She sighed. “It’s the usual—find a good guy who doesn’t mind having a career woman, but who also wants to have kids. Then it’s little things, I guess. Finding a dog or two.” She turned to him with a smile. “Going on vacation.”
“You stopped going on vacation?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ve not been away from work in … wow, years. There was never a right time.”
“Tell me about it. I had that too. I always thought I’d vacation later, when I had done all the work,” he said.
Josie turned to him and nodded. “Only, there was never a moment when the work stopped. There was always something that needed to be done. Something that had to have my attention.” She sighed. “I should have realized I was falling into bad patterns.”
“Are they bad patterns, or just what you thought was right at the time?”
“I don’t know, what do you think when you look back at your life?” Josie asked. “Before you had all of this?”
Elijah sighed.
“Tell me.”
She wasn’t going to like it.
“I worked to eventually chase off the loneliness. I’d be in the office, working my ass off, and I’d get home, close the door, and it would be silent. No one was around. I’d stand at my door, and I’d feel it sucking me down, and then I’d smile. I had the perfect life, because I’d order some food, as I didn’t have time to make my own, go to my office, and I’d work. Working would beat the loneliness.”
The smile on Josie’s face dropped and he saw tears in her eyes. He went to her side, as did Buster and Trixie, and he pulled her in close.
“That is exactly what it’s like.” She threw her arms around him, holding him close.
“You’re not alone now,” he said.
And if he had his way, she would never be alone again.
Chapter Six
Josie looked out across the gardens. She wasn’t sure if the snow was melting or staying the same. Glancing back at Elijah, still asleep in his bed, she licked her dry lips and turned her attention to outside. She didn’t want the snow to melt.
How bad was she? She didn’t want to go home to her life. Was it possible to fall in love with a man and his world in less than a week?
This was all new to Josie. She hadn’t given herself chance to fall in love with anyone. Elijah was different, though. Nibbling her lip, she glanced back at him again as he slept. She had explored every single one of his tattoos last night. He had stopped getting ink years ago.
He was such a lovely man … a sexy man.
“You’re thinking way too much,” Elijah said.
She pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”
He chuckled and opened his eyes.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked, moving toward the bed.
“Since you left it. The temperature got cold.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into the bed.
His lips were on hers, and she wrapped a leg around his waist. “See, I’m all nice and warm now.”
He thrust his cock against her side, and she felt how hard he was.
“Well, we know what’snotcold,” she said.
He chuckled. “Trust me, even cold, he’d be able to fuck you.”
Elijah tugged at the shirt she wore. It was another one of his. She had pretty much been wearing his clothes, mixed with the set she’d been wearing when he found her.