The beast’s inner dialog was seriously messing with his composure.
“Well, no,” Josie blushed as she gently placed the vase back down onto the ground. “How long were you there?” she asked.
He smiled at her, feeling a deep laugh just on the edge of coming out of him. “Long enough to know that you sing and dance when you’re working.”
Her blush got even deeper. “I can’t have my phone in here, and I get bored with the silence.”
“It was adorable,” he admitted.
Josie licked her lips. “Oh.”
“I texted you, I should have known that you wouldn’t have your phone on you if you were working here. Why didn’t you let me know?”
“I figured you’d be busy. I was going to pop by your office once I was done.”
York closed the distance between them until only a few feet separated them. “Hi,” he said.
“Hey.”
“It’s nice to see you,” he added, sounding like an absolute dork, he knew. But it was nice to see her. It was one thing to trade texts, but it was something else to be in her presence.
How it was possible to be that lovely, York didn’t know. He wanted to grab her by the waist and kiss her until she was breathless.
“Same,” she whispered.
The sweet scent of her desire filled the space around them. Not only was she happy to see him, but she was excited to be around him.
“I’ve been thinking about something since our date,” he took another step toward her.
“Oh?”
“Yes. It’s been quite the distraction.”
“Oh?” she repeated breathlessly.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” he trailed his index finger along the curve of her lower lip.
“Oh…” This time, when she made that sound, it clicked something inside of York.
He wanted to hear all of the other sounds Josie could make when she was locked in passion. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and lowered his mouth to hers. York had meant for the kiss to be sweet. A greeting. Something simple.
But as soon as his lips met hers, his desire for her flared to life. He moved against her mouth, devouring her like he had wanted to do for the last forty-eight hours, since their last kiss. His tongue dipped into her mouth as he deepened the kiss. He explored every inch of her as he lowered his hands to grip her hips. Josie threw her hands around his neck as she crushed herself to him.
She sighed happily into his mouth as he continued his voracious kissing. Her nails dug into his scalp as she toyed with his hair. The touch was soft, but it made him want to feel those fingers everywhere. He gripped her ass and lifted her clear off the floor.
“What are you doing?” She was panting, her lips red and swollen from his amorous embrace.
“Bringing you to a dead zone, where no cameras can spot us.”
Josie’s eyes were burning with the knowledge of it. She lowered her mouth to his as he walked them to the edge of the room, where there was a tiny space that couldn’t be caught by the camera. It was barely two feet wide, but it would be enough. York didn’t want to give the security guys a show.
Josie was his.
His alone.
With her legs wrapped around his waist, it was easy for her to grind her hips against his erection. It was hardly the place to get overly amorous. He needed to stop before they got ahead of themselves.
“I would like to take you out,” he said against her lips. He kissed her again, interrupting her response. He wanted to keep embracing her until all she could do was accept his offer. It was a possessive need he hadn’t felt in a long time. Nearly every corner of his heart was coming back to life with every movement of their lips pressed together.
“York,” she moaned into the kiss. “We can’t plan a date if you keep kissing me like that.”
He arched a brow at her. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t focus on plans if you’re making me crazy with those lips.” She bit down on his lower lip in demonstration. The sensation zinged right to his cock.
“Is that a yes?” he asked, playing with the tips of her hair. It was quite the maneuver. With Josie’s back pressed up against the wall, he was holding her up with only one arm to toy with her hair. But he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to touch every single inch of her body.
“Yes,” she purred. “But I have one condition.” She trailed kisses along his jaw as she pushed his shirt collar aside. She kissed his neck, nibbling the flesh between soft touches. His focus and attention were zeroed in on the spots she was tending to, his cock an aching mess in his pants.
“Anything,” he rasped. She could have asked for the moon just then, and he would have flown right up to it to get it for her. So long as she kept touching him.
“I am picking our activity.”
“Okay,” he agreed.
“You’ll need to wear workout clothes and a decent pair of shoes. You’re not scared of getting a bit dirty, are you?” she spoke the last words right into his ears, the teasing tones making him shiver.
Him? Get dirty?
He had no qualms about it. Especially not if it was with her. He would lay her out on the floor and lick her center to orgasm to prove it if he had to.
“Fine,” he said, gripping her ass tighter. “What are we going to do?”
She shook her head. “Nope. It’s a surprise. Meet me at the brownstone at six tonight.” She placed another kiss on his neck. “Now, get back to work.”
“Josie,” he warned. “What will we be doing?”
She giggled, meeting his eyes. “I’m not going to tell you. If I do, you’ll try to convince me to change activities.”
He frowned. “Good lord, what did I agree to?”
“A little bit of fun.”
His frown pulled down into a pout, or so it felt like. “Fun,” he repeated as if the word was foreign to him. And it sort of was. He hadn’t had fun in so long, he forgot what it was like.
“Come on, you grumpy old man. Trust me, it’s going to be amazing.”
“Grumpy old man?” he coughed, shocked by the words.
She laughed again. “Hell yeah. You hate my shoes because they’re dangerous. You don’t use emojis. You put mustard on your pretzels. And you don’t like relinquishing control. You’re basically an old sourpuss, in a hot man’s body.” One of her hands left his neck and traveled down to cup his erection. She had all of his attention. “I promise you, it’s going to be the best adventure you’ve been on in a very long time.” She kissed him, cutting off his reply.
He didn’t care. It didn’t matter what she had planned, so long as Josie kept touching him.
Chapter Ten
York
York had been proved wrong.
What Josie had planned did matter.
“No,” he growled.
Josie crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at him. “You haven’t even tried yet.” She stuck out her lower lip dramatically. If she meant it to be a stern pout, the effect was rendered useless because Josie was entirely too beautiful to scowl. That didn’t mean he was going to let her get away with this, however.