Chapter Fourteen
Andy
“One short stack and…a Denver omelet.” The white ceramic plate clinked against the tabletop as the server set down our breakfast. “Anything else I can get you?”
“More coffee, please,” Josie said, nudging her cup to the edge of the table before grabbing the empty creamer bowl. “And more of the flavored creamer things.”
“I tried some of the sweet stuff you left at my house.” I stabbed at a slice of fried green pepper and popped it into my mouth. “What was it—chocolate cake flavor?”
“Red velvet cupcake.” Josie slathered her pancakes with butter and syrup before cutting into them.
“Yeah, well, it was gross,” I teased. “How do you adulterate perfectly good coffee with all that sugary creamer?”
Before she could answer, our server stepped up to the table, with a carafe of hot coffee and a fresh bowl of creamer. Josie gave me a significant look over the curls of steam that feathered off the hot liquid, then turned to smile and nod as the server turned to leave.
“Firstly,” she said, pulling her coffee closer before she grabbed some of the creamer and ripped the tab open, “I love cake. I want my coffee to taste like cake. That’s my thing. And second—" she held my eyes a bit defiantly as she dumped the creamer into her coffee, stirred, and grabbed another, “—I know you and your family are obsessed with this place, but the coffee? It’s hot garbage. It needs all the help it can get.”
I blew on my cup and took a sip, swishing the liquid thoughtfully in my mouth before I swallowed. Okay, yeah, she had a point. It was pretty bad.
“It’s fine,” I insisted, but my tone lacked conviction and Josie just rolled her eyes as she poured the fourth and final creamer into her cup.
“Anyway,” I continued as we munched on our breakfast and sipped the sub-par coffee. “We were going to talk about your alternative plans, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” Her shoulders stiffened, but it was the only outward sign of her anxiety. “I thought about it a little bit before you woke up this morning and I took a few notes.”
I blinked in surprise. “Really?”
She’d fallen asleep early last night, exhausted from the trying day and our shattering sex on the couch, but had risen before me this morning. I’d opened my eyes to find her lounging in bed next to me, clear-eyed and thoughtful, but before I could yank her back under the covers to explore her body again, she’d given me a playful swat and demanded pancakes.
Josie nodded. “Yeah. I really didn’t want to do it, so I figured I should get it over with and we could talk about it over breakfast.”
“Great.” I sipped my coffee and held my hand out. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
She pulled her phone out of her bag and slapped it into my palm, list already pulled up and ready for me to read. I scanned it quickly. “Nurse practitioner, huh?”
“Yup.” She stabbed a triangle of golden-brown pancake. “Nurse practitioner is a great job. Shorter training, less bullshit, more patient interaction.” She frowned. “Unless I decide I want to focus more on research. I don’t honestly know what that would mean.”
I shrugged. “Everything has pros and cons.” I moved down to the next thing. “Lab director. I could see it. You did promise me a lab coat and nothing else once.” I waggled my brows at her lasciviously.
The corner of Josie’s mouth curled up in a half-smile as a faint blush colored her cheeks. “Believe me, I remember.”
Under the safe cover of the tabletop, my cock hardened, and I coughed. “All right. On to the next item.”
* * *
“I thought that conversation was going to be a lot scarier,” Josie admitted as we walked out of the diner, bellies full and fingers laced together. “I’m still really worried, but a little less—you know, it’s-the-end-of-my-life worried.”
I pulled her close to my side and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Well, I’m proud of you for making that list. I know it was probably intimidating.”
I unlocked the passenger side door of my truck and opened it wide, sticking out a hand to help Josie climb into the high front seat. She could do it herself, but I liked doing it all the same. I stroked a hand down her curvy thigh as she reached for her seatbelt.
Just because it was there. Just because I could.
She looked down at me from her perch in the truck cab and smiled. “It was intimidating,” she said. “But having you around makes it easier.”
* * *
Josie stayed at my house for several days—I guessed right when I picked up her bag and thought it contained several sets of clothes, along with a pile of regular toiletries. I cleared out a drawer, a space in my closet and some storage space in the master bath, and even though we didn’t specifically discuss it, Josie’s things appeared in those brand-new spaces right away, lined up neatly next to mine as if she had always been there.