“Oh, I have different alarms for different reminders,” she countered with a scoff. “I can’t have one alarm, Reese. That wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Of course,” he mumbled, then shrugged. “What was I thinking? I guess it’s true that you never really know someone until you live with them.”
Josie shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “We’re not living together. You can go to your place at any time.”
“You coming with me?” he asked.
“I’m good here, and Chris is going to be a nonissue,” she stated with more confidence than she should have.
Why would Chris give up? Reese sure as hell wouldn’t. Josie’s ex had had the best woman in the world and he’d let her slip away.
“I’m really going to get a shower now,” she told him. “I’m already behind on my morning routine.”
As Josie started to pass, Reese took a step to block her. Her hands flew up and flattened on his chest, those dark eyes flashing up to his.
“What’s with the closet, Jo?” he asked, really needing to understand what she was hiding, because he’d seen that flash of vulnerability and hurt and he hated knowing she experienced both.
Though it was damn difficult to concentrate with their clothes nearly nonexistent and her hands on his bare skin. Reese had to respect her, respect their friendship and remain in control.
Crossing that invisible barrier into something more intimate would be a mistake. Where had this damn attraction come from? Sexy was one thing, but the ache, the need was frustrating.
“Don’t worry about the closet,” she murmured with a flashing smile. “Why don’t you worry about your upcoming restaurant opening instead of me?”
Reese smoothed her hair back from her shoulder, once again torturing himself with the touch of her satiny skin.
“Oh, Conrad’s Manhattan is in the forefront of my worries, but what kind of fiancé would I be if I didn’t add you to the list?” he joked.
Josie laughed, just as he thought she would, but her eyes dropped to his lips a fraction of a second before she took a step back and sighed.
“You’re not my fiancé, Reese. We’re just friends.”
She licked her lips and blinked as if those last two words were painful to say.
“Just friends,” she reiterated beneath her breath as she walked away.
Reese didn’t turn to watch her disappear down the hallway. He needed a minute because this morning had been so bizarre. Did Josie have stronger feelings for him than she was letting on? Would she be interested in exploring more with him? And what the hell was up with all of those colorful clothes hanging in the closet with tags?
One thing was certain: now that they were temporarily living together, Reese had to evaluate his feelings and try to figure out what the hell was truly going on between him and his best friend.
Three
Rain pelted down in sheets, right onto Reese. He seriously missed his garage for this very reason. He ran from his SUV to the porch of Josie’s beachside home. The second he stepped beneath the shelter, he raked the water from his face. He was absolutely drenched and his overnight bag with dry clothes was in the car because he hadn’t wanted to get that soaked as well. He’d just have to dry off and wait out the storm.
He rang the doorbell and glanced in through the sidelight. He didn’t see any movement, but surely she was home. He really should’ve taken that key she’d offered him a long time ago, but why would he have ever had a reason to be here without her?
He rang the bell again and waited. Finally, the lock clicked and the door flew open. Josie stood before him in a black tank and a pair of black shorts, but her hair dripped water droplets onto her shoulders and face and she swiped moisture from her cheeks.
“Wh
at the hell happened to you?” he asked.
“There’s a leak above my closet,” she growled as she turned to race back toward the guest room. “This damn storm.”
He closed the door and slid out of his wet shoes so he didn’t slide on the tile leading down the hallway. Reese followed her and realized the closet in question was the one with the hoard of colorful clothes. The contents were strewn across the room. Boxes of shoes lay haphazardly along the floor; dresses were in heaps over the chair in the corner and all over the bed. Handbags littered the space around the shoes.
Good grief, there was even more than he’d first realized. How had all of this fit in that space? Granted it was a walk-in closet, but still. Josie really could open a boutique with all of this variety.
Her muttered curse filtered out from inside the closet. Reese stepped in to find her strategically moving buckets beneath the drips.