“Can I help?” Chelsea asked softly. “Might be faster.”
“No, really, I can manage. I’m nearly finished.”
“Ok, well, I’m just going to wait outside; this paint smell is getting to me.”
“You ok?”
“I’m fine, really. I just need some fresh air.”
Concerned, Josh stopped what he was doing and followed her outside, where she was sitting with her head on her knees.
“What’s wrong? Are you going to faint?”
“No, honestly, I’m fine. I’ll just sit here while you finish.”
“I’m finished. I’m not going to keep on painting while you’re out here feeling sick. I have to just wash out the painting stuff.”
“You don’t have to stop because of me.”
“Subject’s closed, Chels. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
* * *
“Done?” Chelsea asked a few minutes later when Josh appeared with a worried expression.
“Yep. That’s it.” He laid the freshly washed paintbrushes and rollers on a canvas tarp in the sun to dry. That was the beauty of living in the country. He could come back tomorrow and it would all still be there. Not so in the city. “I’ve locked up. If you give me your keys, I’ll put the cooler in my car. It doesn’t make sense to take two cars; besides, if you’re not feeling well you shouldn’t drive.”
“No, I guess not. Can you bring me back here to get it later?”
“Of course. Instead of the lake, why don’t I drive you home and we can eat there.”
“Ok, that sounds nice.”
* * *
“Hi, Soph,” Andy said, plonking himself down on a stool.
“Hi,” Soph said. “What can I get you?”
“I thought Chels might be on.”
“She was this morning but she went to have lunch somewhere other than here.”
“Did she go to see mom?”
“No.”
“Well, where then and why the secrecy?”
“You are a persistent one, aren’t ya? She went to take a picnic to Josh; she found out he’s working at the school.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“She went there of her own accord?”
“Uh huh.”
“Well! Good for her. I’m tempted to sneak on by there and see what’s happening.”
“Don’t you dare. Now what can I get ya?”
“I’ll take a burger and a milkshake, please,” Andy said with a grin.
* * *
Josh kept glancing over to Chelsea while he drove. “Feeling better?”
“Yes, honestly, I keep telling you, it was just the paint. It always happens.”
“Pardon me?”
“When I’m stuck in a room with fresh paint, it always makes me feel odd.”
“Then why didn’t you say something? Why did you even come in there at all, you silly girl?”
“I don’t know, I wanted to watch you.”
“As flattering as that is, you should have stayed out of there. Here I was feeling guilty that I’d spanked you, even though I was only playing. Now I wish I’d spanked you harder.”
Chelsea blinked. “You’re joking. You would spank me for real, for getting sick?”
“Of course I wouldn’t spank you for getting sick,” he said, patting her knee reassuringly, “but I sure as hell would spank your butt for putting yourself in a place where you knew you would probably get sick.” He was glad to see that she was getting color back in her face, even if it was because he’d embarrassed her.
With Chelsea’s directions, they were only in the car about ten minutes from the time they left until they pulled up outside her door. “You live here?”
“What can I say, it’s cheap, so long as I work here.”
“I see, so I guess I understand why it’s so important to you to keep this job; losing your job also means losing your home.”
“Yeah, that’s about the size of it.”
“I guess I just assumed you lived at home with your folks.”
“I left home when I went to college. My parents weren’t too happy with me dropping out; we argued, badly.”
“So you don’t get along with them now?”
“No, now everything’s fine. I love visiting and spending time with them, and Andy of course. I try to go there when Andy’s there. He’s the comic relief. Getting to do my laundry and eat a home-cooked meal doesn’t suck either, but I don’t want to live with them again. It would feel like going backwards, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Josh understood exactly what she was saying. He wouldn’t want to go back home either, not to live.
Chelsea opened the door and winced. “Sorry about the mess. I didn’t think we’d be coming here and I didn’t clean up.”
“That’s ok,” Josh said, doing his best to ignore the disaster area that was her living room. There wasn’t a single chair that wasn’t covered in clothes. “I’ll just take the food through to the kitchen.”
“Great, thanks,” she said, picking up clothes and tossing them into a basket.
It surprised Josh that the mess stopped when he left the living room. The kitchen was spotless. The counters and the floor gleamed and there wasn’t a dirty dish anywhere. He got out plates and set them on the table along with glasses for the juice he found in the fridge.
“Thanks.”
“I hope you don’t mind me helping myself to your cabinets. I just thought you should eat something.”
“It’s fine. Sorry about the mess out there. If it makes you feel better, it’s clean mess. I’m not a total pig. I just haven’t folded the laundry.”
“I’m not judging. Let’s eat, I’m starving.”
“Me too.” She grabbed a platter and set out the sandwiches for them to share.
* * *
The car pulling in behind his diner didn’t escape Tom’s notice. He scowled from a booth near the window. It wasn’t Chelsea’s car; it was his, the computer geek’s. So she’d brought him back to the apartment. She had to hide, always acting like she was all virginal and pure. Of course it was probably about the money. She must have laughed at him when he’d told her he’d give her anything. This guy could obviously give her more. He’d done some checking. It made his blood boil. It was so damn noisy in this place, he couldn’t think straight.
“Sophie!” he shouted. “Another coffee.”
Sophie appeared immediately with a fresh pot. When she’d poured a half a cup, he put his hand out to stop her.
“Enough,” he grumbled. When she walked away, he reached for his hip flask and poured a generous amount into the dark amber liquid.
* * *
Lunch was over and Chelsea found herself lying on the sofa with her legs on top of Josh’s lap while they watched a DVD. He didn’t even seem to mind that her taste in movies was somewhat immature. That didn’t mean he didn’t tease her about it a bit.
“Bit of a theme here,” he chuckled. “Very girly.”
“That would be because I am a girl,” she said, poking her tongue at him. “On the odd occasion that I find myself sitting here with a tub of ice cream in front of the box, I’m probably hoping to find out I’m a princess. It would be nice sometimes to imagine being whisked away to live a new and exciting life with my prince.”
“Really,” Josh said with a raised eyebrow.
“Sometimes. Depends on my mood. Sometimes I like to imagine that I can take over the world.”
“You don’t want to take over the world today?”
“Nah, I wouldn’t know where to start. Today I’m happy being with you, like this.” As Josh leaned in to kiss her, she sighed happily, pressing her lips to his; enjoying the intimate moment that came with a fresh relationship. The first kiss was special, but so was this. Everything was still fresh and new, but each of them felt comfortable enough to explore.
The movie was a good way in and neither had even noticed as they lay there wrapped around each other. The
y were still dressed, but necking like a pair of teenagers, all tongues and hands and fingering through clothes. When Josh pulled away, Chelsea didn’t even realize she was holding her breath. She wanted him and he clearly wanted her, so why did he stop?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. It was perfect. You’re perfect.” He kissed her so gently that she could barely feel it, so different from the feverish passion from before.
“Then why’d you stop?”
“You’re special, Chels. I want to take you on a proper date first. I want to buy you dinner and a rose and dance slowly to sweet music.”
When his thumbs caressed her already peaked nipples, they stiffened painfully under his gentle touch. Her panties were damp and her clit thumped, begging for attention. Her body was like a finely tuned instrument waiting to be played. “When?”
“How about tonight?”
She nodded mutely, not trusting herself to form words. She wasn’t sure anything she said would make sense. Her brain felt like a plate of spaghetti; a soft pile of twisted, boiled dough.
“Well, good. I’ll go and get changed and pick you up in an hour. Ok?”
“Uh huh.” She had no idea what she was going to wear. She didn’t even know where they were going. Her eyes fell to the clock on the wall. “An hour will only make it five o’clock. Isn’t that a bit early for dinner?”
“Not where we’re going.”
“Where are we going?”
Josh grinned. “Surprise.”
“What kind of surpri—” she started to ask, but her question remained unfinished. He kissed her again before turning her toward her bedroom and sending her off with a firm smack to her bottom.
“Get ready.”
“Josh.” When she turned, he was outside at the top of the stairs waving, then the door swung shut.
* * *
Tom looked up at the sound of a car engine starting at the back of the diner. He watched as the vehicle he’d seen earlier pulled back onto the main road, taking his adversary with it. Chelsea wasn’t in the car and he hadn’t stayed the night; that was something. He narrowed his eyes in thought and looked vacantly out the window while he formulated his next plan. The diner was busy with the dinner crowd trickling in, so he didn’t call Sophie for more coffee. This time he just swigged the warm liquid straight out of the flask, savoring the last few drops.
* * *
Chelsea stepped out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel before pulling on a thick white terry robe; knowing she was about to get dressed, she didn’t bother with the tie. She was padding across the wooden floor toward her bedroom when there was a knock on the door. Oh no, she wasn’t ready, but it hadn’t been anywhere close to an hour. Maybe Josh forgot something. She wrapped the robe roughly around herself and pulled open the door with a grin. “What did you forget?” she asked. It wasn’t Josh.
Tom was at the door, his eyes already ogling the cleavage that was peeking out of the top of her robe. She yanked the sides together tighter and crossed her arms, obscuring his view. Unfortunately that also meant she wasn’t holding the door. “Tom, I didn’t know you were back.”
“I wanted to surprise you.” He inched a foot inside the doorway.
“I can see you’ve made some changes,” she said, trying to make herself smile. There was something about him besides the obvious. He looked better, but despite his usual flashy smile, he seemed irritated.
“So have you.”
What on earth did that mean? “I don’t understand.”
“I saw your gentleman caller leave.”
“Oh.” What was she supposed to say to that? All she could do was change the subject. “Your hair looks good.”
“You think so?”
“I do, I knew it would.” His smile softened and she felt herself breathe again. As irritating as Tom’s unwanted advances were, she’d never been frightened of him, but she had a bad feeling; she wanted him out of there. “Ok, well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning at work.”
“You giving me the brush?”
His foot tried to inch in further, but she was onto that and she leaned into the door with her shoulder. “Of course not. I’m just busy is all. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I think you could give your boss a minute of your time, don’t you? How busy can you be when you’re practically naked?”
Tom’s breath was hot on her face as he leaned in to talk at her. The smell of the aftermath of his laced coffee made her wince. “I will tomorrow.” When you’re sober and when there are other people in the room, she thought.
“I want a minute now,” Tom spat. He leaned into the door, clearly determined to gain entrance.
Chelsea did her best to hold him off, but although he wasn’t a large man, he was stronger than she was and there was no way she was going to let go of the robe so she had the use of her hands. “Tom, stop! You can’t come in!”
“I think you’ve forgotten who owns this place. I can do whatever the hell I want.”
He’d managed to get through the doorway and his hands were on hers, trying to free the robe that she was holding now with a death grip. “I’ll scream!” It was a reflex born from sheer panic when he ignored her threat; her knee shot up and caught him between the legs. She hadn’t used her full strength; all she wanted was for him to stop. He did. Chelsea watched his reaction with horror-filled eyes.
His bloodshot eyes widened in shock right before he doubled over with a strangled cry. “You little bitch,” he coughed.
“I told you to stop.” Tears stung Chelsea’s eyes and her stomach twisted in fear. She wasn’t scared that he would physically hurt her now; it was more what this would mean for her future. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her boss was never going to forgive her for this, even though he’d deserved it.
Tom didn’t answer; he dropped to his knees and then rolled into the fetal position.
She stood there helpless, not game to move.
He must have stayed there for a full ten minutes before he finally struggled to his feet. “You assaulted me.” he ground out.
“It was self-defense.”
“You could try to tell a jury that, but you answered the door wearing practically no clothes. Don’t tell me you weren’t trying to get my attention, you little tease.”
“I was coming from the shower, I thought you were someone else.”
“Sure. I’ll forget it for now,” Tom said. “But you keep your mouth shut.”
“You won’t fire me?” Chelsea felt pathetic even asking. God, she wished there were more opportunities in this town.
Tom didn’t answer. He turned and limped away, clutching his stomach with one hand while he held on to the rail with the other.
* * *
When Chelsea heard Josh’s car stop at the bottom of the stairs about a half an hour later, she wanted to cry. To run out the door and down the stairs and throw herself in to his arms. Have him comfort her and tell her everything would be ok. Then she wanted him to make it ok by telling Tom to leave her alone. But she didn’t. What she did do was straighten her clothes, brush her hair, and put on a new layer of lip gloss. By the time Josh knocked on the door, she had pushed the incident to the back of her mind to deal with later, when she was alone.
“Wow, don’t you look beautiful.”
His lips brushed over hers and a thrill ran through her. She wasn’t sure if it was from the kiss itself, or because he made her feel so pretty and safe. She didn’t think of herself as being pretty. She had always been the girl with the fair skin and freckles and the unruly ginger hair. Josh didn’t make her feel like that. He made her feel like those very things that were once the bane of her existence were now what he loved the most about her. “Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself,” she beamed.
“Come on. We better get going.” Josh took her hand and led her out of the apartment and down the stairs.
As much as she tried to push the problem with Tom aside, she couldn’t
help looking around. She had the feeling that he was somewhere nearby, watching. “You lose something?” Josh asked.
“No.”
“Are you ok? You seem a little jumpy.”
“I’m fine, Josh. Now where are you taking me?”
“That’d be telling, now wouldn’t it?”
“Are we heading into Ricksville?”
“I have no idea where Ricksville is, but it doesn’t sound like there’d be more there than here.”
“They have a bigger movie theater.”
“Ok, well, I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
When he glanced at her, she smiled. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I don’t know. You seem a little off. Are you sure you’re feeling ok? You’re not still feeling unwell?”
“I’m fine. Honestly.” She was.
“I saw Tom’s car. He’s back?”
“Yeah, seems so.”
Josh turned the car onto a dirt road but said nothing.
“Ok, now you have me really confused. There’s nothing down here but a field.”
“I know,” Josh said with a chuckle. “Be patient.”
Chelsea peered out her window and her mouth dropped open when the surprise came into view. It was an empty field but right smack in the middle of it was a helicopter. “Are you serious?” She gave Josh a light shove. “We’re actually going in that?”
“We sure are. If you want to, of course.”
“Of course I want to.” Oh, he had no idea. There’s nothing she would like more than to soar into the sky and leave the town of Huckelby behind her, even if it was just for a few hours.
The Billionaire and the Waitress Page 6