Fuck me, that felt good. She was soft and warm and her hair smelled good. Her body pressed against mine, stirring up all kinds of things I wasn’t prepared for.
She moved back and, almost reluctantly, I let go.
“Goodnight, Josiah.”
“Night.”
And with that, she disappeared inside her house, leaving me with an ache in my chest.
CHAPTER 16
Audrey
My morning could not have been more chaotic.
I slept through my alarm and for once in his life, Max didn’t wake me up. By the time I rolled over and realized what had happened, I had all of twenty minutes to get ready for work.
The coffee machine wouldn’t turn on, despite being plugged in, and I didn’t have time to figure out why. I took Max outside to do his business, then came in and discovered I was out of dry shampoo. No time for a shower and no way to make my hair presentable meant it was a do-my-best bun sort of hair day.
My shirt had a stain I hadn’t noticed and my favorite pair of slacks were dirty, so it took a couple of harried tries to put together an outfit. Finally, I succeeded. No caffeine or breakfast, my clothes may or may not have matched, and I hoped it wouldn’t be obvious my hair needed washing. But I was ready to head out the door with two minutes to spare.
“Let’s go, Max. Time to go to work.”
The sound of my phone ringing startled me and I almost dropped my purse. I thought about ignoring it, but it was odd to get a phone call this early in the morning. That meant it might be important.
It was the number for Happy Paws.
“Hello? This is Audrey.”
“Hi, Audrey, this is Missy at Happy Paws.” Her voice sounded hoarse and she paused to cough. “Sorry. I woke up sick and I can’t be there today. I tried to find someone to fill in at doggie daycare for me, but we all seem to have gotten the same thing. I’m sorry, I know this is really last minute.”
I let out a breath and my shoulders slumped. It was that kind of morning. “That’s okay, Missy. I hope you feel better.”
“Thanks. Hopefully we’ll have coverage for tomorrow, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“Sounds good, I appreciate that. Get some rest.”
“I will. Thanks, Audrey.”
I ended the call and looked down at Max. “Well, now what are we going to do?”
Technically, he could stay home by himself. He’d mostly sleep all day. I’d just need to take him for a good, long walk when I got home to ensure he got enough exercise, otherwise he’d be crazy by bedtime. But he’d do better if someone could at least come check on him and take him out to pee once or twice.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it home during the day today, bud.” I had an assignment that was going to have me out of the office for a large part of the day. I couldn’t be sure I’d have time to come home and let him out.
I didn’t really have friends I could ask for this kind of favor. Sandra had to work, too, although she might be willing to drive over here to let him out on her lunch break. I didn’t trust Ledger. He’d probably be so busy scrolling on his phone, Max would run up the hill again and recreate his world’s stinkiest dog stunt from the other day. And I definitely didn’t know Marigold well enough, although I had a feeling she was the type of person who’d help without hesitation. Still, asking her would feel weird.
I glanced out the window. Josiah’s truck was already in the driveway next door. He always got to work early over there.
Not that I was watching for him every morning.
Actually, yes I was.
I kind of hated to ask, especially after he’d done so much to help me the other day when Max had gone missing. No one should have been subjected to that smell, and he’d stuck it out, even helping me give Max a hose bath in the backyard. Not to mention the way he’d carried me down the hill.
Oh my swoon.
But was it really that much to ask? He’d be right next door all day. He could pop by and let Max out to go potty once or twice and that would be plenty.
A swirl of butterflies took flight at the thought of going over there. Why was I being so silly? It was just Josiah. We were basically friends now.
Except I knew exactly what it was. That hug.
I’d fallen asleep to the memory of Josiah’s thick arms around me every night since I’d hugged him. I couldn’t get the way he’d felt out of my head. He’d smelled good too, like pine and fresh air and man. Big, burly, grumpy man.
Apparently I liked that smell because I’d been craving it ever since.