Page 73 of Until Joy

As soon as I saw her on the porch, I knew something was up. Yeah, the cut-off jeans and that mind-blowing red top might have thrown me for a moment, but I immediately pinged to her expression. I didn’t want to start a game of twenty questions in front of Miss Laverne, so I figured I’d let Joy lead the conversation.

“How’d it go at the Wylies?” she asked as she held open the screen door for Miss Laverne.

“It was wonderful. I didn’t realize we’d be gone as long as we were, but Delilah wanted to visit. I should have insisted you come along.”

I guided Miss Laverne to her favorite chair in the parlor where she took a grateful seat.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Joy asked.

“Lemonade would be lovely, dear.” The older lady smiled.

“I’ll help.”

Joy tossed a sassy smile over her shoulder as she sashayed into the kitchen. I made sure to keep a few steps between us so I could admire her ass in those shorts as we went into the kitchen. My girl knew what she was doing, I could tell, because she bent awfully low when she looked into the fridge for the lemonade, considering the fact that the pitcher was on the top shelf.

I groaned.

She giggled as she took a peek at my expression over her shoulder.

“You like teasing me, don’t you?”

“Depends.” She lifted the pitcher, turned around, and placed it on the counter.

“What does it depend on?” I asked.

“Whether you like being teased.”

“Oh, I like it all right. Just know that tonight, there are going to be some repercussions.”

Her eyes got wide. “Graham,” she gasped. “We can’t do anything tonight. We’re staying here, remember?”

I braced my hands on the counter on either side of her and leaned in. She smelled wonderful. Honeysuckle and sunshine. I had no choice. I had to kiss her.

“Miss Laverne,” she breathed out, just before my lips met hers.

Kissing Joy was like being on my bike and leaning into the wind at eighty miles an hour-- loud, reckless, and exactly where I wanted to be. She tasted like mint and heat and something I couldn’t yet name.

She pulled away first, blinking up at me with flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips. “You’re my kind of trouble, Graham Wallace.”

I ran a thumb across her lower lip, letting it linger. “Doll, if you think I’m the trouble in this scenario, you haven’t looked in a mirror.”

“You’re good for a girl’s ego.” Joy smiled. “I’m thinking about keeping you.”

“That’s the hope.”

“Now let me get Miss Laverne’s lemonade poured.”

“I’ll do that,” I said. “You go out and visit with her.”

She stood on tiptoe and gave me a soft kiss. “Thank you.” Then she sashayed out of the kitchen and I admired her ass yet again.

It took me more than a minute to find Miss Laverne’s tray for the lemonade, so when I got out to the parlor, I could tell something had changed. The air in the room was electric. I looked from Joy to Laverne, and I realized that Miss Laverne was oblivious.

“Here you go,” I said, as I passed out the glasses of lemonade. I sat down next to Joy on the loveseat and put my arm around her. I could feel her trembling.

I looked down at her. It was clear she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Miss Laverne, but fuck that noise.

“Joy, what is it?”