If just kissing could be this good, Seth could only imagine everything else. “Why don’t you stay here with me?”
“What? And we just spoon all night?” Josie’s shoulder crept up to her ear when he nibbled the tender flesh there.
“That sounds pretty great to me,” Seth said as he took her earlobe between his teeth. She squealed a giggle that had him laughing at how ticklish she was. That was definitely information he would store for later.
“I shouldn’t sleep with you, Seth.”
He knew what she meant, but he couldn’t keep his heart from slingshotting into his throat when those words fell from her lips.
“I mean, I shouldn’t sleep in your bed,” she amended. “With you.”
“Would you rather sleep in my bed without me?” he offered. “Because like I said earlier, I’m totally fine to sleep on the couch.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want that, either.”
“What options are we left with then?” He held on extra tight just in case he’d have to let go forever. “What do you want, Josie?”
He felt her shrug in the circle of his arms. “What do I want? I want to stay here with you. Like this. I’m just not sure if I should.”
“If you’re worried I’m going to try something, you have my word that I won’t.”
“That’s not it at all.” She was silent for a moment. The steady beat of rain filled the space where her words were lacking. “Thank you, Seth.”
“For what?”
“For being one of the good guys.” She snuggled in closer and rested her head on his arm. “Out of all of this, that’s the one thing I’m absolutely certain isn’t fake.”
18
Josie
Josie awoke to a woman’s voice filtering down the hall. Early dawn light sliced through the bedroom window, creating a patch of warmth on the mattress where she rested. She curled up like a cat in its cozy rays and strained an ear to listen, but she didn’t need to. The voice steadily grew in volume and urgency. Josie could make out every word clear as a bell.
“How do you think it looks to have a woman spend the night in your house, Seth?”
“I don’t think it’s anyone’s business but my own what happens inside my house.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Mrs. Ford sneered. Josie could imagine the woman’s hands planted firmly on her round hips. “Your father and I own this ranch. You merely live on it.”
“Is there a reason you came by, Mom? Other than to reprimand me?”
“I came by to see how you held up during the storm and to let you know that Tanner’s out checking on that new calf you helped deliver last night. Said you were supposed to meet him but you never showed up.”
“I overslept.”
“Mmm, hmm.” Judgment was thick as molasses in the woman’s tone. “Seeing that there’s a pair of women’s jeans folded up on your coffee table and a set of boots underneath it, my guess is you didn’t do a whole lot of sleeping last night.”
Josie’s face went hot. She tugged the covers up under her nose and hid even though she had no reason to. They hadn’t done anything to be ashamed of, and they were grown adults, for goodness’ sake.
“Like I said, that’s none of your business.” Seth’s voice was irritated and tired, like he didn’t have the energy to continue with this argument.
“It most certainly is. If you ‘oversleeping’ with this girlfriend of yours makes it so you can’t do your job—impacting my cattle business—I’d say I have every right to come over here and ask a few questions,” Donna said. “Don’t get me wrong. I like the girl well enough, I just don’t think she’s a good fit for you.”
“Oh, really? And why is that?”
“Come on, Seth. Do I really need to spell it out for you?”
“Yeah, actually, I think you do.”
There was a pause that Josie could only imagine was filled with a sort of mother-son stare down.
“Seth, dear. Josie is…She’s not…There’s no easy way of putting this,” Donna said. “You’re just too good for her, son.”
Josie’s throat scratched and tears pricked the backs of her eyes. Not because she was sad, though. No, it would take much more than that to get Josie to shed a tear. It was the anger that swelled within her that burned her eyes to the point of watering.
“That might be your opinion, but that’s all it is,” Seth said, finally. “An opinion.”
“Sometimes opinions also prove to be facts, Seth. It would do you good to realize that.”
Josie could hear a frustrated exhale that bordered on a growl. “Is there anything else? Or can I get on with my morning?”
“Just tell me it’s not serious. That’s all I need to hear from you and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
There was a long, labored pause before Seth said, “I’m not going to tell you that.”
“Oh, come on, Seth. You and I both know you aren’t the marrying sort.”
“Wow. Thanks for that, Mom.”
“You get what I mean. Not that any woman wouldn’t be lucky to marry you. She would. You are an absolute catch. It’s just that you’ve never been all that great at committing to things. Remember little league back when you were ten? How you quit after just three games before you even broke in your new glove?”
Josie’s mind conjured up a young Seth, all decked out in baseball gear. Just the thought was such a sweet, endearing sight. Her heart squeezed.
“You’re equating one failed season of baseball when I was a kid to me being unable to commit in relationships? That’s a far stretch.”
“All I’m saying is that I don’t think you should rush to make any decisions with this Josie girl.”
“Too late.”
Donna made a soft noise to clear her throat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that it’s too late for that.”
Josie sat up fully, her back against the headboard. That same stretch of light she had been sprawled out under now drew her gaze to the nightstand as it caught and reflected sharp beams of light across the walls in tiny, rainbow prisms.
The ring. The one Marcie had chucked at Seth last week when he showed up at the trailer and helped Josie out of the financial mess she found herself stuck in. It rested next to a pile of loose coins and a crumpled receipt, all things Josie imagined crammed into Seth’s pocket.
Josie jammed the diamond onto her fourth finger, wedging it right up to her cast with a forceful twist.
The ring might be fake, but so was everything else. It felt like the perfect fit.
With her feet bare, she padded quickly out of Seth’s bedroom and down the hall. She could glimpse his mother standing in the kitchen, but her hands weren’t on her hips like she’d imagined. Instead, they were folded across her chest in an entirely closed-off nature. Seth’s stance was much the same.
“I’m going to ask you again, Seth. What do you mean it’s too late?”