Free The Elusive "O" by Renee Rose Page A

he wanted to try. Josh slid into the booth next to Molly, feeling acutely aware of her as his leg brushed her thigh. Mr. Baker ordered a bottle of wine for the table and started quizzing the two of them about their day at the convention.
    “What meetings do you have tomorrow, Josh?”
    “I just have to meet with the distributor for Germany, and then I'm working the booth the rest of the day.
    “Ah, just the krauts, eh?” Mr. Baker said,
    “Joe! You can't call them krauts! That is totally offensive,” Mrs. Baker exclaimed.
    Molly choked on her wine trying to hide her giggles. He nudged her leg gently with his own to acknowledge the humor, which sent her into a second fit of giggles.
    “I'm sorry, I haven't eaten all day and the wine is going to my head,” she apologized. “I just have the giggles now.”
    Mr. Baker looked at her indulgently. Like his wife, he was exceedingly fond of Molly, to the point where some of her female co-workers made snide remarks about him only promoting good-looking women. Josh had always defended her because Mr. Baker wasn't responsible for her promotions for one thing-- Lupita was—and because he knew Mr. Baker liked her for the same reason her customers liked her-- she was a people person.
     
    * * *
     
    Molly hoped the food came soon because she was definitely getting tipsy. She was grabbing her hot co-worker's thigh, for God's sake! She and Josh had been friends for as long as she'd worked at Gentex, but she'd never felt this kind of chemistry with him before. Of course, until five months ago, she'd been in a relationship, so she wouldn't have been open to the vibes, even if they were there. Now, sitting shoulder to shoulder to her handsome co-worker, she was feeling so turned on that she was having images in her mind of the two of them crawling under the table for a quickie.
    Mrs. Baker was droning on about how the internet had changed things. “My son, he buys everything through A-OL.” She pronounced the O and L together instead of separately.
    Josh leaned over and said in a low voice. “Yeah, I buy everything on A-hole, too, don't you?”
    She totally lost it in another fit of giggles. It was so bad that she actually ducked under the table as if she were picking up a dropped napkin. She stayed down there, shaking with silent laughter until she felt Josh's hand resting on her back as if to quiet her. She came up straight faced, clamping her lips together, unable to look at Josh. The food finally arrived and she got busy filling her empty belly to soak up the three glasses of wine she'd had.
    “So, have any of you read this Fifty Shades of Gray that's all the rage now?” Josh asked.
    She nearly choked on her food and caught him smirking at her when she chanced a look. To her utter astonishment, Mrs. Baker said, “Yes, we just finished it in my reading group. You know, most of those ladies don't even read the books-- they just come to socialize, so I picked the randiest parts for them to read aloud to discuss.”
    Molly lost it again, this time not bothering to hide her giggles. “That's really funny, Karen. What did the ladies think of it?”
    “Well they were shocked, of course,” the old woman said with a little smirk. “Have either of you read it?”
    “No, I haven't. But I hear it's changing sex lives all across the country,” Josh drawled.
    Molly felt another surge of lust for him. She peeked at him from under her lashes and found he was looking down at her with a little smile playing at his lips. She dropped her eyes and hid her own smile.
    “Have you read it, Molly?” Josh asked. For some reason, his tone sounded a little too innocent to her. As if he somehow knew how much that book had turned her on. But that was ridiculous-- how could he possibly know that her interests lay that way?
    “Er, um, yes. I have. I was not overly impressed with the writing, but the idea was...ah...” Oh God. Was she blushing?
    “Interesting?” he prompted.
    “Yes,” she said