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Joseph pulled on a pajama bottom that hung low at his waist exposing his v-line. He slung a towel around his neck and used the end of it to dry his wet hair as he padded barefoot to his kitchen.
The food his housekeeper had left for him in the microwave had his mouth watering for a taste. It's been a while since he's had dinner at home. Usually, the food she left him served as a heavy breakfast because, by the time he got home at night, he was too tired to even comprehend how to operate a microwave.
He sat the container on the counter and took a seat. When the burst of flavor hit his tongue he groaned in appreciation and took another bite. He smiled remembering why this housekeeper had lasted so long, unlike the others, he shivered just remembering.
Joseph has had to fire more housekeepers than he could keep track of. Both young and old seem to have fixated on the idea that they would become more than just an employee. They would start to get a little too personal and he would have to fire them instantly. In one instance he had come home to see a young housekeeper curled over the back of the couch with nothing but his T-shirt on waiting for him. He had calmly walked by her, careful not to touch her as he threw the words, you're fired over his shoulder as he walked to his bedroom.
His mind suddenly conjured up the image of Miranda in that same position bent over his couch while he had his wicked way with her. His dick twitched in a silent salute at the idea. Damn.
He felt like a louse thinking about her this way, especially after the way he had treated her that morning when they were younger. His gut clenched as he remembered the dry sob that was drawn from her throat, the broken look on her face when he had rejected her. The way she had dashed out of the barn that morning.
At the time he had thought it was for the best, rejecting her that is. She was a nice girl and back then he was a teenager operating as a loose cannon because of all the pent-up anger issues he had.
Losing his parents had been the hardest thing he's ever gone through. It was no secret he was a proud mama's boy back then. His mother had been his best friend. The one he could talk to about every and anything. She would sometimes sit and have a beer with him while they had their talks. She had said she preferred knowing he was drinking at home where he was safe and sound than to be drinking behind her back. He never did though, he had felt it would have been breaking the trust she had in him.
He was close to his dad too but he had always felt like Jordan was his favorite. Losing his parents had been devastation that sometimes he wasn't sure he was over.
Could a person ever get over something like that?
He released an irritated grunt and pushed away the remainder of his dinner. The bad memories caused his meal to taste like cardboard in his mouth.
He needed a distraction and bad.
Damn it, Miranda, why did you have to come back now?
She was proving to be a distraction that he really didn't need. Maybe this was God's way of punishing him for being a jerk back then.
He knows she didn't deserve the way he treated her. In his own way though he was only trying to protect her. Their parents had been close, not exactly best friends but close enough. Sometimes her mother would invite them over for dinner. He had been well aware of her interest but ignored it for her own good. He wasn't a bad kid but he wasn't exactly the one-woman kind of guy back then, he was young and wasn't ready to be tied down.
His mother had always liked Miranda. Always going on about how she wished one day one of her boys would end up with the Tait girl or someone like her. Back then he had hoped Jason would have been the one to ask her out. Now? Well, he had never wanted to fight any of his siblings but he was ready to duke it out with Jason if he tried to make a move on her.
The need to have her was unnervingly strong, mostly physical. He knew he had to tread lightly concerning this woman, she was someone special.
Maybe it was his conscience wanting him to make up for the past. Either way, Miranda Tait would be in his life one way or another.
With the image of her still in his mind he climbed into his bed, a bed that had always been fine before but suddenly felt way too big and too lonely. Damn it.
He rolled over and punch his pillow in frustration as he tried to get comfortable. He was awake a long time in the dark -for two hours just lying there. Becoming familiar with the patterns on the ceiling as he lay quietly in the dark.
Not once did the situation with his company cross his mind. He was too far gone and far distracted. However, when sleep didn't come he threw back his covers and worked until the wee hours of the morning.
