Full Package

I don’t include myself in the jackass count. I’m not like those other guys. I’m not hurting Josie by sleeping with her like this. We have a temporary arrangement, an understanding, a roomies-with-benefits deal. If anything, I’m the one on the faster track to get hurt.

Wyatt clinks his glass to mine. “Good. I knew I could count on you to look out for my second-favorite person in the universe.” Then sheepishly, in a lowered voice, he adds, “It’s weird that I can’t call Josie my favorite person anymore. She was for so long. For most of my life. But now that spot goes to the new Mrs. Hammer.”

“Natalie’s gotta be first, man.”

Wyatt clasps my shoulder. “Good thing I’ve got you to make sure Josie’s in good hands.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely make sure of that,” I say, looking away.

Because Josie is in my good hands, and I hope that’s exactly where she’s going to be in about an hour.



We text on the way home. She’s on the express train. I’m on the local line. We laugh—over text—about how we’re heading home at the same time.

Then, as I head up the steps of the station and onto the bustling sidewalk, her latest text sends a burst of excitement through me because I’ll see her soon.



* * *



Josie: Want to do something crazy and, I dunno, walk the last few blocks together?



* * *



Chase: You are a wild thing.



* * *



Josie: I am. Especially when you learn what I have in store for you tonight.



* * *



A whistle rips through the warm early evening air, the kind a construction worker makes at a sexy woman. A familiar voice shouts at me, “Yo, Hot Stuff.”

When I stop and turn around, Josie walks towards me, a little sway in her hips, a flirty grin on her pretty pink lips. She wears a short skirt with a swirly pattern on it, and a purple V-neck T-shirt. Her hair is cinched back in a ponytail, and her wrist is adorned with her silver bracelets.

She’s so fucking hot. And beautiful. And bold.

I glance around, as if I’m looking for someone else. Then I stab my finger against my chest. “You talking to me?” I ask in my best movie gangster tone.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you with the nice ass.”

I give it right back to her. “Turn around. Let me see yours.”

She twirls once, then stops in front of me. “Hey, Doctor McHottie,” she says in a softer but still sexy voice. She rises on tiptoe and gives me a peck on the cheek, and my heart races. Dumb organ. I need to remember that the heart’s purpose is to pump blood, a body fluid that ferries nutrients and oxygen to cells. Its goal isn’t to make me feel light-headed and dopily dizzy around her.

Even so, I clasp her jaw in my hand, and kiss her hard on the lips. If she’s going to drop little whispery kisses on my face in public, I’m going to claim her naughty mouth with mine.

She moans lightly as I kiss her, and I swallow that sound. When I break the kiss, a soft sigh escapes her lips. I roam my eyes over her. As I catalogue her ridiculously cute outfit, an abhorrent thought pops into my brain. “Were you on a date after work?”

A tornado of jealousy sweeps through me. But I have no right to feel envious, since she’s not mine. I better revise my jackass tally since I clearly belong on it now.

She shakes her head. “No. I went to dinner with Lily. To a little sandwich shop on the East Side,” she says, as we walk through the New York night toward our building.

“How is she?”

Josie smiles. “She’s finally giving Rob the boot. I hate to say it, but I’m so glad. He was no good for her.” She hooks her arm through mine, and I tamp down a smile because right now we seem like a hell of a lot more than two roomies heading home together.

I flash back to Wyatt’s comments about dates, to Josie’s remarks about not dating, and to the gift certificate I shoved out of my mind all day. “Is there any chance you’d want to take an Enticing Appetizers and Alluring Desserts class with me?”

My voice sounds dry as I ask the question, as if I’ve never asked a girl out before. As I wait, the thumping in my chest has the audacity to reappear. I hope she’ll say yes.

She quirks up one eyebrow. “The sensual cooking class?”

I blink. “That’s what it is? I just thought it was a fun desserts class, and I know you like to try those out.”

She nods. “I’ve heard it’s amazing.”

“Want to go?”

She nods eagerly. “I’d love to.”

Guess that means I have a date with Josie now.

There’s a spring in my step as we reach the building. But I remind myself it’s not a date. She’s just a friend. She’s just a girl I live with.

When the elevator door closes I’m ready to pounce on her. Cage her in my arms. Kiss the hell out of her. But a weather-worn woman with silver streaks in her hair follows us in, her husband behind her.

I raise my chin, recognizing them as fellow residents in this building. “Hey there. How’s your evening?”

She tuts and shakes her head. “It was a good one, until I checked the mailbox.” She holds a stack of envelopes in her hand. “I’ve always detested the mail. Bills, bills, bills.”