CHAPTER 9
Anderson
I left work, fully intending to behave myself. But the very moment I stepped into my apartment, images of Joanna filled my mind so thoroughly that I could think of nothing but her touch and how badly I wanted to feel her again. Not even the threat of Tobias could shake her from my mind, which was startling in its own right.
There had been plenty of women in my past—too many to even consciously remember. Yet I was fairly certain I had never felt yearnings for them as intensely as I felt for Joanna, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On one hand, I supposed it had something to do with the fact that she was supposed to be off limits to me; I’d always been the kind of man who liked a challenge, and there was something infinitely appealing about the forbidden. As my best friend’s sister, Joanna was definitely forbidden, which was part of the reason I wanted her so badly.
But there was another part of me that painstakingly thought there was more to it than that.
After last night, I honestly could have considered Joanna a mission accomplished. So why then, was I so desperate to be in her presence again? My habit of tossing women into bed and then being done with them afterwards wasn’t exactly commendable, yet most women who got involved with me knew what they were getting into. Almost everyone knew I wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted to seriously settle down. I liked playing the field too much.
But when it came to Joanna, however…
Something just felt different, and frankly, I was afraid to contemplate it too much for fear that I would have to face a realization I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.
After changing out of my work clothes, I grabbed myself a beer and settled down on my couch, trying unsuccessfully to push Joanna from my mind. But naturally, I had no such luck. I kept thinking about her soft skin and curly hair. Her tasty lips. Her scent. Her gorgeous gray eyes and the sound of her voice. Her small but supple body in my arms…
Resigning, I grabbed my cell phone, my fingers automatically scrolling through my list of contacts for her name.
“Hello?”
My cock throbbed at the simple sound of her voice on the other line.
“Hey Joanna,” I said.
There was a brief pause before she spoke again. “Hi, Anderson.”
“I was just thinking about you,” I said. “Um…are you busy?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Would you like to come over for dinner at my place? I can cook up something for us.”
There was another pause, this one a little longer than the first one. “Sure,” she finally said.
“Okay, see you in a little bit then.”
“All right.”
She was first to hang up the phone. I remained sitting on the couch for a moment though, getting the distinct feeling that something was wrong, but not quite being able to figure out what. I thought back to seeing Joanna in the office that morning. She had looked right at me, giving me a sexy and sly grin that had practically set my body on fire. Yet we kept our distance from each other for the rest of the day. In hindsight though, I recalled catching glimpses of her throughout the day, and noting how her mood seemed to steadily sour. I had initially chalked it up to the day being extremely busy for all of us, for it had been the kind of day that could make even the calmest person’s head spin, let alone a new employee.
But what if that hadn’t been the problem at all? What if it was something else?
I’d spent so much time worrying about how wrong it was for me to entertain thoughts of sleeping with my best friend’s sister, but how did it feel from her end? Was it possible that she had even more reservations than I did, considering that she was messing around with the best friend of her brother?
Tobias was like family to me, but he literally was family to her.
She agreed to come over though, I reminded myself. That has to mean she’s willing…
I stood from the couch and headed to the kitchen, figuring that with Joanna being on her way, I would soon know how she truly felt. So for the time being, there was no need for me to stress about it. All I could do was start preparing the dinner I had promised her.
When I opened the door to find Joanna standing on the other side, my lips curved into a smile that I couldn’t hold back. She looked up at me and grinned.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” I said, stepping forward to wrap my arms around her in a hug. She slowly wrapped her arms around me, returning the hug and squeezing me around my middle as I lowered my lips to kiss her forehead and then moved aside, permitting her entrance.
“Mmmm,” she said as I closed the door behind her. “Smells good.”
“Thanks.”
“What are we having?”
“I hope you’re a fan of spaghetti.”
“I sure am,” she said, smiling and pulling off her jacket. She had changed out of her work clothes, now wearing a nice pair of jeans and a flowing blouse that her lovely figure still managed to show through.
“Great. Let’s dig in.”
* * *
“That was delicious,” Joanna said, wiping the corners of her mouth with her napkin. I stared at her lips, wanting nothing more than to pounce across the table to kiss them.
“Thank you,” I said.
She picked up her plate and stood.
“No, I got it,” I said, reaching for her plate. She smiled and handed it over while I proceeded to clear the table.
Cleaning the dishes in the kitchen, I couldn’t deny feeling the awkwardness I suddenly felt between me and Joanna. Although dinner had been a success, I knew there was something on Joanna’s mind that she wasn’t letting me in on. She had been somewhat distracted throughout the whole meal as I tried to engage her with chit-chat. It bothered me, but I didn’t want to press the issue; I didn’t want to force anything out of her until she was ready to tell me on her own.
After cleaning our plates, I searched through my cabinet, finding a bottle of wine that I’d been saving for a special occasion and figuring it was a good time to finally pop it open.
I retrieved two wine glasses and returned to the living room, where Joanna was still seated at the table, staring off into oblivion. She didn’t look up until she heard the clink of the wine glasses as I sat them on the table.
“It’s been a long day,” I said. “Mind having a drink with me?”
Joanna gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’d love to,” she said, watching me pop the cork. I poured generous portions into each of the glasses and handed one over to her. Taking the other and raising it into the air, Joanna followed my lead.
“To getting away from one hell of a day at the office,” I said.
“Here, here,” Joanna said, clinking her glass against mine.
We sipped our wine and then headed to the couch, where I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels to find a movie.
Joanna sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her, squeezing her gently to my side. “Is everything all right?” I asked after a moment. “You seem a bit distracted tonight.”
“More like I could use a distraction,” she said. She turned her head to look at me, and then planted a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you for inviting me over, Anderson.”
“No, thank you for coming over. I almost didn’t think you would…Um…Tobias, does he know?”
“No,” Joanna said, not giving me a chance to finish the sentence. “I just told him I was going out for fresh air.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, although I thought her excuse sounded too feeble. “Just out of curiosity, how do you think he would react to…us?”
Joanna sighed. “No idea. I don’t think I’m ready to find out anytime soon though. I mean unless you want to tell him?”
“Not a chance,” I said with a chuckle. “It can wait.”
“Right.” Joanna placed her hand on my thigh. “Anderson?”
“Huh?”
“What exactly are we doing here?”
“I don’t know,” I said after a brief pause. “We’re just doing what seems natural, I guess. I mean…just taking things one day at a time, right?”
“I guess.” Her expression grew distant once again. She was becoming more and more of a mystery to me.
Had she wanted me to give a more definitive answer? Did I even have one? It was the kind of thought I just didn’t want to contemplate too much just yet. I simply wanted to enjoy whatever Joanna and I had, right then and there, not worried by what would happen in the future.
I glanced down at her, seeing that she was staring at the television, although I got the impression she wasn’t really watching it. I tightened my arm around her, letting my hand rub against her waist, and then toy with the hemline of her blouse. When she didn’t object, I slowly slid my hand under her shirt. She arched her back and looked at me again.
I stared into her gray eyes, my body heating with desire for her. I didn’t want to pressure her though, especially if she was having second thoughts about what had happened between us the previous night. “Do you want to stay here for a while longer, or are you ready to leave?” I asked, removing my hand from under her shirt.
She raised her eyebrows. “Do you want me to leave?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all. But it’s up to you.”
“Then I’m not ready to leave…” her voice trailed off as she slowly lifted her head from my shoulder. She stared into my eyes for a moment, and then inched closer to me.
I closed my eyes, savoring the feeling of her soft lips pressing against mine. She rose to her knees and straddled me. I wrapped my arms around her waist again, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.
Every ounce of self-restraint I had crumbled at the sound of the low moan coming from her throat.
Our situation was complicated, and I had no idea how it was going to end. But in that moment, I didn’t care. We could figure it out later.