this up.”
The swirling emotions in Roxie’s eyes faded, and he sighed in relief. Bringing her face closer, he kissed her lightly on the lips. “You matter to me, Rox. So damn much. I want to do this right.”
Her answering smile went straight to his heart. He wrapped his arms around her and turned so they lay flat on the couch with her still atop him. “Let me hold you tonight.”
“Of course,” Roxie said against his lips.
She reached over him to grab the blanket that had fallen from the couch, rubbing against his cock in the process. For a moment, he rethought his noble intentions. But then she straightened, blanket in hand. She fluffed it out over them, and he caught the sly smile on her face as she snuggled into his side.
He smacked her delectable ass, and she yelped. The little minx knew exactly what she was doing to him. And hell, he was more than okay with that.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Roxie jumped and spun around, her hip slamming hard into the prep station. “Holy crap, Alex. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
Her friend tsk-tsked. “Seems like the boss lady is off in la-la land.”
She looked down at the pie filling she’d been working on and cringed. Judging by the smooshed blueberries, she’d been mixing for a while. Heat spread across her face. It was times like these when she hated being a natural redhead.
“Well, well, well,” Alex teased, wagging her eyebrows. “What do we have here?”
Her blush deepened.Damn. She shoved the bowl of pie filling aside. “Shut it, Mrs. O’Conner.”
Alex laughed. “Oh no, you don’t, miss. Spill it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She wrinkled her nose. That hadn’t sounded very convincing.
Her friend snorted. Legit snorted. Obviously, she wasn’t buying the lie, either. “Sure, Roxie. Whatever makes you feel better.”
Clearing her throat, Roxie concentrated on tossing the ingredients for a new batch of blueberry filling into a bowl. “Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be home with Annie? Or resting?”
“I’ve got some payroll stuff to knock out. And Nina asked me to cover for a couple hours while she goes to the doctor. Annie’s with Mrs. Abbot and Mrs. Yoshida. And I’m feeling much better, thank you.”
Of course Alex would have an answer for everything. So aggravating. “Well... can’t you process payroll and do the Nina stuff remotely? Like, anywhere but here? Away from me?”
Alex gave her a saccharine smile. “Never took you for a coward, you know.”
Bristling, she opened her mouth to reply. Then quickly shut it. Her eyes narrowed. “Aren’t you the tricky one?”
“If you’re not going to tell me what has you all dreamy, can I at least guess?”
Roxie pinned her friend with a glare that usually made people steer clear. “No.”
Alex grinned, then rolled her eyes. The woman was immune to her glares. “You’re no fun at all. But fine. I’ll lay off for now. You do know I’ll get it out of you later, though, right?”
“Believe whatever you want,” she said, shaking her head and focusing on the pie filling. But she knew Alex was probably right. The woman would somehow manage to get the full story out of her.
Well, maybe not thefullstory. Right now, Roxie could hardly process what had transpired in the last eighteen hours herself, let alone relay the details with any sort of clarity.
Last night, after cuddling and making out on the couch like teenagers, Joe had surprised her by insisting they retire to their rooms. Theirseparaterooms. When he’d kissed her goodnight at her bedroom door, it had taken all her willpower to not drag him inside and tear off his clothes.
Who was she kidding?Hewas the one who’d had the willpower to stop their make-out session. Not her.
Then, this morning had been like every other workday. She’d been dressed and downstairs for her morning run by three fifteen. And Joe had been right there waiting for her.
