Blowing out a breath as she settled into Josh’s limo and headed for her home—where they usually ended these things because of Erin, who was usually being cared for by one of Josh’s guards, a guy called Drake who had kids of his own and was awesome with Erin—she half-turned so she could look at him.
The privacy screen was up and she really felt there was something going on here that was creating an undercurrent.
She wasn’t used to that.
Josh, for all his flaws, was surprisingly honest with her. In fact, he was brutally honest with her. The shit he came out with sometimes could be like verbal daggers, but that brutal honesty was something she’d prefer over BS and lies.
Like when he’d told her about Jasmine. He rarel
y sugar-coated anything. And Samantha preferred that. It made it easy to know where she stood with him.
And yet, her teasing from before, a joke about his getting rid of her that she hadn’t even meant, had caused this… well, she wasn’t sure what.
“What’s going on, Josh?”
He sighed as he settled into his seat. The leather creaked and his cashmere coat slipped silkily against it with a gentle whisper. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Liar,” she said softly.
“No, nothing’s going on. I’m just thinking that’s all.”
“You know what thoughts do, don’t you?”
“Cause trouble?” He grunted. “Look, I’m trying to figure out a way to say something to you without you freaking out. That’s all.”
“Is it something bad?”
He shrugged. “No. A lot of women would love to hear it.”
She squinted. “You do realize no woman likes to hear that, right?”
When he rolled his eyes, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, what can I say? I’m just a crowd-pleaser tonight.”
She knew Josh hadn’t meant to, but his teasing actually put her at ease. “Okay. Just shoot me with it. I’d prefer that to you being all tense tonight. I have plans for you, and they don’t involve parts of you being tense. Well, only one part of you needs to be stiff.”
Her joking had him snickering, and she beamed a grin at him. He liked her stupid attempts at jokes, often chuckling at them, and she loved that. Jamie had always told her she was an imbecile, that she was pathetic. Josh never did that. If anything, he’d looked at her like she was the funniest damn woman on the planet!
It was heady stuff.
“Oh, you have plans for me, huh?”
“I do. Several plans.”
“Greedy wench. What have I done? I’ve created a monster!”
She laughed. “You’re so glad that you did. Don’t even lie.”
“A woman who’s greedy for my body? Several times a day? Yes, you’re right. I’m so not glad about this situation.”
It was her turn to snicker, and then she prodded him. Again—she liked it doing that. He always let her. Would never grab a hold of her wrist with a clasp that was so tight he’d leave bruises. Would never find a way to put her in a chokehold or that would use her strength against her. Those tiny prods… she’d knew he’d never realize how much trust they took. How much faith she had in him to do that.
“Come on then. Out with it. Tell me what’s going on. Is it business?”
Sometimes he went distant and she knew it was because of work. Samantha wasn’t entirely sure how he spent so much time with her, but was glad he managed to do so. If it meant that, sometimes, his focus was a little off, she didn’t mind. Was just grateful he was making time for her and Erin, because a man like Josh had to do exactly that. Make time.
He rubbed his chin. “You know, I don’t even know where it came from. It just appeared out of nowhere, and it’s kind of left me reeling. But then, I figure that’s about right, because you left me reeling.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”