When she was beside him, he reached for her hand shocking her yet again this evening. Her first instinct had been to pull out of it, but he would not let go. She quickly turned and saw the curtains to the living room were swaying, but neither one of her brothers were visible now. They had probably seen Joseph grab her hand and we’re now rolling on the floor in laughter. It was going to be a long evening. Of explaining. And she had no clue what to say to her brothers about what was going on between her and Joseph. When she’d left his suite this morning, she’d thought that was it. She’d known the man’s reputation going into this. She had no further expectations. It had been one night.
Yes, she would have a lot of explaining to do later. But first she needed to find out exactly why Joseph had shown up at her house. And how he even knew where she lived.
He was at his vehicle and turned towards her. Before she could get even one of her questions out, he began to explain. “I’m really sorry for the surprise visit. I just couldn’t get you out of my head. I looked up your employee file, and saw where you lived.”
“Then you would have seen my phone number,” she replied quickly searching his face for an answer to her other question. He not being able to get her out of his head didn’t quite cut it for her.
“And I wanted to see you. About last night . . .,” he started.
This time she interrupted him. “I know. I’ve heard about your reputation. It meant nothing. It was one night. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine with that.” She pulled her hand out of his then figuring she’d beaten him to the punch. He was probably worried that she might have expected more. The sooner she put his mind at ease, the sooner she could go back inside and figure out a way to explain her new friend situation to her brothers.
The words surprisingly cut Joseph. And that shocked him a bit. It had meant something and that’s how he started. “If it meant nothing, I wouldn’t be here.” He didn’t know where those words came from. But being here tonight, he knew he wanted to get to know her a better. He didn’t want whatever was between them to be over. Not yet. She was a strong woman, and family was important to her. He liked that about her. He’d learned a lot about her tonight, and he wanted to learn more. He rushed forward before she could think too deeply or try to deny there was something between them. “Last night was great. It was what we both wanted at the time. But now, I want to take you out. On a date. A real one. You have to admit we have good chemistry, and there is something else there too. I’ve not wanted to get to know someone better in a very long time.” Her eyes were round. He had clearly surprised her. But he didn’t want to push too hard. It had to be her choice. “So, how about it? And as much as I enjoyed your brothers company and swapping old high school stories, I’d like to learn more about you.”
Jewel was completely blown away by Joseph’s little speech. He wanted to know more about her. There really wasn’t much to tell. Should she risk it? She had to admit, she’d felt something from the moment she’d met him. And she’d thought about him a lot since then. But she hadn’t thought he would want to pursue more than something casual. But here he was! He wouldn’t be saying these things unless he meant it. Taking a deep breath, she decided to throw caution to the wind. Why the hell not? She gave him a brief, quick nod, still unable to form words.
Seeing that slight insecure nod was all he needed. He took a step forward into her personal space, and she was forced to take a step back. Her body was now trapped between his car and him. He bent slightly down and inhaled her fresh natural scent, noticing she smelled like spring, daffodils, and roses.
He felt her trembling, and lifted his hands to stroke her arms. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
She glanced up at him then quickly looked towards the house. She heard the rumble deep in his chest. Then, he whispered seductively, “No, one is looking. You can kiss me if you want to, Jewels. I won’t mind in the least.” He wanted to know if the spark was still there. He knew it would be, but still he wanted her to kiss him.
God, she was tempted. He was so very attractive. She knew her brothers would bombard her with questions the moment she went back inside. She gazed at his chest. He was so tempting. Delicious. The body hidden underneath those clothes had her fantasizing about him all day, too.
When he saw her bite her bottom lip, he growled low. Her eyes widened. “You have beautiful lips, Jewels.”
She gave voice to her insecurities. Bringing a man into her life was bringing someone into her brother’s lives too. “Joseph, what are you really doing here? With me?” she inquired.
He saw the doubt in her eyes. He wanted to be honest. “Jewel, I want to be honest with you. I don’t know. I don’t date woman. But, I do want to take you out on a date very much. I don’t normally see a woman more than once, but I want to see you more than once. I don’t normally think about a woman after I have sex with her, but I can’t get you out of my head. So,” his voice trailed off, and his lips touched her forehead softly. “So, how about we take this one day at a time and just see where it goes?” Damn it all to hell, he couldn’t believe he was saying these words, but when he was with her, this stuff just came tumbling out of his mouth and he realized he meant every word of it.