“Hi, welcome to the Java Shack — how may I help you?”
He grinned again and leaned one arm on the counter; his back was to Josiah. “What do you like?”
“Me?” I wondered out loud, trying to figure out what he was asking exactly — his question seemed more than coffee related.
“I’ve never been in before. I’d know, cuz I’d have remembered you. So yeah, what do you like?” He flashed a grin at me and traced a heart with his ring finger on the counter top.
Charlene meanwhile was sitting across from Josiah, flirting, trying to get his attention. His blues eyes were focused on the man at my counter.
“The Black and White Mocha is good,” I told him.
“Oh yeah?” He chuckled like I was being cute. “You like it?”
“It’s good.”
“I’ll take one.”
“Anything for your girlfriend?” I thought to bring his attention back to Charlene, so at least he could see what she was doing. He glanced back her and his gaze collided with Josiah’s.
I heard his “huh” before he turned back to me. “She’s not my girlfriend. Just someone I know.”
“She seems to know a lot of people. Hot or iced?”
“Hot,” he said, his voice low and predatory. “Definitely hot.”
I ignored him and asked, “Size?”
He grinned wolfishly. “Large.”
“That’ll be $4.50, please.” He gave me a five-dollar-bill and said to keep the change. I rolled my eyes and turned away to make his coffee.
“Hey there. Sage, is it?”
I glanced back at him and caught his gaze as it travelled over my backside, lingering on my butt. Shaking my head in exasperation and rolling my eyes again, I turned away.
“Well, Sage — pretty name, pretty girl — my name’s Rick.”
Josiah stood up and made his way to the counter, stopping a couple feet away from Rick; his eyes were hard and focused directly on the brown-haired man. “Rick… that kinda rhymes with something…”
Tina came out from the back room then, like she’d been watching the action, and said, “
No
trouble.”
Josiah shook his head. I finished with Rick’s coffee and brought it to the counter. “Here you go.”
“Aren’t you going to write my name on it?” Rick asked.
I heard Josiah growl and before I could respond, Tina took the cup from my hands and handed it to Rick. “We’re closing now. Take your coffee if you still want it.”
Rick chuckled darkly as he took the cup from Tina. Charlene stepped up and slipped an arm around him.
“I’m starting to think no one likes me here,” he told her with a mock whisper.
She looked me over and whispered back, “I got that same reaction from Josiah. I’m not taking it personal. Let’s go.”
With one last lingering look at me, Rick sighed theatrically and then they left. I breathed a sigh of relief, especially as I heard Josiah swear under his breath. He was simmering, ready to erupt.
Tina shook her head. “When did she get back in town?”
Josiah ignored the question, reached behind the counter to grab the spray bottle and a rag, and then turned to begin wiping down the chairs and tables. After that he overturned the chairs onto the tables so the floor could be swept. Tina looked from him to me. I shrugged and finished my closing duties. Ten minutes later Tina was locking up and Josiah walked me to my car.
“Are you okay?” I asked him as I unlocked the door. I tossed my purse on the seat and then turned back to him.
Josiah stared at me for a moment in silence, then stepped closer, raised his hands, and trailed his fingers up my neck, along my jaw, then around to weave into the hair at the back of my neck. He lifted my chin and kissed me. Slowly. Gently. It wasn’t the fierce, desperate, angry kiss from before. He made love to me through that kiss. He tasted and touched. Teased and savored. Was provocative and deliberate. I was trembling and out of breath, and felt light-headed. Slowly he ended the kiss, lightly tugging at my lower lip as he pulled back.
“Mmm,” I breathed. I was having a hard time coming up with any sort of coherent thought. I gripped the car to keep from slipping to the ground.
“Unless you want to finish this here, in this parking lot, you’d better get that car started,” he said as he stepped back from me.
I nodded dully and then slid onto the seat. I put the key in the ignition and turned it. Nothing. No click. No nothing. Confused I looked up at Josiah.
“Pop the hood, will you?” he said. I did. “You been having any problems with it?” he asked.
“No, none.”
Josiah tried several things, but nothing seemed to work. He came back to me and said, “I need my tools. I’ll give you a ride home and then bring you back for your shift tomorrow. While you’re at work I’ll find out what’s wrong with it.”
“Okay,” I nodded. I grabbed my purse and the bag from the trunk then locked up and walked with Josiah to his car.
We drove home in silence. Josiah turned to me as he pulled into the driveway. “Should I drop you at the house?”
Looking at him I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say. That I was scared that he wanted to break up with me. That I didn’t know how I would survive if that happened. That I desperately loved him. That I hated the distance between us. That I didn’t want to go home tonight and needed to stay with him. He must have read me pretty accurately. “Or, I could just drive on to the loft…”
I nodded and he took my hand as he pulled around to the barn.
Malicious Intent
Crimson Sage
JOSIAH LED ME UP
to his loft then asked if I needed a shower or anything. I did — I smelled like coffee. Which is a wonderful smell, but not as perfume. After my shower I slipped into my sleep clothes that I stored there, and then Josiah and I fell asleep on the couch together. Not his bed, the couch. He wrapped us up in a blanket, then tucked my head under his chin and held me. He’d taken my hand and kissed it, grazing each knuckle, then turning my hand over, he kissed my palm, lightly nipping the skin there. He pulled a finger into his mouth and teased it with his tongue and teeth; then he pulled my face up to his.
His mouth, Josiah’s mouth, was this magical place where the world just fell away and it was just him and just me. Just his touch. Just his scent. Just the sound of our hearts beating. Our pulses throbbing. Everything he did was slow. Measured. Intentional. He refused to be rushed, no matter how hard I tried to deepen and further things with him — all the while knowing I was safe with him. He must have known his own limits and that was why he held to a tight, strict line that he refused to cross.
When he felt me tremble he pulled back and held me, held my arms and hands down so I could no longer reach him and pull him back to me. I wanted his mouth on mine, on me. I wanted
him
. And he held back. Logically, in the back of my mind and in my heart I knew he did it for me, because of what I’d shared with him. But right now, in this hazy heat that he’d created — I was like a live wire. Burning and frustrated. So he held me tight, and it wasn’t until I relaxed and had fallen asleep that he released me.
Josiah drove me to work the following afternoon — I clocked in by two. I had another three-hour shift; it was my last of the week. The Java Shack was busy with the afterschool rush, so that kept my mind off last night.
The two high school girls, seniors I was certain, that had just ordered their iced peach green teas, went to stand at the window looking out into the parking lot. They were staring at Josiah. I couldn’t blame them — he was hot — no doubt about it. I watched him for a moment too, just appreciating what I saw. He was standing at the front of my car, bent under the lifted hood. His butt was facing in this general direction. Yes, it was. He reached around behind himself and grabbed a rag from his pocket to wipe his hands. After making sure they were clean he lowered the hood, then turned and made his way to me. I swallowed as I watched him move, enjoying the spectacle.
One of the high school girls, the one with the bright purple tips in her light blonde hair, fluffed her shoulder-length mass and waited for him as he came inside. Josiah’s eyes sought mine and stayed there, a small, playful grin on his lips.
Just as he passed the girls, the eager one said, “Hi, Josiah” in a breathy, hopeful voice.
He nodded at her and kept on walking, never taking his eyes off mine. When he reached the counter he leaned over it, took me gently by the back of the neck and pulled me close for a light, lingering kiss. He smelled of man and confidence, and deliciousness. I heard one of the girls say, “Swoon.” I had to agree with them.
“Your car is fixed,” he told me as he pulled back and grinned.
I blushed and grinned back at him. “Thanks. What do I owe you?”
“Mmm, I’ll think of something.”
“I’m sure you will. Do you want a coffee or anything?”
“Nah, I’m good.” He checked the clock on the wall and then said, “Well, I gotta run. See you in an hour?”
“Okay. Thanks again.”
“You wanna swim later?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“How about I grab your suit and meet you at the pool?”
“Okay. Here, take my key. My coral suit is hanging up in my shower. Thanks.”
“I’ll see you there,” he said as he kissed me again.
The rest of my shift went smoothly and soon I was clocking out. I decided to run into Saveway and pick up a couple things I needed before I headed to the pool to meet Josiah. When I came back out to my car, Charlene was waiting for me, leaning against the side. I felt my heart trip in my chest.
“Hi,” she said as I approached her.
“Hi.” I wasn’t sure just what she wanted, especially after last night. I stopped a couple feet from her and waited.
After a couple moments of silence, in which she just looked at me in a curious manner, I finally asked, “What’s up? I need to get going. I’m meeting someone.”
“Meeting Josiah?”
“What if I am?”
“I just thought I should warn you about him. You seem like a nice girl. I’d hate for you to get messed up with his kind of garbage.” Sincerity dripped from her voice.
“What are you talking about? And why would you even care? You seemed pretty interested in getting messed up with him last night.”
“I understand Josiah. He understands me. I’m not in danger of thinking he might love me. With us, we know it’s just sex. Good, hot,
hard
sex.” She grinned at me. “
You
look like you’re in danger of falling in love with him.”
“You need to leave. Now.” I was feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of Josiah having sex with her. My gut clenched painfully and my breath was shallow.
“Are you screwing him then?”
“That is none of your business. Now move.” I walked to the car door and put my key in the lock; as I turned it and gripped the handle to pull it open, Charlene stepped up beside me, leaning against the door, preventing me from opening it.
“You think he
loves
you? Oh please. He’s playing you. Josiah doesn’t do girlfriends. He does sex. The hard and heavy make-you-scream kind. The kind a good girl like you would faint over. Don’t believe me? Here, take a look. Here’s your proof.” She shoved her cell phone in my face and seemingly of their own violation, certainly against my will and intention, my eyes focused on the image on the screen.
I wanted to throw up and had to swallow back bile. Tears pricked my eyes, and I turned away from her, but the damage was done. She was right. It was proof. They were both naked and having sex in the backseat of a car. The image was so raw, so wild, so gut-wrenching and heart-breaking. Pain and jealousy flashed through me. I couldn’t get the image of her nails as they clawed his back and the dragon tattoo out of my mind. Or the animalistic look on his face. What was worse was the look of pure ecstasy on Charlene’s.
Shoving her hard to the side, I quickly opened the door to my car and got in. I locked it instantly and tried to still the shaking, tried to control my stomach. Charlene stood next to the door, looking at me through the glass and said, “Just walk away, Sage. He’s no good for you. Turn him loose and walk away.”
I started my car and drove off, not sure which direction I was even going. Eventually I pulled over and stopped. A small voice inside my head told me I needed to give him the chance to explain, to tell me what I’d seen wasn’t what it had looked like. I argued that the image could have been from years ago. It was hard to tell. They looked the same. I couldn’t see any differences. I’m not sure how long I sat there on the side of the road, but eventually I became aware of where I was. I’d pulled off on a side street across from the library. My phone rang then. It was Josiah. I looked at the clock and noted that I’d been off work for forty-five minutes already.
I knew I needed to talk to him, to see his face, see the answer. So I texted him and said, “Running late, be right there.” Then I restarted the car and headed to the pool.
Josiah was waiting for me, leaning against his car. Even in the stillness I could see that animal way about him. I could imagine the way he’d move… And I had to stop thinking about it before I threw up. After I parked, a row behind him, I sat and watched him for a moment, trying to get myself under control. Josiah’s grin slipped off his face at the look he now saw on mine. In his hands he held my coral swimsuit; he set it on his hood and made his way to me.