Chapter 2: It's Not Over

“Oh my God.” Mya sighed exasperatedly, taking note of her tedious state as she stood before the mirror.

Mya pulled the damp shirt over her head and tossed it onto the nearby countertop then proceeded to remove her jeans.

“I am in dying need of a shower.” She said to her itself, turning to grab a towel and washcloth from the closet.

“Shit!” Mya screamed…

“Maybe this’ll work. No it’s not long enough.” Josh rummaged through his closet for a t-shirt and shorts, but he was coming up short. Just when he came across a possible piece of attire he heard a loud scream. On instinct he rushed to the bathroom and pushed his way through the door.

“Wait- wait!” Mya tried to stop him before he entered the bathroom, but it was already too late and she was standing before him half-naked.

“What is it?” Josh looked around, and then his eyes settled on her barely covered form, clad in only a black semi-transparent bra and panties.

Mya quickly covered herself with the towel that hung at her side.

Instead of receiving an answer a barked answered him. Josh shifted his line of vision away from the tempting view to look down at his feet, where his puppy circled around him.

“Whiskey? What are you doing in here?” Josh bent down to scoop the puppy into his arms that grappled for Mya instead.

 When his gaze settled on Mya again, she wrapped the towel tighter around her body.

He placed the pup on the top of the counter as it unsuccessfully tried to make his way to Mya on the slippery surface.

“What’s your name?” Josh leaned against the threshold.

She hesitated, pausing in stroking the soft coat of the puppy, “Mya…” She responded dryly.

“Well…um I’m going to get that shirt I promised…” His voice trailed off before he left the bathroom quickly, the door closing loudly behind him.

Whiskey jumped and turned toward Mya.

“What?” Mya shrugged sitting atop the closed toilet seat.

“Great. Just great.” She smoothed her fingers through her tangled locks in frustration. A man she had never seen before today had just seen her half-naked; no man had ever seen her half-naked!

“Maybe I should’ve never come here.” Mya pondered, however the memories of what occurred in that apartment continued to haunt her. She sighed and proceeded to remove the rest of her undergarments and take a shower as the puppy watched her every movements.

Josh picked up the oversized shirt and boxers. “Oh shit” He huffed annoyingly at himself. What have I gotten myself into? Maybe he should’ve knocked before barging in on her like that.

“Now she probably thinks I’m crazy for eyeballing her.” Josh still remembered the look on her face when he made his way through the door; it was one of complete shock. He wasn’t surprised that she tightened the towel around her body; in fact he was happy that she shielded herself because he was starting to think of her in ways he knew he shouldn’t be.

However when he heard the shower come on his erotic thoughts resurfaced just when he was starting to calm himself down. But all he could think about was how the water would glisten off her sun-kissed caramel complexion as he bathed the soapy suds from her body…

“Stop stop!” He reprimanded himself. Here he was having outrageous fantasies when he was supposed to be more like her knight in shining armor instead. Josh figured after she was done he was going to have to take a shower as well; a very cold one though.

But why was he feeling this attracted to her. Of course he’d seen pretty woman many times before, but he could never say that he was this attracted to any of them. Maybe it was because this time he was dealing with a damsel in distress and for some reason that made his attraction to her stronger. Yes that’s it…damsel in distress.

Then he heard a knock on the door and answered without turning around, knowing who the visitor already was.

Mya stepped through the partially opened area but stayed behind the door so he could only view her face and not her body only wrapped in a towel. “Um do you have those clothes ready for me yet?”

Josh had yet to turn around and face her. “Yeah they’re right there.” He pointed to where the clothes were lying by the nightstand on the floor, which he had dropped in his haste to reach the bathroom.

Mya crept silently into the room with Whiskey following behind her. She had successfully made it to the nightstand without him turning around, but failed when she knocked an item off the table in her rush to leave the room.

Josh hurried over to her just as she was bending down to retrieve the items. He stopped in his tracks. His eyes landed on the roundness of her shoulders then the smoothness of her back down to what was not hidden beneath the towel; her long supple legs. He tried not thinking of what lay beneath the cotton towel concealing her nakedness from him, but he definitely could see the outline of a very shapely derriere.

“Let me help you with that.” Josh moved to her side and stooped to her level. He couldn’t stand to look at her anymore knowing that all he wanted to do was toss her on the bed and see what was underneath that towel, but he opted to hurry up and get her out of the room.

Mya straightened cradling the clothes close to her chest. “Thanks.” She said shyly trying desperately to give a smile, but couldn’t manage one. Turning on her heel, she left the room.

“Whiskey stay.” Josh ordered.

The puppy stopped but whimpered after Mya had left. “Aww Whiskey she’ll be back later don’t worry.” Even his dog was sprung off a pretty faced damsel in distress.

~*~*~*~

He knew she had been crying while she was in the shower; could read it in her face. Glassy eyes and tear-stained cheeks confirmed it. What could have her so distraught?

“I should be ashamed of myself.” Becoming hot and bothered over a woman so quickly that the need to have sex with her heavily consumed him; was a thing of the past. Josh couldn’t even remember the last time he had actually felt that way. The most recent woman he had been with was just meaningless. Something to keep his mind off of the painful memories that would always restore itself around this time. He remembered it like it was yesterday…

“Hey man…guess what I asked Tiffany to marry me last night?” James entered the room with a wide smile on his face.

The smile that Josh previously had on his face dropped into a frown. “What do you mean you asked Tiffany to marry you?” How could he be getting married? What happened to bachelors for life? Didn’t they make a pact not more than a month or two ago?

“Just like I said I’m getting married to Tiffany. We set the date for next month.” James couldn’t understand why his best friend of ten years and partner for three, the man he planned to have standing at his side during the wedding; could not be happy for him.

They had done everything together. Had even started up J&J Brothers Services; an investigation company that prided themselves on being the best of the best in finding missing persons.

“I thought you would be happy for me man. I know how we always talked about being bachelors and what not, but I’ve finally found the one. I mean Tiffany is really the one.”

Josh was not having it. He stood up and walked out of the room. There was no way he was going to stand there and listen to this bull shit about committing.

“What is wrong with you J-man?” James followed after him using the familiar nickname.

“Tiffany does not seem like she’s right for you.” How could he meet a girl and in less than a few weeks be crazy in love with her? That was just not possible.

“She is right for me! You’re just mad that I’ve found someone who actually gives a shit about me before you did.” James was naturally pissed off by now.

James was right and Josh knew it. He had been blowing up relationships left and right and he was losing focusing on his current project with the investigative agency, which was to locate a man’s long lost daughter. Josh envied him because James was finally trying to do something with his life.

“I need to get some air.” James left the house angrier than he had ever before. And that was the last time Josh had seen him.

Josh sat up in the bed tightening his grip on the picture frame. Even though he had lost his friend more than four years ago the pain still cut deep. In fact around the anniversary of his death he would usually have a bottle of scotch in his hand to drown out his sorrows. His friend had died because he wanted to be an arrogant jerk.

If he had kept his words to himself James would still be alive today married and possibly with a kid or two.

After his death Josh had taken a break from J&J Brothers to just get his life together, a two year break to be exact. He had passed the last project he was working on to a fellow investigator and he hadn’t heard anything about the daughter since.

A knock at the door interrupted his somber flashback. “Come in.” He cleared his throat.

Mya entered the room refreshed and fully dressed now in his attire. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun and all traces of previous tears had completely disappeared.

“I just wanted to let you know that I was going downstairs to the front desk. To get my room changed. Thanks for letting me use your clothes and bathroom. I’ll return them to the front desk.” With that said she gave him a small smile and left the room.

That’s it? “Wait…Mya.” Josh quickly slid off the bed after her, with Whiskey close behind him.

“How bout’ I go check the front desk for you. There are some errands I need to run anyway. You can get some rest on my bed while I’m out.” Why didn’t he just let her leave? He could tell that nothing would make her happier than leaving his presence immediately. But he enjoyed her company even if it was minimal, he still enjoyed it.

It had been a long time since he actually had a female that wasn’t his bedmate or just friend in his company. And he figured he should start with just conversation for a change, maybe then he could start settling down. Whoa! Where did that come from?

“That’s okay. I don’t want to impose on you anymore…Josh.” Mya tried to leave again, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.

Josh stared at her with pleading eyes. “Nonsense. You don’t have to go.” He lifted her from the ground by cradling his hands underneath the pits of her arms and placed her on the bed. Mya landed on the bed with a heavy thud. She was shocked that he wanted her to stay that bad that he would carry her over to his bed to make her stay. She hoped that he wasn’t planning to…

“Wait for me. I’ll be back. Hungry? Okay. Go to sleep if you want.” Josh rambled leaving before his questions were answered. Just the thought of her falling asleep in his bed did things to him.