“Oh, that,” Joey said absently with a little frown that had her eyebrows scrunching up adorably as she continued to read.
“Yes, that,” he murmured, wondering if he’d ever touched anything so soft before.
Shaking her head, she gave a little sigh and a shrug, “I’m not proud of it, but sometimes he doesn’t really leave me much of a choice.”
“Like when he’s threatening to beat the shit out of your boss and wring your neck for not calling him?” Reed said, running his gaze over those small beautiful tan thighs holding him just right.
“Exactly like that. At least this will buy me a few days before I have to figure out what I’m going to tell him,” Joey said, nodding in agreement as he looked up to find her lips twitching as she swiped to the left, absently caressing her skin with his thumbs, wondering how she’d managed to wrap Jackson around her little finger and terrified that he wouldn’t mind if she did the same thing to him.
“He’s worried about you,” he said, still wondering how Jackson had managed those first few years after their grandparents passed away without losing his fucking mind.
It had been a close call a few times there, but somehow Reed had managed to talk him out of going AWOL and doing something that would get his ass thrown in jail. The only thing that kept Jackson sane was the fact that they’d all kept tabs on her and on more than one occasion Reed had jumped in his truck and drove down there to make sure that she was okay.
“I’m fine,” Joey said with a cute little frown as she shifted to get more comfortable.
“Yeah, I can’t imagine why he worries,” Reed said dryly, unable to help but smile as she nodded in agreement.
“I have no idea,” she said, with a pitying shake of her head as she continued to-
“You’re reading a book, aren’t you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on her.
“For the past ten minutes,” she said, nodding solemnly only to shut her phone off with a sigh, “I haven’t thanked you yet, have I?”
“For what?” he asked, reluctantly letting her go and telling himself that it was for the best.
“For not killing me and burying my body out back in an unmarked grave for starters,” Joey said as she continued sitting there, completely oblivious to just how badly he wanted to put his hands back on her and pull her closer.
“That did take a lot of restraint,” he murmured, noting the way her lips twitched as she absently shifted on his lap, bringing her a breath closer and forcing him to clench his hands into fists before he did something stupid.
“I know,” she said, nodding. “But you also gave me a place to stay, a job, and let’s not forget the offer to sleep in your room until my mattress is delivered.”
“That was really generous of me,” he murmured.
“It really was,” Joey murmured in agreement as she shifted, frowned, shifted again, moved to climb off his lap only to wince, clear her throat awkwardly and settled back on his lap with a small sigh as she began toying with his tie.
“Your legs are asleep, aren’t they?”
Nodding, she said, “Since the moment I sat down.”
“I see,” he murmured thoughtfully as he glanced down at her legs and-
“You wouldn’t?” she said, not really sounding all that sure as he sat there, unable to help but smile as he realized that he might just get his revenge after all.
“You remember that promise that I made you?” he drawled.
“Maybe we could talk about this?” she said, sounding hopeful as he slowly looked up to meet her beautiful blue eyes, not even bothering to bite back a smile as he reached down and-
“Oh, my god! You bastard!” she shrieked as he gently ran his fingertips over her legs.
“What’s wrong, Joey?” he asked, chuckling as he lightly ran his fingertips over her thighs, eliciting a startled gasp as the small woman that had made his life a living hell struggled to get off his lap, but unfortunately for her, her legs were still asleep and refused to cooperate.
“Stop! You’ll wake Matt up!” she somehow managed to choke out as he continued his tickling assault.
“He went out an hour ago. Looks like you’re on your own, Joey,” he said, breaking the news to her with a sad, pitying shake of his head as she tried to slap his hands away only to end up making things worse.
“Oh, my god! Stop, you evil bastard!” she gasped, laughing while he continued running his fingertips over her legs as she was forced to grab hold of his shoulders only to give up her hold with a shriek of laughter and wrap her arms around him. She held on as he moved his tickling assault to her feet, paying particular attention to those cute little toes that he liked so much.
“Reed!” she yelled, gasping on a shriek of laughter as she tightened her hold on him and wiggled and squirmed to get away.
Chuckling, he ran his fingertips back up her legs only to feel his smile slowly disappear when he realized where all that wiggling and squirming had landed her. For a moment, he sat there watching her lips part on a shaky breath as her body trembled against his. Swallowing hard, he glanced up to find her beautiful blue eyes only inches away from his, watching him.
“It’s late,” she whispered softly but made no move to leave.
“Yes, it is,” he murmured.
Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he continued running his fingertips over her thighs as he watched her lick her lips. When he reached her hips, he smoothed his hands down against her skin and slowly slid his hands around her until he was cupping her bottom and giving it a squeeze that had her releasing a shaky moan and tightening her hold around him. Unable to help himself, he gave her generous ass another squeeze before letting go so that he could run his hands over her legs before he brought his hands back to her hips and over her ass with a groan that was matched by a soft moan as she shifted on his lap and—
Murmured, “Goodnight,” as she hastily climbed off his lap, stumbled, and promptly fell on her ass with a “That’s definitely going to leave a mark.”
Chapter 21
“What the hell just happened?” the man currently sitting on the couch next to her asked, again, but since she didn’t really think that he was looking for an answer and her ass hurt, she decided that it would probably be for the best if she didn’t say anything.
That, and she didn’t actually have an answer.
What she did have was a bruised ass, several limbs that were on the verge of falling asleep again, and another reason to avoid making eye contact with the man that she was definitely going to have to avoid in the future. Then again, something, mostly the fact that he kept glancing at her, muttering, “Damn it,” and shaking his head told her that wasn’t going to be a problem.
It also told her that perhaps she should call it a night, find that lumpy sleeping bag that Matt had generously offered to let her borrow, and drag it into her room so that—
Well, she didn’t know what she would do once she made it to her room, but for now, this plan seemed like her best bet so she was willing to go with it. Decision made, she shifted, moved to sit up and before she could mutter her first, “Owie,” she found herself in Reed’s arms and being carried toward the stairs.
“You’re a pain in the ass,” he bit out and since she really couldn’t argue that one, she didn’t.
“Ten years, Joey. Ten fucking years,” he said, sounding angrier with every passing syllable, letting her know that perhaps this was one of those times when she should probably keep her mouth shut.