“You think so, huh?”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Well, I wasn’t talking about those genes, but thanks.”
He was standing so close to her. She wasn’t even sure if he knew how close he was standing.
He reached up and brushed his thumb along her jawline. “I think you are ridiculously hot, too.”
She felt herself holding her breath as his face lowered down. She had a feeling that if she didn’t do anything, he would press his lips to her forehead and give her a hug. As much as she loved forehead kisses, she wanted more.
So she took it.
She lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. At first, he didn’t move. Neither of them did. She hadn’t kissed anyone in a long time, so she was out of practice, but she was pretty sure that there was supposed to be some movement.
All she could hear in her head was the whooshing sound of her heartbeat and a high ringing noise. She felt lightheaded and dizzy. Was she going to pass out?
The next thing she knew one of Josh’s hands wrapped around her neck, he tilted it back and his tongue swept inside her mouth. That’s when she exhaled and realized that she’d been holding her breath that entire time.
Once she was receiving oxygen again, she allowed herself to melt into the kiss that Josh had thankfully taken over. His lips brushed against hers, and his tongue licked along her upper and lower lip. Then it would sweep into her mouth before he would back off again. He alternated sucking her top and bottom lip between his and he even lightly bit her as he did.
The kiss swept her away to another dimension. She felt like she was floating. Like the world around her was all fake and this was her only reality.
She heard a soft whimper and thought that it was coming from her. But when he broke the kiss, she realized it wasn’t her that was making the noise. It was Braydon who was apparently awake.
Josh rested his forehead against hers as they both tried to catch their breath. After a few seconds he gritted out, “I have to go get him.”
She nodded and he pressed one more kiss to her lips before turning and heading down the hall. As she watched him go her fingers lifted to her mouth. Her lips were tingling and it felt like every cell in her body was alive with sensation.
If he could make her feel that much from a kiss… what else could he do?
16
Audrey turned off the lights of Brewed Awakenings and sighed with contentment as she locked up the back door. She was proud of her business, and she knew that her late mom would be, too.
Cora Wells was a vibrant, full of life, force to be reckoned with. She’d done everything she could to instill in Audrey and her sisters that life was for living and each day was a gift. Before she got sick, no matter how bad things were, and as a single mom of four daughters whose husband left when the girls were five, four, three, and two, making her a single parent, things were not always good. But Audrey remembered her mom always said, “If you’re breathing, have a roof over your head, and food in your belly, you had it better than a lot of people and should be grateful.”
Once she got sick, her mom didn’t lose her positive outlook. Instead of giving up, she focused on preparing the girls for a future without her. She did everything she could to instill in them that there was no use feeling sorry for yourself under any circumstance. “Life doesn’t owe anyone anything, it’s up to you to make your life what you want.” She wanted her daughters to be fearless. To go after what they wanted. Not to take the future for granted.
Professionally, that’s exactly what Audrey had done. She’d wanted to move to Hope Falls after graduation, and she had. She wanted to own her own business, and with the help of her sisters she’d opened a coffee shop without having any experience in food service or running a business. She’d gone after the life she wanted.
Personally, however, was a totally different story. She’d let eight years go by without telling Josh how she felt about him or what she wanted, and she knew that her mother would be so disappointed in her. She could join the club because Audrey was disappointed in herself.
But just like Carly’s poem said she’d taken steps in the past week. She’d told Josh that she wanted him to be her first. She’d kissed him. Twice. Once had just been on the cheek, but the other had been smack dab on the mouth.
Sure, things hadn’t exactly played out how she’d wanted them to. When Braydon woke up the mood was sort of shattered. She’d stayed and made a bottle for him, but then she’d gone home. She’d gone back the next day to help with the kiddos after she got off work, but she’d left when Josh had put them to bed.
Partly because he looked as exhausted as she felt, and partly because she’d been too chicken to be alone with him. She knew the next time they were alone together, she needed to lay all of her cards on the table. And that’s exactly what she planned on doing…tomorrow.
She’d do it tonight, but she had to go see a man about a cabin. That wasn’t a euphemism. Viv had asked her to go meet with the owner of a new spa retreat called Moonlight River Lodge. They wanted to offer several packages as part of a raffle during singles week and Viv had asked Audrey to go. Tonight, her sister had a very legitimate reason for not being able to go meet him herself. Viv was speaking in front of the city council to ask for more funds for singles week. She’d made a power point presentation and everything.
Audrey had gladly agreed to do the errand for her sister when she asked. Moonlight River was about an hour north of Hope Falls and Audrey was actually looking forward to getting out of town for the evening and clearing her head. She planned on listening to some podcasts on the drive and not thinking about Josh or the fact that they’d shared a kiss that would forever be branded on her soul.
Or at least that was the plan, whether or not she’d be able to keep her thoughts from drifting back to the hottest kiss she’d ever had in her life was anyone’s guess.
When she walked out to the back parking lot, she intentionally did not look to her left. If she did, she’d be able to see if the bay door on the auto shop was open and if Josh was working. She knew that Claire had picked up the kids that morning, because Nonna had told Viv who told her. And she knew that Josh came in to work today because Tessa Maguire, who was married to the fire chief Jake Maguire, had stopped by and waited while he changed her oil.
Audrey kept her face intentionally staring straight ahead as she walked to her car. It was a small rebellion, but she just wanted one Josh-free night. She didn’t want to catch a glimpse of his muscular arms as he bent over a car under the hood. She didn’t want to gaze at his muscular frame beneath the thin cotton shirts he wore whether it was ten degrees or a hundred and ten degrees. She didn’t want her eyes to linger on his perfectly rounded backside showcased in jeans that were worn in all the right places.
An overwhelming sense of undeserved pride flooded through her when she made it all the way to her car and got inside without sparing even a single glance in his direction. It wasn’t something she should feel good about, but she had to admit, she did.
She was riding on that cloud of self-satisfaction when she put the car in reverse and started to back out. That’s when her cloud evaporated. She felt and heard a loud clunking. She turned off the engine and got out to see that her passenger side back tire was completely flat.