Page 42 of His Wild Seduction

On Josef Aziz.

He was back in my life in a role I once upon a time could only dream about. But it had a different meaning now. I’d saved Gray Corps, but I might have damned myself in the process.

No, I couldn’t allow myself to think he cared for me. I mean, sure, he was careful with me, with my body. And last night he’d shown me more than we’d managed to discover the first time we’d been together.

Intimacy was not an easy thing for me.

Not liking the turn my thoughts had taken, I grabbed my ancient, beat up earbuds from my bag and stuck them in my ears. I found my book app and opened it, looking for my most recent acquisition.

Thank you, Z. Wolff!

Listening to an audiobook from my favorite author sounded like a plan. The narrator was just so good, and I’d been waiting for this installation of this series for weeks.

I found the conversational style storytelling of the author combined with the narrator’s voice just so easy to slide into.

No matter where I stopped, I could always get right back into it.

Laying my chair back, I closed my eyes and listened.

I must have nodded off at some point because the next thing I knew, Josef was gently, taking my earbuds from my ears. His handsome face was so close, I couldn’t help it, I rubbed my hand along his beard, noting the surprise in his gaze as he looked at me.

“Are we there yet?” I asked, stifling a yawn.

“Almost. You need a new phone. Any color?”

“What? I don't need—” I stopped arguing, knowing it would get me nowhere.

Josef straightened in his seat and turned his own top of the line smart phone, showing me what was available.

It was a long time ago when I used to have the best of everything. I bit my lip, guilt warring with excitement.

“I am getting you a new phone, Little Red. So pick it out or don’t and I’ll just order you black everything.”

“No! I don’t want black,” I said, biting my lip. “Okay, the phone can be white, but can I choose a case?”

“Yeah, here,” he replied, handing me his phone, which already had a selection of case options on the screen.

I chose a dark pink one with gold trim and grinned. Pink really was my favorite color. It was hard to find the right shade for my complexion, but when I did, I was all over that.

There was an old cliché about pink not looking good on redheads. But society could fuck itself, far as I was concerned.

Besides, according to one of the nannies I had in my preteen days, I was fairly certain Molly Ringwald changed the entire world’s mind about that in the cult classic 80s film Pretty In Pink.

I was born after that movie’s heyday, but it was still one of my favorites.

Anyway, the point was I loved pink. So when Josef showed me the available cases, I didn’t hesitate.

“Finished?” he asked.

“Yes. Thank you,” I replied.

“It will be waiting for you when we get home. Oh, and I need to know what you want to do with your father’s house.”

“Stepfather. And I don’t know yet. Is that okay?”

“I could have movers pack it up if you want?”

“Well, maybe the kitchen and neutral areas, and his bedroom. But I should probably do some of it myself. See if he kept any of my mother’s things,” I mumbled, not really wanting to think about it.

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