principal.
And no one, not Scott Smith and his charming smile, nor Blair Upton and her fake eyebrows, would stand in her way.
CHAPTER FIVE
For once, Paul arrived home early that evening. Josie took it as a positive sign. He texted her at six to let her know he’d be home at seven. She normally ate dinner at six, but she decided to wait for him. They could talk over dinner, just like old times.
Josie had learned, though. Just before seven, she dished leftovers onto plates and set them on the counter. She would heat them up when he was actually sitting at the table. To her great surprise, Paul walked in the door at seven sharp.
“Wow, you got dinner all ready for me? I feel loved.”
His movements seemed at once so foreign and so familiar. She walked toward him and put her arms around his waist. He froze, just for a split second, and then put his arms around her shoulders.
“Everything okay?”
I cannot believe he’s asking if everything is okay just because I hugged him. Wow. We really do have problems.
“Fine,” she said, her voice a little too bright. “I’m just glad to see you.”
He put a hand to her forehead, pretending to check her for a fever.
“Are you all right? Lately every time I see you you’re bitching me out about something.”
She flinched, but forced herself to brush off his dig.
Truth hurts, Garcia.
Instead of responding with a snide remark about his work, Josie patted Paul’s butt and headed to the kitchen. She waited until they were both seated at the bar and had gone through the usual how-was-your-day pleasantries before setting down her silverware and launching into her speech.
“Paul.”
“Josie.”
She giggled. “I need to talk to you.”
“Ah. I knew it. This isn’t just a regular, innocent dinner together. Tell me Summer hasn’t talked you into starting our own little football team.”
It was a running joke. Paul didn’t understand how anyone could raise more than two children. Summer and Derek, their fifth on the way, astounded him.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. It’s just, I mean, I wanted to talk about us.”
Why was she nervous? Paul took a bite of spaghetti.
“Okay,” he said. “What about us?”
“Well,” she said, “things haven’t been very, you know, very intimate lately.”
“Like, we haven’t been doing it very often? I agree with you there.”
“No, although that’s true too.” She picked up her fork and twirled some noodles onto it. “I guess what I mean is that I feel like we never talk anymore. I know I blame you most of the time, but I could do more to fix things.”
“What do you mean you blame me?” he asked. Now he set down his silverware. Josie felt even more nervous than she had a minute ago. She took a sip of wine.
“I mean, I complain about how you’re always working,” she said. “And you’re always getting called out during family functions. You’re thinking about drug deals when we’re supposed to be having sex.”
“Oh, right.” Paul rubbed his forehead. “And you’re constantly bitching at me about everything, just like you’re doing right now. This is actually a bitching session disguised as a talk.”
Shit. That’s exactly what it sounds like .
Josie took a deep breath. She wiped her palms on her legs. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, we agreed you should pursue the undercover position. Living it is different than I expected, but I agreed to it. I need to accept it.”
Paul sighed. “It always comes back to me going undercover.”
Josie groaned. “This isn’t coming out how I wanted it to.
“I’ll say,” Paul said. “You’re not winning any friends here.”
“Look. I just wanted you to know that I know this … distance is partly my fault.”
“But mostly my fault?”
“Don’t do this, Paul. I’m trying to fix things, here.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know things were
And no one, not Scott Smith and his charming smile, nor Blair Upton and her fake eyebrows, would stand in her way.
CHAPTER FIVE
For once, Paul arrived home early that evening. Josie took it as a positive sign. He texted her at six to let her know he’d be home at seven. She normally ate dinner at six, but she decided to wait for him. They could talk over dinner, just like old times.
Josie had learned, though. Just before seven, she dished leftovers onto plates and set them on the counter. She would heat them up when he was actually sitting at the table. To her great surprise, Paul walked in the door at seven sharp.
“Wow, you got dinner all ready for me? I feel loved.”
His movements seemed at once so foreign and so familiar. She walked toward him and put her arms around his waist. He froze, just for a split second, and then put his arms around her shoulders.
“Everything okay?”
I cannot believe he’s asking if everything is okay just because I hugged him. Wow. We really do have problems.
“Fine,” she said, her voice a little too bright. “I’m just glad to see you.”
He put a hand to her forehead, pretending to check her for a fever.
“Are you all right? Lately every time I see you you’re bitching me out about something.”
She flinched, but forced herself to brush off his dig.
Truth hurts, Garcia.
Instead of responding with a snide remark about his work, Josie patted Paul’s butt and headed to the kitchen. She waited until they were both seated at the bar and had gone through the usual how-was-your-day pleasantries before setting down her silverware and launching into her speech.
“Paul.”
“Josie.”
She giggled. “I need to talk to you.”
“Ah. I knew it. This isn’t just a regular, innocent dinner together. Tell me Summer hasn’t talked you into starting our own little football team.”
It was a running joke. Paul didn’t understand how anyone could raise more than two children. Summer and Derek, their fifth on the way, astounded him.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. It’s just, I mean, I wanted to talk about us.”
Why was she nervous? Paul took a bite of spaghetti.
“Okay,” he said. “What about us?”
“Well,” she said, “things haven’t been very, you know, very intimate lately.”
“Like, we haven’t been doing it very often? I agree with you there.”
“No, although that’s true too.” She picked up her fork and twirled some noodles onto it. “I guess what I mean is that I feel like we never talk anymore. I know I blame you most of the time, but I could do more to fix things.”
“What do you mean you blame me?” he asked. Now he set down his silverware. Josie felt even more nervous than she had a minute ago. She took a sip of wine.
“I mean, I complain about how you’re always working,” she said. “And you’re always getting called out during family functions. You’re thinking about drug deals when we’re supposed to be having sex.”
“Oh, right.” Paul rubbed his forehead. “And you’re constantly bitching at me about everything, just like you’re doing right now. This is actually a bitching session disguised as a talk.”
Shit. That’s exactly what it sounds like .
Josie took a deep breath. She wiped her palms on her legs. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, we agreed you should pursue the undercover position. Living it is different than I expected, but I agreed to it. I need to accept it.”
Paul sighed. “It always comes back to me going undercover.”
Josie groaned. “This isn’t coming out how I wanted it to.
“I’ll say,” Paul said. “You’re not winning any friends here.”
“Look. I just wanted you to know that I know this … distance is partly my fault.”
“But mostly my fault?”
“Don’t do this, Paul. I’m trying to fix things, here.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know things were
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