had a subject header, Halloween.
Sitting down in her reading chair, she placed the laptop on her thighs and clicked to open it.
Georgia,
Mason is having a Halloween party down at Exquisite on Saturday. I’ll be in town. Do you want to be the Sandy to my Danny?
Josh
Shelly smiled and responded with seven words.
Yes. You’re the one that I want.
Clicking send, she was shocked when she got an almost immediate response in her mail.
You’re awake early, considering you worked last night.
Josh
Shelly noticed he was online. Forgetting about email, she clicked the instant message bar and typed.
Couldn’t sleep. Someone won’t get out of my head.
Josh: I’m annoying like that.
Yes, you kind of are. Are you sure you want to go to the party with me?
Josh: I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure, Georgia. Nothing for me has changed. Just know that I’ll be leaving after the weekend.
Shelly sat, staring at the screen. Nothing has changed for him.
Over the last month and a half, this had been his very obvious approach, letting her know he still wanted to be with her, and that it was her holding up this leg of the race.
She also had a distinct feeling that her time would soon run out if she didn’t catch up.
He had been clear in all their emails since the wedding. Until she knew one-hundred percent what she wanted, he didn’t want to hear it.
Shelly would like to argue that it wasn’t fair. But is it really fair to ask him to settle for anything less? So, here she was—stuck in a conundrum.
She had a man who loved her and wanted everything, and she had a terrifying fear that she would fail him. How do I get over that?
So, at the party, am I allowed to touch you?
Josh: I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.
Well, that’s something at least.
Josh: Don’t mistake me walking away as me not wanting you. I’m just sure of what I want, and I have been for a very long time. I refuse to let you go on thinking this can’t be more.
Shelly thought about that last sentence. Is that what I’m doing?
She had been looking for the perfect man in so many places, yet it seems he may have turned up in the last spot she would have thought to check.
Josh: So, see you on Saturday? I’ll be there around 4:00 p.m.
Sounds good. Josh?
Josh: Yes, Georgia?
I’m trying.
Josh: Try harder.
With that, she watched him sign off.
***
Josh was sitting on Cole’s couch, staring at his computer screen.
Josh had known if he’d mentioned he was in town, Shelly would have invited him to stay at her place, and Josh was pretty sure his resistance was failing. Instead, he was going to let her believe he was arriving in two days. Meanwhile, he was going to hang out on his friend’s couch.
Cole had gone out for the night and still had not returned. When Josh had asked where he was headed, he had just told him, “Out.”
Seeing as how he was such a tight-lipped guy, Josh had decided not to push it further. He was just happy he could bum for a few days on the man’s couch. He was exhausted.
This new project had him working around the clock like a dog. He hadn’t known at the beginning just how much work it was going to be to have his vision come to life, but in the end, he knew it would fulfill that part of him that was gaping wide open. Just knowing that he could go to work and use his hands to create a perfect structure was so satisfying. He couldn’t even begin to explain it.
He was also happy that the expansion on Exquisite was going as planned. It seemed like they were on schedule, and within a few months, it would be ready to open.
Sometimes life handed you the perfect opportunity to do something that you feel is vitally important, as well as the right thing, and for Josh that had happened. It had also given him the perfect excuse to get away and think about what he wanted.
With Melissa, he had been so caught up at first that he had dropped all of his thoughts and plans and followed her to L.A. so she could pursue her dream. When he had met Shelly, he felt himself doing the same thing. He had decided to change tactics, switching gears in a sense.
So, before he could even begin to invite her inside where he wanted to keep her, he left, knowing