Whiskey & Wildflowers

Chapter 34

Josie blew out a breath as she stared into her cupboard, trying to decide what to wear. After a month in the villa, her wardrobe was looking a little dated, not to mention she was tired of wearing bikinis every day. It had been so fun at first, but she missed being able to wear cute summer dresses during the day, or skirts with a cute top, even shorts. Mixing and matching pieces to create new outfits every day. In the villa, they could only do that when they go to go out, which didn't happen nearly enough.

She sighed. How long had it been since she and Henrik had gotten to go out to do the food shopping? It would be so nice to go out with him again, to get out of the villa and do something different. Actually, it would be nice to just get these last few days over with and finally get out, to be freed from the confines of the villa and the monotony of their day-to-day. To explore their relationship on their own terms.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the word relationship. That had to be the craziest part — she was actually excited to be in a relationship.

Her eyes glanced over the bikini options again, but unfortunately, no new ones had appeared since she'd looked a few seconds earlier.

"Quit sighing over there," Priya teased, walking over and immediately picking out a light blue bikini she didn't think she'd worn since the first week — maybe the second — and shoving it into Josie's arms. "Staring at them isn't going to magically turn them into something new."

"Why not?" Josie mumbled, catching the top before it fell to the ground.

"It should," Elisa quipped from where she sat at the vanity, meticulously doing her eyebrows. There was no way her technique took as little time as she claimed it did in her videos. "I'd love to just snap my fingers and voila, a new wardrobe!"

Josie hated that she actually agreed with Elisa on something — a wardrobe like that would be the dream. Unfortunately, it somehow got the other woman on the topic of all the fashion brands she'd worked with in the past and who she was hoping to work with after the show.

As the other girls joined in with excitement about their own possibilities, she found herself oddly unable to join in. Maybe Henrik was rubbing off on her, or maybe it was just one of those days, but suddenly it didn't seem as important to her anymore. It was her career, and she loved what she did, but at the moment she was more excited about the possibilities of what she could do with Henrik's socials, and spending time with him.

Which is what she could have been doing now instead of wasting time in the dressing room, so she quickly changed into the bikini Priya had picked out and headed outside.

She found Henrik leaning against the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of cereal. His attention was on Noah and Hannah, his brows furrowed the way they usually were when he was trying to follow along with a fast-moving conversation that he was having a hard time tracking. That was probably why he didn't notice her approach, allowing her to slip behind him unseen and cover his eyes with her hands, making him jump.

"Josie?" There was a smile in his voice.

"That was too easy," she replied, beaming up at him as he turned around and slipped one hand around her waist, the other holding the cereal bowl aloft.

"You sneaked up on me!" He exclaimed in surprise as Josie tilted her head up for a kiss that didn't come. "How did I not hear you?"

She chuckled and took matters into her own hands, pulling his head down and letting her lips brush softly against his at first, then adding a little more pressure as he responded. God, what had he done to her? Turned her into a right melt, softening all her hardened edges.

Hannah's raised voice shattered the tenderness of the moment, and Josie raised an eyebrow at Henrik.

"What's going on there?" she asked, reluctantly breaking away from his grasp so she could grab a bowl and spoon for herself.