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At the front counter, Sheila and Nina managed the rush of customers with ease. Roxie covered the back, taking three lasagnas out of the oven and popping in two more, then grabbing a washrag to wipe down the prep counters. She’d thought that with it being so hectic, her mind wouldn’t have time to wander. She’d been wrong. A smile—a sappy, gooey smile—spread across her face, and her stomach fluttered. She wanted to kick herself for being such a twitterpated moron, but she couldn’t. She was too damn giddy.
The last week had been surreal. She wasn’t an overly romantic person—at least when she was talking about herself—but over the last couple of days, she and Joe had fallen into a rhythm that she could only describe as magical.
Their morning runs had been tossed out the window and replaced with amazing morning sex. Both were forms of exercise, right? God knew she’d take sweaty sex over sweaty runs any day of the week. Her face heated at the mere thought.
Then she and Joe went their separate ways during the day, and at night... oh, at night, they performed delicious reenactments of the morning.
Roxie simply couldn’t get enough of the man. OfJoe.
She shook her head. That was the surreal part, the part she was still trying to wrap her head around.Joe. Her childhood friend. The man who had been one of her best friends. Who had then become her enemy. Who was now working his way back to best-friend status. But with sex. Amazing sex. Best-sex-of-her-life sex.
His initial desire to take things slow, like their morning runs, had gone out the window. She didn’t regret it for one moment, though she was a bit shocked by the speed at which things had progressed. They’d gone from barely tolerating each other foryearsto screwing like bunnies in a matter of days. She wasn’t a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but she did tend to hold out well beyond a few dates before jumping in the sack with a guy.
But Joe... there was no getting-to-know-you period necessary. He was... Joe.
Roxie had no clue where they were going. So far, they hadn’t had any sort of relationship talk. There’d been no holding hands or movie-and-a-dinner dates. They hadn’t even gone anywhere together. Because, well, they’d jumped straight to the best-sex-of-her-life thing.
She paused mid-swipe, the washcloth in her hand forgotten. An uncomfortable feeling crept over her. She tried to push it away, but the discomfort grew and soured her belly.
Roxie knew Joe was popular with the ladies. She wasn’t a complete idiot. After all, the guy was gorgeous, charming, and a natural flirt. She knew he wasn’t seeing anyone else because they’d barely left each other’s side. But a little voice in her head whispered that she was gettingwayahead of herself.
She couldn’t define what they were doing, but she knew this was different from anything she’d ever experienced before. It was special.Hewas special. She’d never been with someone whom she’d already cared so much about. And she’d never been with anyone who focused so completely on her.
In fact, for better or worse, she’d never been the center ofanyone’sattention before. Not her parents’, not any of her exes’. But when she was with Joe, he had a way of making her feel like she was his entire world. It was mind-blowing. And comforting. And utterly terrifying.
Was she his girlfriend, or was she just a convenient fuck buddy? He’d implied early on that she meant more to him, but then again, he wouldn’t be the first guy to spout a crapload of lies to get laid.
Her shoulders sagged. She really,reallyhoped that wasn’t the case.
What makesyouso special from all the other women?
She wanted to tell that nagging little voice to shut the hell up, but it made a valid point. The only thing that differentiated her from all the others was their shared past, their history, their friendship. After all they’d been through—the highest of highs and lowest of lows—the idea that this was just sex to him scared her. But the idea that when he got tired of her—because let’s face it, everyone got tired of her—they’d go back to being friends was worse. It made her physically ill.
She squeezed her eyes closed and fought a wave of nausea.Universe, please don’t let this end up being the biggest. Clusterfuck. Ever. Amen.
“Are you okay?”
Her eyes flew open, and she yelped at the low voice. “Holy crap, Eli,” she said, pressing her hand to her thundering heart. With a long, slow exhale, she tried to calm her frazzled nerves.
“Sorry, Roxie. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She frowned, and a tingle of unease settled at the base of her spine. “What are you doing back here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about, um, the party for Poppy. Sheila said it was okay to come on back.” His face reddened, and he shifted on his feet. “If it’s a bad time, I can come back when you’re closed.”
Yeaaah, or not at all.
“Now’s fine.” Roxie tossed the dirty washrag into the sink and moved toward her office. “Let me get a notepad, and we can talk.”
She retrieved a pen and notepad off her desk, turned, and came to an abrupt halt.
Eli was standing close. Too close.
That tingle of unease crept up her back. “You know what? Let’s grab a table up front and discuss this there.”
She tried to step around him, but he stopped her with a firm hand on her arm. “It would be best if we talked back here. I’d hate for anyone to eavesdrop. That would... ruin the surprise for Poppy.”
She eyed him suspiciously. He was saying all the right things. But dammit, there was something else going on.
