Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Josie’s then pulling away and turning to the guy she was just talking to. Her eyes are sparkling with mischief as she says, “Kevin, this is Reed. And he’ll kick your ass if you dare say the Wildcats are better than the Cold Fury.”
I let out a bark of laughter as I to a double take at Josie. That’s totally the beer talking. I turn to Kevin and hold my hand out. “Good to meet you, man. And I’m not going to kick your ass. Just your team’s ass this season.”
Kevin laughs and shakes my hand while someone beside me pulls the beer from my hand. I look to see a woman smile at me and say, “I’ll put this in the ice bucket.”
“Thanks,” I say, and then turn back to Josie. “Just how much have you had to drink?”
“Enough to make a spectacle of myself,” she says with her chin lifted in defiance. I laugh again, and because I can, I lean down to give her a swift kiss. She sighs into my mouth and I want to beat my fists on my chest.
This is made more so when I see Aiden standing a few feet away as I pull back from Josie. He gives me a chin lift and says, “Hey, Reed…good to see you.”
I take a few steps toward him, lean out, and shake his hand. “Good to see you too.”
His grip is firm and his smile is friendly. Perhaps he’s got no hidden agenda with Josie. She seems to think so, as she filled me in on their lunch at the hospital cafeteria on Monday where he said he wanted to be friends.
I’m not overly worried about it, though. It seems Josie is solidly on Team Reed, and that’s exactly where I want to keep her.
—
“Ouch,” Josie mumbles after I release her lower lip with my teeth, but then she crushes her mouth harder to mine. I practically stumble as she drags me backward into her bedroom, fists clutching my T-shirt hard, and I crack my elbow on the doorjamb.
“Fuck,” I curse into her mouth, but then forget all about the pain as one hand lets my shirt go to palm my erection through my shorts. “Oh…yup…that right there, babe.”
Josie giggles against my mouth, causing tiny tickles over my tongue. My hands start jerking her blouse over her head and we stumble a few more feet toward her bed. Her little party is over, the last straggler has left, and now it’s all about getting naked.
I manage to get her shirt free of her head, kiss her hard again, and then push her down onto the mattress. I pounce on top of her and she laughs as my hands go to her ribs for a light tickle fest.
“Stop it,” she gasps as she bats at my hands.
“Gladly,” I tell her, bringing one hand to her bra-covered breast and the other between her legs. Josie wore a loose, flowing cotton skirt today and I can feel the heat of her pussy through her damp panties.
Perfection.
I lean down to kiss her, but something catches my eye. I freeze as I look to her nightstand and see a plush brown teddy bear about twelve inches high sitting there. It’s got a red ribbon with white polka dots around its neck and holds a satin stuffed heart in its furry little bear paws.
“What’s that?” I ask her as I eyeball the bear that stares back at me with beady little eyes.
Josie’s head tilts so she can follow my gaze. “Oh, just a bear Aiden brought to the party. A housewarming gift, I guess.”
My head swivels and I look back down to her. “A housewarming gift?”
“Yeah…I guess.”
I shake my head and sit up as I straddle her hips. I put my hands on my thighs as I look down at her. “A housewarming gift is a plant. Or a bottle of wine. It’s not a teddy bear with a heart in its hands.”
Josie looks to me, back to the bear, and then back to me again. “I collect bears. He knows that. I guess he was just trying to personalize it.”
“Josie…seriously? Do you not see that he’s making a play for you? And when in the hell did you start collecting bears? I don’t see a single fucking bear in this house.”
“Are you mad?” she asks with a little anger tinging her voice. She tries to wiggle out from under me but I just lock my legs to the sides of her hips.
“A former boyfriend comes to your house with a teddy bear with a heart? Um…yeah, little mad. Sure as shit suspicious.”
“For your information, my bears are all in storage boxes,” she says primly. “And what does it matter what his intent was? I took it as just a friendly gift.”