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I watch as he starts pulling out to-go containers from the diner down the street and opening them in front of me. Eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, biscuits, gravy, pancakes…
“Mr. Brunts… Josh, I can’t eat all of this,” I protest, my mind boggling at the sheer amount of food he’s placed in front of me. Good grief. Is he trying to feed an army or me?
He flashes me an almost bashful grin that makes my core clench. “I wasn’t sure what you liked for breakfast, so I got a little of everything.”
“Um, I don’t usually eat breakfast.”
“Ah. Is that why you’re so cranky in the mornings?”
I gape at him, only to see his lips twitch. He’s teasing me. “You’d know all about being cranky, wouldn’t you? You wrote the freaking book on it.”
His gaze drops to my mouth, his eyes darkening. He touches my cheek, his calloused finger stroking across the indentation of my dimple. “Sweet, resilient, and fiery,” he murmurs with a smile.
“Grouchy, cranky, and grumpy,” I retort without heat.
His hand tangles in my hair, gently tugging my head back. Arousal roars through me in a flood as his green eyes lock with mine, his expression dark and heated. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a temper, Lyric?”
“Has anyone ever mentioned yours?” I ask, batting my lashes as my stomach turns flips like it’s trying to win an Olympic medal.
“Possibly.” He shrugs, releasing my hair to hand me a fork and a knife. Our fingers brush, and a bolt of desire shoots through me. Good lord. This man is working voodoo on my body. “It’s also possible I ignored the fuck out of them.”
“Sounds like you.”
His deep laugh washes over me, turning my nipples to hard points. Awesome. It’s barely even eight, and I already need to change my panties. My sisters are going to kill me when they find out that I talked him out of giving me a raise. We’re going to need it to cover the water bill.
“Stupid water,” I mutter.
“You’ve been hearing stories about the water in this town, too, huh?”
“What? No. Why? What’s wrong with the water, aside from it being expensive?”
“Nothing.” He waves a hand, his eyes narrowing on me. “You know I was serious about that raise, right? You don’t have to keep working two jobs just to make it, Lyric. Had I known you were struggling, I would have fixed it already.”
“We’re not struggling,” I protest. “We’re just…” I huff out a breath, my shoulders slumping. “Okay, maybe things are a little tough right now, but it’s worth it, okay? Melody is worth it.”
“Your sister?”
I jerk my chin in a nod. “She’s training with Maximo Touring. He’s basically the greatest choreographer in the world. If anyone can help her achieve her dreams, he can.”
“She wants to be a ballerina?”
“She is a ballerina,” I whisper, pride in my voice. “An incredible ballerina. But she’s curvy, so everyone overlooks her. Ballerinas are supposed to be small and dainty. They aren’t supposed to be real women with real bodies.” I scowl at that reality. “She’s going to prove the world wrong.”
“Good for her,” he says. “Fuck unrealistic beauty standards. They’re bullshit. Now eat, Lyric. We have shit to do today.”
I exhale a shaking breath and turn to the food, only to pause and glance up at him.
“What?” he asks, brows furrowed as if he doesn’t know why I’m not eating already.
“Um… you intend to watch me eat?”
“No?” The way he says it like a question makes it pretty obvious that was his intention. But he takes a step away from my desk, holding up his hands. “I’ll, erm… I’ll just fuck off to my office.”
“Right,” I say softly as he strides that way. “The one with the camera feed.”
He jerks as if he hears me, but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t tell me that he isn’t going to watch me, either.
A second later, the door closes behind him.
