She doesn’t look convinced so I tack on, “Five minutes. I promise.”
“Fine. Come on in.” She steps back so I can enter the foyer and then walks up the stairs. I stand uncomfortably in the open listening to the soft murmur of voices above me. Probably Isabelle trying to convince Jo to come down. A few minutes later, Josie appears at the head of the stairs.
“What do you want, Zack?”
Again with the loaded questions.
“Five minutes of your time to apologize.”
“Apology accepted. Consider your conscience clear.”
“Josie, please.”
She sighs and then walks down the stairs, clutching her robe around her neck. Up close she looks tired and her eyes are slightly red which really makes me feel like a dick.
“Okay, I’m here. You really don’t have to say anything else. I know you’re sorry.”
“But you don’t know what I’m sorry for. I’m sorry about ruining your thing with the models. This is your profession and I should have respected that.”
She shrugs. “Maybe hiring someone isn’t the right way to go. Last time I used volunteers and I was really happy with the results.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have just barged in. You’re a grown woman and I know your art is important to you. I’m going to try harder to respect that. I’m also really sorry for what I said about you trying to break up Gabe and Sasha. That was a horrible thing to say.”
Her eyes fill suddenly and that almost breaks me. Seeing her in tears and knowing that I’m the cause is one of the lowest points of my life.
“Thank you, Zack. That means a lot. Because that really hurt me.”
I pull her into a hug. She resists it at first and then her arms wrap around my waist. With her shuddering sigh all the tension seems to melt from her body.
“I’m truly sorry, Jo.”
After a few minutes she pulls back. Her smile is slightly embarrassed. “Any chance we can just forget all of this ever happened?”
“Not a chance.”
Her eyes jump to mine. Then it’s back, the same crackling tension in the air that was there right before she kissed me for the first time. Her robe falls open as I pull her into my arms. She’s only wearing boxers and a thin T-shirt. No bra. I can feel her nipples against my chest.
“I’m not sorry for leaving when I did. I still think that we would have regretted it if I’d done what I really wanted to do.”
“What did you want to do?” Her arms curl around my neck and she doesn’t pull away when I open my legs so she can settle between them.
“I wanted to rip that shirt off you and see if your nipples look the way I’ve imagined they do. I wanted to let you keep riding me but without my jeans in the way. You have no idea how many dirty things I want.”
Her eyes drift closed. “I want to know. So much.”
Her lips part slightly and I pull her closer to kiss her softly. She lets out a little sigh when I stroke my tongue over her bottom lip. The kiss starts off soft but quickly flames out of control. My hand comes up to cup a heavy breast, the weight perfect in my palm. She gasps when I brush my thumb over her nipple.
“Is it okay that I’m kissing you?” I ask in between panting breaths.
Her fingers are working some kind of magic on the back of my neck so I’m thinking she’s really okay with it. But I don’t want to make any assumptions here. This is too important.
“More than okay. I told you, I’m not the one who’s confused.”
I pick up her hand and bring it to my lips. “I have no right to ask for a favor but I’m doing it anyway.”
“What is it?”
“If you hire someone for this thing, I’ll worry about you every day. I still want you to use me. I realize I may not be what you were looking for but…”