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“I asked them to heat up our food.”
I took my seat across from her. “Listen, Josie, maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
“What? A date?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
“Because it’s going to set an expectation I can’t live up to.”
“What are you talking about? What expectation do you think I’m going to have after one date?”
I shrugged. “It’s just not a good idea.”
“Because I brought up your fiancée?”
My jaw clenched. “You want more than I can give.”
“Seriously? I thought I was getting diner food and mauled, and I was okay with that.”
“Maybe today, but…” I shook my head. “Down the road you’ll—”
Josie put her hand up. “I’m going to stop you right there, even if interrupting someone while they’re speaking is rude. You can’t possibly have any idea what I’ll want down the road. You know why?”
“Why?”
“BecauseIdon’t even know what I want. A few months ago I thought I wanted to be Mrs. Noah Townsend and cure cancer with miracle drugs. Now I’m happy planting flowers with the grumpy neighbor while staying in a town with a population smaller than the number of people in my building back in New York. I’m considering signing up for aknitting class, for God’s sake. The only thing I know for sure about my future is that I’m going to make decisions based on what makes me happy instead of what the right thing to do is and what others expect of me.”
I frowned. “Sorry.”
The waiter came back with our plates, but Josie shook her head. “I apologize. But do you think you can wrap those up, so we can take it to go? Something’s come up.”
“Of course. Just give me a minute.”
I felt bad for ruining the evening. “We don’t have to leave.”
Josie picked up her napkin from her lap and set it on the table. “Yes, we do. Because you’re miserable wearing that tie, and honestly, this isn’t what I want either.”
I figured she meant going out with a grumpy asshole like me. It wasn’t like I could argue she was wrong. So I nodded. “Okay.”
She leaned over and lowered her voice. “Let’s just eat the food on the back porch with a beer and go have sex.”
All the breath left my body. “You want to have sex?”
She grinned. “See? You really have no clue what I want.”
CHAPTER 19
Hungry
Josie
“I’m going to change.” Fox thumbed toward next door with one hand and lifted the bag of takeout onto my kitchen counter with his other. “You want me to heat these up?”
The ride home had been quiet. I was pretty sure my date was still shocked by my declaration that I wanted to go have sex. Honestly, I hadn’t expected to say it either. But now that it was out there, I felt liberated. Why not say what I wanted? I’d been attracted to the big grump since the first moment I’d laid eyes on him. And we had chemistry. I could feel it pulsing through my veins whenever he was near. Not to mention, I’d caught him watching me from the window and checking me out on multiple occasions when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. So I knew I wasn’t alone in my desires.
“I’m not really hungry anymore.” I bit down on my lip. “For food anyway.”
