Page 51 of Protecting Josie
Happy she’d gotten her way, that he was letting her help, Josie turned on the water in the sink and got to work rinsing everything off before putting plates and utensils in the dishwasher.
Working together, they got the kitchen cleaned up in no time. Nate led her back to the couch and sat, pulling her down next to him. He settled her under a blanket, against his side, before turning on the TV with the remote.
“Anything you want to watch?”
Josie shook her head. She’d never been much of a TVwatcher, and she had no idea what was even popular after so much time away.
Her eyes felt heavy as the eventful morning caught up to her. The hot shower, his hands in her hair, the full belly. She was suddenly exhausted.
“Sleep, Spirit. I’ve got you.”
That was all it took. She relaxed completely, secure that the man she was using as a pillow would keep her safe.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Blink was having a hard time remembering that he and Josie hadn’t known each other all that long. She fit into his life like she’d always been there. He was completely comfortable around her, which wasn’t something he could say about many people. She was easy to live with, easy to please, and he found himself wanting to be around her every second of every day.
The other night, when she’d fallen asleep against him on the couch just the way she had earlier that same morning, he couldn’t stop thinking about endingeveryday that way for the rest of his life.
The next day had been another lazy one for them both, though he’d done laundry and reorganized and repacked his go-bag. Then they’d worked together to make a feast for dinner.
He had to stay alittlebusy, otherwise he couldn’t stop looking at Josie. With her hair now sleek and shiny, she looked completely different from the woman he’d first seen inthat cell, feral and terrified, huddling in the corner. She was blossoming, and he was becoming very attached to her already.
He could read her emotions without her needing to say a word. Like the relief she’d felt after emailing her landlord in Vegas and finding out that, while he’d rented her apartment to someone else, he hadn’t thrown out her belongings. Since she’d always been a good tenant, and he liked her, he’d packed up her belongings and placed them in an empty apartment he used for storage.
She hadn’t been nearly as happy after receiving an email back from Ayden’s mother. Apparently, Millie Hitson wasn’t thrilled to hear that Josie was safe and sound in California. Josie hadn’t let Blink read the email, but he knew without her having to share anything that whatever the woman had to say, it cut deep. He was determined to read it eventually, so he could counter whatever the woman said.
An idea had also been brewing in his head for a couple days, and whatever Ayden’s mother had said put Josie in such a funk, he’d started the wheels in motion while working out with his team that morning. His friends thought it was a great idea and had volunteered to do whatever was necessary to help make it happen.
But for now, he was rushing to get home. That afternoon, Kevlar had dropped Remi at Blink’s apartment during his lunch break, to keep Josie company while they were at work. He’d worried about how Josie was doing alone. Of course, now he was worried about how she and Remi were getting along.
Blink had a soft spot in his heart for Remi. The two ofthem had been through a horrible experience together, and it had bonded them in an unbreakable way. But as outgoing as she’d become, she could still be a little introverted around people she didn’t know well. And Josie was hardly a chatterbox. So without Remi having a way home, Blink worried that things could have gotten awkward for the women, since he and Kevlar had been held up at work longer than he’d expected.
Kevlar pulled in behind him when he reached the parking lot of his complex, and they both walked quickly to his door.
The scent that hit him when he stepped inside the apartment made Blink’s mouth water. Italian. He had no idea what the women had made, but it smelled absolutely delicious.
Walking inside with Kevlar on his heels, Blink saw Josie and Remi sitting on opposite sides of his kitchen table. Josie had his laptop open, and she was typing furiously with a pair of headphones over her ears, while Remi had a sketchbook in front of her, with herownset of headphones on.
It looked as if the women were in their own worlds, which concerned him.
Josie saw them first. Her fingers paused on the keyboard, and she smiled as she reached up to take off her headphones.
Kevlar went up behind Remi and touched her shoulders, leaning in to kiss her temple. She jumped a little but immediately smiled up at him.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed a little too loudly, since she was still wearing the headphones.
Kevlar chuckled and removed them. “We’re back,” he agreed.
“Josie and I had thebestday!” Remi exclaimed. “We talked—okay, I talked mostly, she listened—while reorganizing the pantry, watched a couple episodes ofBig Brother, made Crock-Pot lasagna for you guys for dinner, then decided we probably needed to get some work done. Josie heard back from her boss, and he was excited to have her return to work and gave her a new caption job on the spot. So she’s been working on that, and I’ve been drawing my next Pecky cartoon. Pecky gets taco-napped and is about to be eaten when he’s saved by the big bad Enchilanator…you know, like the terminator.” Remi grinned up at the two men.
Blink’s tense muscles relaxed. “Sounds like you had a good day,” he said.
“We had agreatday! Didn’t we, Josie?”
She smiled, nodding enthusiastically.
“Can we do it again?” Remi asked her. “I mean, I know you probably have a lot to do, what with getting your stuff in Vegas, and your job and all, but being around you is socalming. I got so many ideas today, and while I don’t mind being by myself all day, I think I enjoy being around you more. Oh! And maybe next time, Wren can come too? She can work on her PR stuff for her dad’s company, and we can do our thing. Maybe we can even go to her and Safe’s house. I think it’s a little bigger, and Safe has that huge TV?—”
