door and her uncle waved his
hand to indicate they should come in. Josie smiled at James as he poked his
head into the office.
“Hey, Jos. I heard you were here today. Any chance you
brought the pictures?” James asked, his blue eyes twinkling with excitement. He
looked like a little kid in a candy shop.
“I sure did,” she told him.
“Awesome.” He stuck his head out into the hallway. “Scott,
get in here,” he yelled.
A few seconds later, Scott popped his head into the
captain’s office. When he saw Josie, a grin slid across his face. “Any chance
you brought the pictures?” he asked.
She shook her head and laughed. Pointing at the desk, she
said, “See for yourself.”
Uncle Jack stood and rounded his desk to allow the other two
men to slide into his spot. He glanced at James and Scott then back to Josie.
“I’ll be right back.”
“No problem, take your time,” she said.
She bit her lip as she watched the guys scrolling through
the photos. What if they didn’t like them?
James glanced up from the screen, his face looked a little
dazed. “Holy shit, Jos. These are good. I mean really good.”
Scott grinned at her. “Woowee, I am going to have to beat
the women off with a stick when they see this.” He winked at her. “Not that I
didn’t already.”
She rolled her eyes.
“So, Jos, did Marco manage to get a hold of you about
tonight?” James asked.
Her stomach flipped. “He left a message, but I haven’t had a
chance to talk to him yet.”
Her uncle walked in the room just as she was finished
talking. “He’s in the gym. I told him you’d stop by on your way out.”
What the hell? Her uncle was actually encouraging her to
stop by and organize hanging out with these guys. She watched him warily. He
was up to something. She just didn’t have a clue what.
“So you two done admiring yourselves?” she asked, flicking
her head to indicate the computer screen.
“Yeah, for now,” James said with a grin. “We get copies of
the shots though, right?”
She laughed. “Yeah, I can make a copy of your picture.”
“Nice,” he said. He slapped her shoulder like one of the
guys as he walked past. “Great job, Jos. Honestly those pictures are way above
what I was expecting.”
At the compliment, she beamed back at him. “Thanks.”
Scott and James left the office, leaving her alone with her
uncle. He passed her the memory stick. After she slid the stick in her bag, he
wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. “I’m really proud of you,
Josie. You did an amazing job, but then I never had any doubt you would,” he
told her gruffly.
She hugged him back and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Uncle
Jack, for everything.”
He nodded. “All right, now get out of here so I can get some
work done.”
Josie shook her head and laughed. “Fine.” She scooped up her
bag and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later,” she told him.
Josie made her way toward the gym. The sound of old-school, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, carried down the hallway. At the doorway she stopped and
looked inside. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she saw Marco running
on the treadmill. Alone in the gym, he ran at a grueling pace. Sweat ran down
his bare chest. She followed the path of one droplet as it snaked between the
ridges of his abs, through the dark hair under his bellybutton and into the
waistband of his shorts. She tried to swallow but her throat seemed to have closed
tightly, forcing her to gulp for air. Holy mother of god, she wanted to lick
every inch of his body.
His eyes met hers, heat flared between them. He must have
seen the raw lust on her face because a slow, carnal smile spread across his
face.
“Hey, Josie, give me one sec.” He flicked off the treadmill,
grabbed his t-shirt from the handle and wiped it across his face.
“Did you get my message?” he asked.
Unable to drag her eyes from his chest, she nodded.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“My