Page 81 of Steamy Ever After

“I think it’s that we like each other too much.”

A piece of tofu sticks in my throat, and I cough. Joe offers me his beer and I take a sip, then a few more. Once I’ve recovered, I hand him his bottle.

“I don’t like you that way, Joe. Let’s make that perfectly clear.”

His forehead pinches and he nods. “Yes, you do.”

My eyes go wide. “No, I don’t. Not the way you’re implying.”

Assessing me with his steely gaze, he cocks his head. “I don’t mean you like me as in you want to date, but…” He purses his lips, then nods as if deciding something. “I think you want to sleep with me.”

The plate nearly slips from my hands, but I catch it and set it on the table, then clench my fists in my lap.

“Your arrogance knows no bounds, you know that?” I try to play it off and roll my eyes, but his face remains serious.

“You can deny it all you want, but I think we should stop pretending our issues aren’t one hundred percent sexually driven.”

My throat is dry and I eye his beer. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He waves a finger between us. “You. Me. Our bickering. It’s sexual tension.”

“You’re crazy.” A low sound emerges from my throat and turns into a full laugh straight from my belly.

“Am I?” he asks, and I respond with a wide-eyed nod. “All right, prove me wrong.”

“I think the fact that you constantly piss me off is proof enough.” I glance down, noticing how I’m gripping the edge of the couch cushion, and slowly ease my fists open.

“No, I think me pissing you off proves my point.”

“Okay. How about how I’m sitting here right now, not mounting your face?”

A smile hints at his lips and I guard myself for whatever’s coming. “Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“That’s where your mind went? To you sitting on my face?”

He sticks his tongue into his cheek and my eyes practically leap out of my head, trying to escape the burning inferno that is my face.

“I never said that.”

He winks. “You kind of did.”

“You know what?” I stand and grab my plate. “I’ll eat this in my room. Thanks again.”

“But what about Duckie? You looove Duckie.”

Even the lure of my favorite teenage underdog won’t get me to stick around. “Good night, Joe.”

His deep, sexy chuckle is the last thing I hear as I shut my bedroom door.

CHAPTER 8

JANE

“Flo? Can I ask you something?”

Though I could eat my lunch in the backroom, I like to sit at the front desk with my co-worker and keep her company. Quiet days are good, but our line of work is unpredictable, so I eat fast in case someone walks in needing help.

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