Which, when it was all he could do to keep his eyes off her ass this morning, was definitely a blessing.

Josh showed up just before twelve, bearing a couple of huge plastic containers. One filled with Mama Nishikawa’s home cooked nikujaga—Japanese beef stew—and the other with sticky rice. As usual, Josh’s mother had sent enough to feed an army. She did this once a week, usually on Mondays or Fridays.

Welcoming the break from the tedium of the morning, as well as from the monotony of his thoughts, Ty happily helped Josh tote the food into the kitchenette in the back office. Linda, meanwhile, shut the doors and flipped around the “Gone to lunch” sign. They only closed for one of Mama Nishikawa’s lunches, the rest of the week everyone grabbed something on the go.

Josh and Linda crowded around the desk with Vicki, who had carefully piled her inventory order forms on top of the filing cabinet behind her. The fourth chair in the office had always been reserved for Cassie. Ty usually ate in his seat by the door with a bowl, or plate, or takeaway box, awkwardly perched on his knees. He picked up his portion and turned to leave.

“Why don’t you eat with us, Ty?” Vicki invited.

Once again, he tensed at the sound of his name on her lips. It was borderline addictive hearing her say it. The short syllable emerged on a breathless exhalation of air, as if she were sighing it instead of saying it. He fucking loved it; he wanted to cover her mouth with his and swallow it down the next time she said it, just to see if it tasted as irresistible as it sounded.

Fuuuuuck. He wasn’t sure how things had gotten so…complicated. But these distracting and inappropriate thoughts were massively problematic.

“I’m fine.” The words emerged on a harsher note than he had intended, and the silence that met his gruff proclamation was testament to that. He hesitated, wanting to soften the edges of that rejection with something. Anything. But he was damned if he could come up with anything other than a lame, “Thanks.”

He left before he made things even more awkward.

“Ty?” Josh eyed Vicki askance his voice brimming with speculation.

“It’s been a weird morning,” Vicki admitted on a groan.

“You’re telling me,” Linda said, tucking into the delicious stew with relish. “Cassie went nuts, Josh. You should have seen it.”

Josh had been informed of the morning’s events, but they hadn’t had time to go into detail.

“Tell me everything,” he demanded.

Linda pointed her fork at the coffee-stained wall behind Vicki’s chair. “She flung her coffee mug at Vicki.”

“Oh, my God!” Josh exclaimed. “That’s crazy. Even for her.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tyler so angry. I mean it was all he could do to keep his hands off her.”

“Ty,” Vicki corrected automatically.

Linda raised her brows. “Yes, we’ve noticed that’s what you’re calling him now.”

“He prefers it.”

“He’s never mentioned such a preference to me,” Linda said.

Vicki didn’t like the speculation in the other woman’s voice.

“Probably because he’s polite to you. While with me, he has no qualms about being brutally honest.”

“Brutal is not the word, I’d use,” Josh said with a wicked grin. “Everybody calls me Josh or Joshua. But I only ask the women I want to get intimate with to call me Joe.”

“Joe? Seriously? What’s wrong with Josh?” Linda giggled.

“That’s nothing for you worry about that, Linda. Joe is only reserved for my special lady friends.”

“So, you’re saying that Tyler wants Vicki to be his special lady friend?” Linda scoffed, and Vicki echoed the sentiment with a snort.

“I’m just saying that, maybe he wants to move beyond the formality of their current relationship.”

Vicki considered those conflicting moments in her office this morning.

Those words, well, there’s always a first time for everything, said in that sexy, gritty voice. Followed by immediate regret and an instant return to his usual curt self.

Talk about your mixed signals.

She shook her head, rejecting it as a momentary lapse. Everything that had followed had been pretty standard. He was back to his usual quiet, surly form. Vicki wasn’t sure what had caused this morning’s lack of discretion, but she knew that he was going to double down on the aloofness now to compensate for it.

“How did your meeting with Yuko’s teacher go, Josh?” Vicki asked.

Josh was a thirty-something, handsome widower with a wicked sense of humor and a stable—from what Vicki could gather—of lady friends, all of whom probably called him Joe. But his six-year-old daughter was his life and asking about little Yuko was a surefire way to change the subject.

After lunch, Vicki took Linda aside and told the woman about her mother’s upcoming wedding.

“You know I’ll be happy to fill in, Vic, but we’re going to have to hire another shop assistant as soon as possible. I’ll need the help.”

Tags: Natasha Anders (Un)Professionally Yours Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net