The same could be said for the morning meeting.
While he’d been trying to get everything set up for the day, she’d been sitting there, taking notes, and nibbling on the pastry that he’d been eying since he saw her buy it and was completely oblivious to every asshole in the room looking her way while he’d been forced to sit there, trying to resist the urge to beat the-
“So, how was your first day, Joey?” Julie asked, reaching for a piece of cornbread only to rethink it when Matt leveled a glare on her.
“It was good,” Joey said, briefly looking up to shoot Julie a smile before her attention was right back on that book.
“Did you have any problems?” Julie asked while he took in the way that she sat there, leaning against the chair that his great grandfather made, completely lost in her book even as she reached over and plucked a piece of cornbread off the plate, ignoring Matt’s gasp of outrage, and looked so fucking adorable doing it.
“No, it was fine,” Joey said, breaking off a piece of cornbread and popped it in her mouth.
“Did you meet John?” Julie asked as she reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes only to sigh when Matt reached over with a glare and pulled the bowl away.
“Yeah, he was really nice,” Joey said, making him shake his head in disgust and seriously wonder how she’d survived this long without him.
“He’s married,” Reed pointed out as he stole the mashed potatoes back from the little prick who was back to staring dreamily at Joey.
“Thank you,” Julie said for some reason only to sigh heavily and mumble something about getting something to eat later.
“Which is probably why he showed me pictures of his wife and kids,” Joey said, turning another page.
“I heard Miss Dawson’s students are a nightmare. I’m surprised they didn’t try anything with you,” Julie said as she reached for the plate of pot roast only to sigh when Matt grabbed it and helped himself to a huge piece and then with a glare, he helped himself to two more pieces before shoving the plate back to the middle of the table.
“They did, but I’ve had worse,” Joey mumbled absently as he sat there, wondering about that when Matt said, “That reminds me. I fixed your phone.”
“How does that remind you about her phone?” Julie asked, frowning as she reached for the baked macaroni and cheese only to grumble, “I give up,” when Matt reached past her and grabbed the bowl.
“Because Jackson sounded kind of pissed when I told him that she was staying here,” Matt said, and just like that, he had Joey’s full attention.
---
“This probably isn’t going to end well,” Joey mumbled against her pillow. She followed that up with a forlorn sigh as she shifted to get more comfortable on the small couch only to give up and settle for lying there on her stomach, staring at her phone as it continued to slowly vibrate its way across the coffee table that had probably been in the Bradford family for generations.
Maybe she should just get this over with, she thought only to quickly dismiss the idea since it was in her best interest to put this off for as long as humanly possible. At least, until she had a better explanation for what she was doing here since the truth would only lead to another lecture that she really wasn’t in the mood to listen to right now.
Then again, was she ever really in the mood for one of her brother’s lectures, she couldn’t help but wonder as she rolled over with a sigh and-
“That’s definitely going to leave a mark,” she managed to get out a few seconds later only to follow that up with a groan as she resigned herself to sleeping on the floor.
Deciding that it would probably be in her best interest to stay where she was, she somehow managed to roll over onto her back, reached up and grabbed her blanket and the pillow that she’d been forced to discard earlier. Once she was settled in for the night, she grabbed the book that she’d helped herself to from Reed’s library, sighed, shifted a little to the right and then a little bit to the left until the hallway light streaming into the living room hit her book just right.
With a satisfied sigh, she found where she left off only to groan when her phone started to vibrate again. Determined to ignore it, she focused on her book only to find herself blinking a few seconds later when it was plucked out of her hands and she found herself staring at a pair of men’s well-polished black leather shoes. Really hoping that this wasn’t going to end badly, she looked up, taking in the dark dress pants, the dark blue shirt and black tie that looked familiar until she found herself looking up at the man that really didn’t look all that happy to see her.
Not that she could blame him.
Well, she could, but since she had absolutely no idea what she did to piss him off today, she settled for clearing her throat and going for a smile that she really hoped would appease the large man glaring down at her.
It didn’t.
Appease him that is, but it did manage to make that little muscle in his jaw clench. Deciding that it was time to look into other sleeping opportunities, she cleared her throat, shifted to get up only to sigh when the large bastard somehow managed to sit down on the couch above her without stepping on her and put his feet up on the coffee table.
“So, tell me something, Joey,” Reed drawled while she laid there, grumbling to herself as she turned over and began crawling out from beneath his legs.
“Yes?” she said, sighing heavily as she resigned herself to sleeping on her bedroom floor with that disturbing sleeping bag after all.
“Is there a reason why you’re not answering your phone?” he asked as the item in question continued to vibrate its way across the coffee table.
Nodding, she said, “Because my religion forbids me to.”
“I see,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful, “and what religion would that be?”
“The one that allows me to live,” she said only to sigh when her ass proved problematic.
“So, the fact that your brother just called me to chew me out was…”
“Unfortunate?” she said with a hopeful smile that he had no chance of seeing since she was still busy trying to wiggle her ass free.
“So is this,” Reed said, drawing her attention to find him reaching for-
“Oh, crap,” Joey mumbled helplessly, watching as he picked up her phone and gave her no other choice but to do the unthinkable.
Chapter 20
“What the hell just happened?” Reed asked as he sat there, trying to make sense of what just transpired while the woman that had crawled onto his lap and robbed him of the ability to think checked her email.
“What do you mean?” the woman who he would swear on his life had been close to tears only seconds before asked distractedly as she continued checking her email on her phone while he sat there wondering if he’d imagined the whole thing.
One minute, he was answering her phone and the next Joey was on his lap, phone in her hand, bottom lip trembling along with a well-placed sniffle here and there that had his best friend, an ex-marine and a man known for having zero tolerance for any bullshit, backtracking, apologizing and begging her not to cry.
And Joey…
Was completely fucking oblivious to the fact that she was straddling his lap in nothing more than a pair of black panties and an oversized tee shirt. She was also shifting to get comfortable and humming absently as he sat there, desperately trying to remember that this was his best friend’s sister. When she shifted a little too close to the part of him that didn’t care, he grabbed hold of her hips and held her still.
“The sniffles, lip trembling, and sad little mumbles that made up the bullshit that you just pulled,” Reed managed to get out instead of the groan of pleasure that was threatening to break free as his hands encountered smooth skin and the generous curve of her bottom that was starting to become his favorite thing about her.