Free TooHot by Lauren Fraser Page B

as Marco. She was in Dave’s league. She wasn’t even close to
being in Marco’s.
    Was that what she was really afraid of? She pushed herself
off the floor. She needed to talk to her uncle and hear his side of things.
    Josie grabbed her purse and keys off the counter and slipped
her jacket on as she left her apartment. Twenty minutes later, she stood
outside her uncle’s apartment waiting for him to buzz her in.
    When she got up the stairs her Uncle Jack stood with the
door open, waiting for her, his expression reserved and unsure.
    “Hey,” she said.
    “Hi, kiddo. Guess I don’t have to ask why you’re here.”
    She looked at him and shook her head. “Nope.”
    Her uncle took a deep breath. “All right then, let’s hash
this out.” He stepped back from the doorway to let her in. “You want tea or
anything before we sit down?”
    “No, I’m good, thanks.”
    Leading the way into the living room, Josie sat down in her
favorite chair. The big, cushy brown suede wrapped around her. She always felt
safe and comforted in that spot. It didn’t really make sense since it was just
a piece of furniture but for some reason it always worked. He uncle smiled at
her as she snuggled in deeper into the seat.
    “Josie, I’m sorry about today. I never meant for you to hear
that.”
    “You’re sorry about what I heard?”
    “Of course.” He raised his eyebrow at her questioningly.
    “Shouldn’t you be sorry that you bribed someone to date me?
Not sorry that you got busted doing it?”
    “Oh, Josie, you always were a stickler for semantics,” he
said and shook his head. “I’m sorry you got hurt, but I’m not sorry I asked
Marco to ask you out.”
    Her eyes bugged out at his audacity. “How can you not be
sorry that you bribed one of your employees to ask me out?”
    “It was for your own good.”
    “Right, because I’m so pathetic I can’t get a date on my
own.” Pain lanced through her as she spoke the words out loud. It hurt having
her uncle think she was so needy.
    “What are you talking about, girl? Of course I don’t think
you’re pathetic.”
    “Then why would you have forced Marco to date me?”
    Her uncle’s head tipped back with laughter. “Force him? I
didn’t force him to do anything.”
    “He said you coerced him.”
    “I kind of did.” He grinned. His eyes twinkled as if he were
proud of himself.
    Josie narrowed her eyes as she looked at the glee on her
uncle’s face. Clearly she was missing something here. “’Kay, you forced Marco
to date me and you don’t feel bad about that?”
    “Hell no. Although I am a little pissed that he sweet-talked
you into his bed.” His face turned red and he looked down and shook his head.
“I’d kind of hoped all those talks about premarital sex we had when you were
younger would have stuck.”
    Even talking about sex now seemed to embarrass her uncle.
Josie laughed. Unfortunately by the time he’d started having those
uncomfortable conversations with her in high school, that ship had already
sailed. They hadn’t stuck then and they sure hadn’t lingered on in her mind at
this late date. “How can you not feel bad?”
    “What do you mean? Why would I feel bad? You’re a great girl
and Marco’s a good guy. I thought you’d make a nice couple.”
    Josie shook her head, trying to clear out her ears because
there’s no way she’d heard that correctly. “Excuse me?”
    “Oh come on, Josie. I saw the way you looked at him at the
shoot. You were interested and after that asshole Dave I thought you deserved a
good guy for a change.” He grinned. “I happened to overhear him talking to
Scott about you and how, umm…” He cleared his throat. “How attractive he found
you so I thought I’d play matchmaker a little. Shoot me.”
    “Matchmaker?”
    “Yeah. When I started talking to him about you it became
clear he didn’t plan to ask you out because of me, so I took matters into my
own hands. I wasn’t about to let your relationship with