Page 49 of Mustang Summer

Her shoulders slumped a little more.“Oh.Okay.”

Had she expected him to change after a few rounds of spectacular sex?What if hecouldn’tchange?

Setting her fork down, she summoned any knowledge she gained from an hour of web searching.Determined to get to the bottom of his behavior, she asked, “Do you like me?”

That earned her another surprised look as his brows popped up.“Yeah, of course I do.”His tone bordered on incredulous.

“So last night wasn’t just because of the storm?”

“Why would the storm have anything to do with it?I like you, Josie.”

He didn’t drop eye contact and she was afraid to blink and break it.

He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it.She waited and after a few heartbeats, he finally spoke.“When you want something, you need to tell me.I’m not good at taking hints.If you want to know something, you need to ask.I’m not good at guessing.”He shoved his hand through his hair and dropped his gaze to the counter.“I’m not good at saying what I should when I should.Or not saying what I shouldn’t.”

The muscle in his jaw flexed.Did it bother him that he might be upsetting her?Unable to come and ask about her suspicions, she took another route.

“Do girls usually get mad at you and think you’re an insensitive jerk?”

The muscle flexed again.“Yes.”

“Well, I don’t and they were stupid.”She got up and went around the island.The subject was dropped—for now.She had a better understanding of him.“Thank you for letting me know what I need to do and I’ll try not to act like a nag.”

His voice dropped low.“You’re not a nag.I like you, Josie.I…liked last night.”

Just like that, her core began to tingle and she rose to her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.“Want to do it again?”

Chapter9

Brock zipped himself up and swallowed at the sight of Josie’s round bottom bending over to pick up her shorts.Red marks from the imprint of the counter as he’d plunged into her were still stark on her skin.

He’d never had so much sex in such a small window of time, wouldn’t have known he was capable of getting off so much, but all that had been missing was the ravishing car lover.

If she produced any more condoms from that backpack of hers…

He’d told her what he needed and she’d been okay with it.They were stupid.He’d come close to spontaneously combusting when she’d said that.Because that’s what the few girls he’d tried to have a relationship with had told him, that he was stupid.But Josie didn’t say it about him.

His lips curved slightly as Josie shimmied into her bottoms.

She was something.

He waited while she gobbled down his cooking and washed her dishes.She hadn’t complained about his routines.He wasn’t obsessive compulsive, he could change it up, but…he’d rather not.If she asked, he would, though.

The dishes were put away and she spun around.“Ready.”

Outside, the morning was fresh.The day would be a warm one, but without the moisture in the air like yesterday.

“Wow, look at all those leaves.”Josie stopped next to him and curved her hand into his elbow.

“The wind can do as much damage as hail.”Judging from his yard, their crops would be ugly.

Branches of all sizes scattered his property, blown off the trees and over the inner row of bushes.The top third of at least one evergreen rested by the garden.A topmost shutter hung off the barn to leave a gaping black hole.Maybe some hail had gotten inside.Damn.He should’ve covered the cars with a tarp, but he hadn’t been thinking.After his tryst with Josie, he’d noticed the weather and thought locking up the barn would be enough.

From his vantage point, a glaring amount of dents peppered the shop.Large rents in the trim around the door and windows glinted in the sun.

“Fuck,” he ripped off his hat and slapped in on his thigh.A move he’d picked up from his dad, who’d picked it up from Gramps.It helped release his frustration.

“Doesn’t look as bad as I thought it’d be.”Josie shoved her hands in her baggy shorts’ pockets and wandered around.

---