It was late, but the West Wing was still buzzing with activity. With the
candidates’ debate only a week away the staff was pulling more all-nighters at work than
even the most stressed-out college senior.
And stressful nights at the office had only one possible antidote.
“DONNNAA!! I need more chicken-fried rice!”
At the other end of the bullpen Donna turned to CJ and rolled her eyes to the
heavens. “If there was a God, Josh would have lost his voice as soon as the conventions
were over,” she muttered.
“If there was a God, my friend,” said CJ, patting Donna’s shoulder, “she would be
a black lesbian and working it so that Josh was your assistant.”
“Sometimes life is just too cruel!” Donna slowly trudged off, trying to wring
every last ounce of melodrama from the effort, and crossed the threshold of Josh’s office
just before he broke the sound barrier.
The man in question was sitting at his desk, feet propped, sleeves rolled up,
staring at the chopsticks in his hand. His desk was strewn with cold cartons of Chinese
food that the interns had brought by hours ago.
“You bellowed?”
“Donna, at last! Has anyone done another take-out run yet? Because I need more
rice, the Szechwan chicken is so undercooked it could kill me with one look, and my
chopsticks are broken.”
She raised an eyebrow and plunked down into the chair across from him. “Josh,
they’re not broken—in fact, you can easily see that they’re still intact.”
“They have splinters.”
“Then shave them off! It’s not like this is the first time you’ve ever used
chopsticks.”
During the long pause that followed, no doubt while Josh was considering her
imperviousness to yet another firing, Donna realised just how tired she was…how tired
everyone seemed to be. Josh only turned into the cranky two year old when absolute
exhaustion had blown most of his brain cells, and the lead-up to the election was only to
get more stressful from here. Normally they all thrived on elections, but something
seemed off tonight…as if every person working that night had suddenly realised that
there was a chance this would be one of the last nights like this.
With a long sigh Donna thrust out her hand. “Fine then, give them to me. Do you
want me to cut your food for you while I’m at it?”
“You know, I do these things just because I want you to feel useful around here.”
“And you couldn’t do that by maybe discussing policy with me or testing answers
for the debate, or anything else that I’m actually here to do? Or maybe you’ve decided
that assistants don’t have minds of their own.”
Josh’s eyes widened as he attempted to squirm out of yet another losing argument
with Feisty Donna. This particular personality usually only showed up when he really
needed an ass-kicking, so grovelling might not be out of the question.
“I have beer in the fridge.”
“You’re forgiven.”
“And it’s the real kind in bottles, not wimpy cans.”
“Wow, Josh!” she smiled sarcastically. “You’re a real stud!”
Stretching his arms back above his head, he winked at her. “I know. You really
should worship me from afar.”
“Up close will do just fine, thanks all the same.” Really, there were times when
the size of his ego was unimaginably colossal. Still, arrogance for Josh was like another
man wearing a sexy cologne—just a little was enough to make her breathe faster, for her
nipples to tighten beneath the confines of her bra and for her hidden parts to tingle. Even
after years of being around him, his smart sexiness could hit her like a ton of bricks. But
to feel pure pounding arousal during a late night at the office was almost too much of a
cliché. Almost.
Before Donna’s thoughts could get too carried away, the next round of take-out
arrived.
“Special delivery for the most anal eater in the building!” chirped CJ, waltzing
into the office and setting down bags of Chinese food.
“Can we go back to saying that I’m picky or fussy?” Josh pleaded. “Saying anal
and eating in the same sentence is the last thing I want to think about.”
CJ and Donna looked at each other.
“Get your minds out of the gutter!” he roared. “It’s not the first thing I think
about either! And while you’re at it, get out of my office! I want to eat my meal in
peace.”
“Just don’t hurt yourself with those dangerous chopsticks, Josh,” laughed CJ.
“We wouldn’t want to have to get out the first aid kit…again.”
The women left, but after a moment Donna popped her head back in. “Josh, I got
the guys to give me extra fortune cookies this time, so don’t touch any of them.”
“Still trying to find Mr Right inside of an inedible shell?”
She glared at him, almost growling softly in the back of her throat, her eyes
narrowed into slits and trained on him. “Just eat your rice and don’t make me hurt you.”
It was about an hour later when Donna came back to the office. She stopped short
just inside the doorway when she saw what he was doing.
“Josh! How can you be…doing something…like that…in here, right now!”
“Donna, shush. I’m trying to concentrate.”
“I think you should put that away right now.”
“Why?” he asked, refusing to look up at her. “Is it bothering you? Am I making
you feel uncomfortable?”
“No, I actually rather like it when you do that, but…” She paused, taking in the
scene before her for just a bit longer. She always loved seeing this side of him, but now
was definitely not the time. “I mean it, stop that right now.”
“Because somebody else might walk in?”
“Could be.”
Josh tilted his head back, his jaw hanging open in disappointment as he stopped
moving his hands. “Fine, I’m done.”
Donna leaned across the desk and pried the Slinkie out of his grip. “I just think
that this might not be the best image to be showing to the rest of the staff tonight. I mean,
the election is right around the corner and everyone’s freaking about the debate with
Ritchie, so playing with your Slinkie probably isn’t about to inspire any confidence
around here.”
“I was trying to clear my mind.”
“Really?”
He smirked. “Maybe.”
If distraction was what Josh wanted just now, Donna was more than willing to
comply with a different suggestion. “Do you think it’s time to break out the fortune
cookies?”
Josh swung around in his chair to face her and leaned closer across the desk.
“Sure, I’m always up for some cheap entertainment that involves you and the on-going
Quest for the Holy Gomers.”
“Cute.” Donna started looking around the office. “Where did you end up putting
them this time?”
“I think they’re stashed under the computer.”
As she moved around the desk and bent over to grab the bag of cookies, Josh
couldn’t help the male reflex of staring at her ass. She was wearing black slacks that
hugged her curves perfectly, and at her current angle he couldn’t make out a panty-line.
Could it be possible she was wearing a thong? Or maybe nothing at all? Josh could feel
the sudden rush of blood to his shaft, making him incredibly hard as Donna continued to
root around for the fortune cookies.
He shouldn’t be thinking this way, he should NOT be thinking this way—ah, hell,
it was late, of course he was thinking this way.
Donna bolted up, smiling brightly, holding forth the small white bag full of
fortunes.
“Do you want one?”
“Do I have to?” he whined.
“Aw, come on!” She sidled up to him and sat on a corner of the desk. Josh’s
eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of her lacy bra through the small button gaps of her
blouse. “Fortune cookies are fun,” she continued, oblivious to Josh’s current state of
speechless arousal. “Just think of all that excitement in one little snap of your fingers!
How can you possibly resist?”
He swallowed loudly as Donna looked down at him, and cursed himself as a
depraved scoundrel. Donna fantasies were one thing, but while she was still in the room?
Try to have a little control, man.
When in doubt, it always helps to fall back on good ol’ misdirection. “How can
you still be hungry after all the takeout you’ve had tonight?” he squeaked.
“Josh, do you want one or not?”
“Fine, let’s see ‘em.” Anything to get you off my damn desk, he thought madly.
She moved down from her position atop the desk—much to Josh’s relief and
simultaneous disappointment—and spread out the fortunes from the Silver Wok
restaurant across from the JW Marriott Hotel.
“Do I need to warn you about these fortune cookies again?” asked Donna.
“I know, I know! The Silver Wok doesn’t use standard fortunes. They’re written
by someone in the Lee family.”
“Not just someone, Josh,” Donna reminded him. “They’re all done by their
fifteen year old daughter.”
He shook his head in disgust. “Once again I subject myself to the mental
wanderings of a love-sick teenager. Right, I’m ready for the sappiness.”
“You go first.”
“No, you go first.”
“Josh!”
“Whatever. I’ll pick one for you, ok?”
“No way! I pick my own destiny, thank you very much.”
He sifted his way through the dozen half-moon shapes and snagged one from just
in front of her. “Now lemme see here.” He ripped open the cellophane packaging and
snapped the cookie in half. Bits of broken shell fell to his desk as he unrolled the tiny
paper fortune. “Well, how about that! ‘You are desperately in love with you boss.’ Now
that’s my kind of cookie!”
Donna’s head jerked up suddenly, catching Josh’s gaze. A scarlet blush quickly
crept across her cheeks as the words of the fortune seemed to hang in the air between
them. Moving with a desperate slowness Donna leaned in across the desk, her eyes still
locked with Josh’s. He also moved unconsciously towards her, not daring to blink as he
was held mesmerised by her deep blue eyes. At the last possible moment Donna stopped,
their lips separated by mere inches, and held up her hand.
“Uh, Josh…I don’t know quite how to tell you this, but, well…” Her fingers
uncurled to reveal something hidden against her palm. “My cookie’s right here,” she
whispered.
Still frozen in his entranced position, Josh blinked rapidly. “Wait, if that’s your
fortune cookie, then that means that…”
“It means that you and Leo have a few issues you might want to discuss, yeah.”
Donna laughed and fell back into her chair.
“Leo?” squeaked Josh. “Oh, God!” He collapsed onto the desk, hiding his head
under his arms.
“Maybe this is a sign, Josh. Perhaps it’s time you come to terms with your more
romantic side. All I ask is that you spare me any comments about his ass.”
He groaned loudly. “Donna! God! Now I’m going to have to walk around for
the next few days with that image in my head. Thank you so much!!”
“And that’s the signal that my work here is finished.” With that, Donna stood up,
dusted a few crumbs off her lap and threw the cellophane from both cookies in the
garbage.
“Wait!” called out Josh, just as Donna was leaving. “You can’t go yet! How am
I supposed to face Leo in any meetings from now on? I bet you planned this whole set-
up with that fruity fifteen-year-old. You’ve ruined my career with one cruel swipe of
Chinese food!”
She smiled back at him from over her shoulder. “Score two points for the
Sisterhood, my friend!”
Donna managed to make it as far as her cubicle and to have her coat half on
before Josh stopped her again. He blocked her escape with one arm against the glass wall
separating her desk from the hallway. “You kind of forgot something, there, Donna.”
“What?”
“You didn’t tell me what your fortune said.”
“Funny, that. Almost like I planned it that way!”
“Come on, Donnatella! Cough it up! What kind of mumbo jumbo do the owners
of the Silver Wok have planned for your future?”
Without a word she calmly finished putting on her coat and grabbed her purse.
Her face broke into a soft smile as she moved up close to Josh, close enough for him to
feel the heat emanating from her body. It was only a momentary distraction, but it was
enough for Donna to somehow duck under his arm and make a clear run for the door.
Just before she pushed her way through the double doors, she tossed her reply to him
over her shoulder.
“It sounded something like the fortune you got.”
By the time Josh had figured out what she meant, the room was empty.
“A fortune like mine…” he mumbled, working it out. “Then that
means…WHAT???!!!” But there was no one left to give him any answers.
By the end of the week, Josh had almost put the entire chopsticks episode out of
his mind—or more to the point, he had comfortably fallen into his usual trap of blatant
denial whenever he thought about Donna. And the whole Leo angle to that fortune
cookie was something he never planned on thinking about ever again. Never ever ever.
He had gone out for a week to the West Coast to oversee the campaign’s progress
out of the L.A. office – not that anyone was worrying about Bartlet losing California to
Ritchie. Joey Lucas had been around, and they had had a couple of nice dinners together
in the strictly platonic sense, but the entire time he could feel a strong undertone, as if
Joey was searching for clues about anything happening with Donna.
Her parting words to him at the airport battered around his brain the entire length
of the flight back to DC.
“Don’t worry about the campaign anymore, Josh. You’re going to have to just let
it run its course. Just have fun from here on out—and make sure Donna enjoys it too.
And never forget that you still have the sexiest ass in US politics.”
Fine words, but it was still a little unnerving to hear Kenny talking about his ass,
even if they were Joey’s thoughts. At least, he hoped they were Joey’s, because Lord
knows he’d never encouraged Kenny in anything like that…
But the part about Donna needing something fun to enjoy—sure, on the surface it
was a fairly benign comment, but to his exceptionally dirty mind, his thoughts turned to
just one thing.
Sex with Donna.
No, more than that, it would be making love to Donna, taking her to peaks of
pleasure never before experienced. And if he was using such girly imagery, it had to
mean that he was either delusional or deadly serious about dropping the whole denial
excuse. Maybe the time really had come for him to gamble a little with his feelings
where Donna was concerned.
With these thoughts in mind, Josh wandered into the West Wing late on Sunday
night.
Donna’s cubicle was empty, but considering he had been on the other side of the
country, it wasn’t surprising she had gone home early. No doubt she was watching
Working Girl for the fifteenth million time.
He turned on the lights to his office and had managed to sit down on his desk
before noticing the dramatic repositioning of his chalkboard. And, more to the point,
what was on it.
By the time CJ stopped in, Josh still hadn’t recovered his full powers of speech,
but was sputtering and blinking madly. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to him and
patted him on the head.
“Come on, Josh. Whatever it is can’t be that bad.”
His mouth moved, but no sound came out as he slowly raised his hand and
pointed at the board.
Gone were the meeting times and dates he was supposed to remember. In their
place was an enormous heart—filled in with a ghastly colour of pink chalk—and in the
middle large, bold letters spelled out:
JOSH LYMAN
+
L.M.
An arrow shaft through the heart and stick figure cupids on blue fluffy clouds completed
the nightmarish cartoon.
CJ stared at it for a while, let out a deep sigh and raised an eyebrow at Josh. “You
want to try explaining this one to me?”
“Not exactly,” he squawked. Jumping off the desk, Josh rushed to the board,
searching for an eraser as if his life depended on it. The picture started to disappear
under his rapid strokes of the brush.
“Uh, Josh? You might not want to do that.”
He turned around, looking aghast.
“See, over there in the corner?” pointed CJ. “It says T.I.E. That’s the eternal
schoolgirl rule that whatever is written will be ‘True If Erased.’ Are you sure you want
to get rid of it?” Her final words broke into laughter.
“Does it look like I want this to stay up here?”
“Maybe not, no.” As Josh continued his erasing, CJ crossed her arms and started
thinking out loud. “Who’s L.M.?”
“L.M.?” Josh put down the eraser and leaned against the clean board, his mind
racing for some kind of answer. “Um…L.M. It’s for…ah…L.M. Montgomery! I…I
really like that island she writes about.”
CJ smirked. “And you also secretly fantasise about being Gilbert Blythe?”
“Sure!” agreed Josh. “He’s the paragon of maleness…who is he?”
She got up and patted Josh gently on the cheek before moving towards the door.
“Go home to bed, Josh. You’ve had a long flight today. Or maybe you’ve had a bit too
much of Marilla’s raspberry cordial.”
“What?”
“Oh, and I’m going to spread it around that your office should be renamed Green
Gables.”
He glared at CJ. He’d obviously somehow made an ass of himself, but he
couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. What the hell was Green Gables? “Leave me
alone,” he growled.
CJ caught sight of Sam as she went into the bullpen. “Oh look! Here comes
Diana Berry!” She went back to her office, leaving the two men utterly confused.
“What on earth is she talking about?” whispered Sam. “I don’t look anything like
Princess Diana.”
“I didn’t think you did either, buddy.”
“Okay. So how was the trip to L.A.?”
Josh looked at Sam, trying to focus on his question, but his mind was obviously
somewhere else. “What? Oh, the trip, yeah, the trip was fine. Listen, Sam, is it okay if
we catch up tomorrow? I’ve got something to do.”
“Sure,” said Sam, a little puzzled. Josh went back in his office just long enough
to grab his coat. “Josh, is anything going on?”
“Nah, don’t worry,” he replied. “I’m just going to take a bit of a walk.”
“Oh, okay,” Sam nodded. “Fresh air is good.”
“Yeah, and then I’m going to go and kill Donna. See ya later, Sam!” he called as
he ran out of the building.
Donna woke up to the sound of someone pounding on her door. The clock on the
VCR said it was past midnight…it could only be Josh. “That man has got to learn how to
tell time,” she mumbled, reaching for the remote to turn off her tape of Working Girl.
Melanie and Harrison would just have to wait until she got Josh sobered up and out of her
apartment.
“Who is it?” she called out.
“You know damn well who it is. Let me in!”
Looking out of the peephole, she could see Josh leaning against the door, staring
right back at her. This couldn’t be good, because he was sober. Drunk Josh at her
apartment meant a night of free entertainment, whereas Sober Josh usually meant a night
of lectures and finger-wagging. Great.
She opened the door just a smidge. “Hello, Josh. How was the trip to L.A.?”
“Like you care,” he muttered as he pushed his way in.
“By all means, come on in,” she muttered sarcastically.
As soon as she turned around from shutting the door, his finger was wagging in
her face. “Just what do you think you were playing at with that little surprise you left for
me?”
“Surprise?” She paused, thinking. “Oh! You mean the blackboard! I’m pretty
good with the chalk, huh? But, Josh, it’s been up there for a few days already.”
“You’re insane!” he exploded. “We are never ever ordering food from the Silver
Wok ever again! Bad enough that you keep the mental image of Naked Leo in my head,
but CJ just had to walk in before I could erase the damn thing.”
Donna giggled. “I didn’t say anything about Leo being naked. You came up with
that all on your own.”
“ENOUGH!” he roared. “I can’t think of enough bad things to do to you for this!
You are without a doubt the cruellest, most sadistic, sneaky, sly, gorgeous, brash,
shameless assistant in the entire world!”
Donna was about to roll her eyes and smack him when they both realised that
something else had slipped in during his rant. She wanted to smile, but what if he didn’t
mean it? “Did…did you just say what I think you said?” she asked breathlessly.
“The part about you being shameless?”
“No, the other thing.”
“The other thing?” His voice was getting higher with each question.
“You think I’m gorgeous?”
The anger and embarrassment Josh had been wallowing in suddenly vanished as
he looked at Donna, truly seeing her for the first time since he had come through her
door. Her hair was all dishevelled and falling out of a loose ponytail—an obvious sign
she had fallen asleep in front of the television. Her tank top was old and fit her breasts
perfectly from dozens of washings. When he looked closer, her nipples rose into buds
before his eyes and he could hear her sharp intake of breath. She was wearing an old pair
of grey joggers that still had a few grass stains on them from picnic lunches in the spring.
They hid her legs from his gaze, but he could easily imagine her smooth alabaster skin
beneath the soft material. Her feet were bare and her toes curled in anticipation of his
next move.
When he raised his head to look at her face again, he was struck by how
vulnerable she looked. The Donna he was used to seeing was sassy and full of wit, with
ever-increasing confidence around the office. The woman in front of him had been a
stranger for months—in fact, the last time he had seen her dressed like this, glowing like
this, was the night she had taken him to the hospital and then had fallen asleep in his arms
on his couch after watching “It’s A Wonderful Life”. This was the real Donna. This was
the Donna he had loved for ages, and missed for far too long.
“Do I think you’re gorgeous?” he whispered. “Yes, I do. I think you’re radiant. I
think you’re…I think you’re…” He stopped, trying to find the words. “I’ve missed
you.”
Donna had felt so exposed during his perusal of her body, knowing that she
couldn’t control her body’s reaction to his gazing brown eyes. Now her body relaxed and
a different kind of tension took over—a need to stop all the excuses and do what that
crazy fortune had told her to do. She was already in love with her boss, now she just had
to show him.
Raising her hand to his, she closed the distance between them. Josh was looking
down, almost as if he was afraid of what was to come. She felt that nervousness too and
she needed his strength to get them through the awkwardness.
They touched and the dam broke.
She squeezed his fingers tightly and he drew her close. She could smell him now,
that mixed spicy scent of cologne and after-shave and Josh. Closing her eyes briefly to
breathe it in, she opened them to find him staring at her lips.
His arms came around her waist, pulling her even closer. “You’re what I want,
you’re who I want,” he whispered as his face moved against her hair.
Donna smiled softly, resting her hands against his chest. “So if I was your boss,
you really would be in love with me?” she teased.
“Oh yeah. And if I was your assistant?”
“You wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Neither do you,” he grinned, then bent to kiss her.
When his lips finally touched hers, it was as though a switch was turned on inside
Donna that demanded complete surrender. She sagged against him, pressing their bodies
close, feeling him grow hard against her thigh as their tongues met and stroked each other
ravenously. His hands were running through her hair, pulling her scrunchie away so that
the silky stands could slip against his fingers. She locked her arms around his neck, her
breasts brushing up against his chest, needing him above her, under her, in her all at once.
Josh drew back to get his breath and smiled. “You drive me crazy, you know that
right? You drive me right up the wall sometimes.”
Without releasing her hands from playing with the curls at the base of his neck,
she looked up at him, not hiding a thing from his intense eyes. She needed him, and he
needed her. Moving her hips against his, so that her body caressed his erection, she
began to kiss his neck. “You drive me up the wall too,” she said between kisses. “You
always have.”
Wanting to feel his skin against her mouth she slid her hands down to raise his
shirt. Josh helped by pulling the thing off him. Her tongue played with the soft down of
hair on his chest and charted a path to his nipple. When her teeth bit down lightly he
hissed his pleasure and quickly moved to take her shirt off as well.
He pressed her close against him, sliding her breasts against his chest to tantalise
them both. “More,” she panted, needing his tongue on every inch of her skin. He
complied, laving her breasts with his mouth and deeply sucking at their tender peaks.
Donna could feel the magic cord of desire stretch from her nipples straight to her sex and
moaned with delight as one of his hands worked its way under her joggers to stroke the
moist thatch between her thighs.
They both fell to their knees, his mouth moving up to leave open-mouthed kisses
against her neck. Her mons arched up into his questing touch as he spread around the
dew already there and began to trace dizzying circles around her clit and folds. The room
echoed with their ragged breaths and Donna gave silent thanks that the building was
extremely sound-proof. It was obvious things were going to get loud fast. Then she
couldn’t think at all as her hips bucked against Josh’s deft fingers and the world suddenly
became one brilliant pinpoint of light. She screamed as pleasure raced through her body.
When she opened her eyes, Josh’s face was close to hers, his dimples out in full
force. "Bed?” he asked softly.
“Mmm hmm” was the only sound she could make in reply. Before picking her up
he pulled the joggers off her legs, kissing his way down to her toes. The energy zoomed
back into her body as she sat up and unzipped his pants, wanting to see him in the light
before they retreated to the intimate darkness of her bedroom.
When he moved his hands to help her, she lovingly batted them away. She eased
down his pants and boxers as far as his knees and stared appreciatively at his hard length.
Leaning forward, she kissed him, then slid her mouth down his body to tease his sex with
her tongue. His lips encircled his tip and her tongue darted out to taste the salty-sweet
drops of him that were already there.
“God, Donna!” he sighed, pulling her back from his cock before the night ended
too soon. He quickly slipped off his shoes and socks, stepped out of his pants, and swept
her up into his arms. As he walked to her bedroom she put her head against his shoulder.
“Aren’t you glad now that I drew on your chalkboard?”
“Yes,” he said in mock-seriousness. “It’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”
He lay her down on the bed, memorising her naked perfection before joining her.
At that moment there was nothing Donna wanted more than to feel Josh’s weight
between her thighs, filling the ache that was building to giddying heights inside her body.
His lips worshipped every inch of her, making her purr before he finally settled with her
legs around his waist. While kissing her navel he mumbled something.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Protection? I have some in my wallet.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” she answered, laughing so that her eyes
sparkled.
Josh hung his head, then looked in her face and started chuckling himself. “Fine,
guilty as charged.” He bent down to run his tongue along her collarbone. “Do we need
it?”
“No, we don’t need anything.”
He kissed her deeply before pulling back once more. “Did I ever mention that
you’re the most brilliant woman ever?”
“No, but I’m glad you think so.”
She brought her hand down to stroke his hot shaft, marvelling at the soft velvety
skin that held such hard strength. He touched her core again, making sure she was ready
for him, and then sank within her tight depths.
They both groaned in agonised ecstasy. “God, Donna, you’re so hot.” She was
no longer capable of words, but tilted her hips to take him deeper, feeling him fill every
bit of her. When he began to thrust with an aching slowness she ran her hands down
across his ass, pushing him deeper, wanting him to go faster.
Josh rolled them over so that Donna hovered above him. She instinctively took
over, riding him to the place where she wanted to stay forever, but could only reach for a
moment. His fingers stroked her swollen clit to send her over the edge, screaming his
name and leaning back against his thighs to heighten every ripple and sensation scorching
through her.
When her orgasm subsided, she leaned forward, licking her lips before stealing
his breath with a searing kiss. She let herself fall to one side so he could take the
dominant position once more. His cock pulsed inside her, matching the fast beats of her
heart. They kept their eyes open as he plunged ever deeper inside her body. The last
thought he had before his mind entered the sun was that Donna’s eyes had never seemed
more blue or piercing.
Her hips arched to accept his hot seed, bending her back even as he began to
slump against her breasts. For a short time neither of them moved, and Donna feared he
just had fallen asleep after an experience that had both shattered her life and began it.
But then his arms came around her, holding her close and tight against him, as if he
would never let her go.
“Here you go,” Josh said, counting out the money. The delivery boy nodded his
head in thanks and took off down the hall. “I have never been so grateful for 24-hour
delivery in my life,” he announced, coming back into the bedroom. Donna looked at the
clock from her position amid the bed’s rumpled sheets and shrugged her shoulders.
“Chinese take-out at 3:30AM. It has to be a hallmark of a great civilisation.”
Josh dropped the towel he’d put over his hips to answer the door and started
opening the various boxes. “Here,” he said, throwing the two sets of chopsticks onto
Donna’s lap, “you deal with these.”
“Okay,” she giggled, beginning to shave off any slivers. “What are you looking
for?”
“What do you think? The Silver Wok’s famous fortune cookies!”
“Maybe we should send flowers to Leo’s office tomorrow morning. That would
certainly throw Margaret.”
He looked up from his search and shot her a smile full of dimples. “Who’d have
thought that my being in love with Leo and his fabulous naked ass would be the very
thing to get us in bed.”
“I hope it was more than that!” she cried, throwing a pillow at his head. Josh
ducked and hopped on the bed. His kiss was extremely reassuring.
“Of course it was more than that. It was also because of your fabulous drawing
skills with pink chalk. Now here, open your fortune.”
“Aren’t these supposed to go after the meal?”
He sighed. “Don’t get particular on me just now. Break the thing.”
Donna nodded, snapped the cookie in half, and began to read her fortune.
“What does it say?”
“The Silver Wok comes up with another winner: ‘What you want is in front of
you.’ Bang on…just look at all that Chinese food I’ve been craving!”
Her smile grew even bigger as Josh tackled her and began to tickle her without
mercy. “What was that Donna? What’s in front of you now? You’re passing me over
for a carton of chicken balls?”
“Well…” she gasped, “maybe…maybe your balls are better.”
“What?” he yelled, tickling harder.
“You’re in front of me, Josh!” she yelled back, giving in to his sweet torture. “I
want you.”
“Fabulous answer, Miss Moss.” His mouth sought hers and there was no talking
for a long time.
Later when they were spent, Donna lay across his body, her head nestled into his
shoulder. His hand slid along her arm as they enjoyed the luxury of each other.
“Hey, Donna? What was it that your fortune from last week said?”
“I thought I told you,” she mumbled.
“No, you didn’t. You just said it was ‘something’ like mine. I want specifics.”
She looked up at him. “Remember how I told you that the Lees’ daughter comes
up with all the fortunes? Well, it turns out she also duplicates a lot of them.” She
reached across his body to open the drawer to the bedside table. After fishing around, she
held up a piece of paper so he could read it.
“ ‘You are desperately in love with your boss.’ Wow! It really was the same
thing.”
“Kind of like this was meant to be, huh?” she asked, her voice dropping down to a
sexy murmur.
“Sure looks that way,” he agreed, before tossing the fortune over his shoulder and
sinking down again into her embrace.
FIN
AS ALWAYS, FEEDBACK WOULD BE FANTASTIC! ballynihinch@hotmail.com