Can't Hurry Love

The shrill ring of an alarm woke Josh, and he listened to Beth scrambling to get her phone.

"Shut UP." She was whispering furiously. She tapped on the screen, her frown lit by the bluey-white light.

"I don't think it's listening."

She jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice, and her head whipped around to look at him, her tussled curls swinging around her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She was still whispering. "It's only four thirty. Go back to sleep."

"It's ok." He sat up, fully awake now. "When you work in an ED, you get used to having barely any sleep. And you learn to wake quickly."

"No need for that in Rocky Valley, huh?" she said wryly. "Not exactly," he answered. "But I'm not complaining about it."

He reached for her, but she leaned back shaking her head. "Oh no, you don't," she warned him. "I can't be late to the bakery. I'll already be behind after yesterday." "Yeah, but you're only across the street from it. That must save at least thirty minutes travel time."

"Which is why I set the alarm for thirty minutes later," she countered laughingly. "And now that you're awake, I can use the shower without feeling guilty about waking you."

She hopped up before he could grab at her, pulling on the robe that she'd commandeered.

But not before he got enough of a view to make him want to drag her back into the bed and under him.

"There's a new toothbrush in the cabinet," he said as she hobbled to the bathroom. "Does this put me on coffee duty?"

She wouldn't be able to stay on that foot all day, but he'd check it out once she was out of the shower.

She turned to smile over her shoulder at him, and his heart skittered, telling him something he didn't want to hear right now.

"If you make coffee now, I'll give you free coffee and brownies for a week!"

"Deal."

He got up, pulled on black sweats, and padded down to the kitchen.

The coffee machine he'd insisted on bringing from Chicago made nearly perfect lattes in seconds. He fixed Beth one before making himself a triple espresso because it was still the middle of the night, and they hadn't exactly gotten a lot of sleep, then brought both cups back to the bedroom.

The shower was still going... she was still in there, naked...

Putting her coffee on the dresser, Josh downed the espresso, the liquid only slightly scalding his throat, then opened the bathroom door and slipped inside. The room was filled with steam, the glass of the shower door fogged up, but Beth's hazy silhouette was enough to have desire clawing at his veins. He felt like a randy teenager with the way his body reacted to her, but instead of worrying about it, he figured he should just enjoy the experience. And make sure she did, too. "Beth?"

Her head poked out from behind the door, her hair darkened to gold when wet, plastered against her shoulder.

"Coffee's ready?" she guessed.

He grinned as he stepped closer. "It is, but I had a better idea for waking you up.'

Her eyes widened as she ran them down his bare chest, her cheeks tinged with that tell-tale pink. She looked back into his eyes then slowly pushed open the shower door.

It took Josh only seconds to pull off the sweats and step under the hot spray, lifting her into his arms and making her very late for work.

Are you kidding me with this?"

Beth winced as Brooke's voice rang out across the bakery.

Thankfully, the lunchtime rush was over, so there weren't many people to witness the realtor waving her phone around and stomping over to the counter. Her voice had been loud enough to summon Zoe from behind The Book Nook's counter, and she rushed over to where Brooke was seating herself on a stool.

Jenna was already making Brooke's coffee order without needing to ask what she wanted.

"You might as well wait a bit," Brooke set her purse on the stool beside her. "I've texted Paige, and she's on the way."

"Oh, thank the Lord," Jenna set Brooke's cappuccino down in front of her. "She's been tight-lipped all morning, said she'd fill us all in together."

Beth didn't know why she'd been so hesitant to spill that morning when she finally rushed over to the bakery, hair still damp and wearing yesterday's clothes, with one of Josh's sweatshirts over it.

Zoe and Jenna had taken one look at her-the Harvard hoodie, the hair thrown up into a mess of damp curls-and dragged her inside demanding minute details.

But she'd brushed them off with the flimsy excuse of wanting to wait until they were all together.

She was scared, Beth supposed, that they'd question things, meaning she'd start questioning things.

Like, why the sudden change of heart? And how long would that last?

Yesterday and this morning, when it had just been her and Josh, she could enjoy the romance of it all. Could pretend that there weren't any issues left.

He'd said yesterday that he owed her honesty, but he hadn't wanted to get into it, and truthfully, neither had she. She was always being warned that her romantic heart would get her into trouble. And now she was worried that her friends would tell her she'd been stupid not to insist on having a real conversation before jumping into bed with him. And the shower, if she was going to get technical.

The bell over the door rang, and Paige swept in, her ponytail swinging as she hurried over. "Did I miss anything?" she asked, smiling her thanks as Jenna set a chamomile tea down in front of her.

"No, we were waiting for you." Brooke pulled her purse from the stool so Paige could take a seat.

They were a study in opposites: Brooke in a killer black suit and Paige in a feminine sundress.

Beth, meanwhile, still looked like the wrong end of a horse. She was tempted to run away, but since her ankle was still bothering her, she wouldn't get very far.

Grayson and Seth had driven out to collect her truck and bring it back to Big Sky until she could drive it. Grayson hadn't asked her where she'd spent last night, assuming she'd been at Zoe's, which was closer to the town. And Beth was eternally grateful for that. Gossipy friends would be hard enough to deal with without an overprotective big brother asking uncomfortable questions.

Her head started to hurt. But looking around the determined faces staring at her, she knew she wasn't getting out of here without answering questions.

"Ugh. Fine." She sighed and propped herself on a stool behind the counter, her leg resting on a pillow like she'd promised Josh.

"What do you want to know?"

"Um-everything," Jenna laughed.

The bell over the door went again, and they looked up to see Tara Reid, the waitress from Bella's, come in.

"Hey, Tara," Beth called, grateful for a minute's reprieve from the upcoming inquisition.

It wasn't that she didn't want to share. Boast, really. She was just worried that she'd gush over her dreamy doctor only to have him go cold on her again. Her insides flipped uneasily, and she knew that she didn't need Brooke, or Zoe, or anyone else to point out the need for a serious talk.

She already knew it needed to happen. She could only hope that it would end with her and Josh together.

"Hey..." Tara smiled. "...I come in search of your chocolate chip cookies." She waved a friendly hello to the others. "Teddy had a doctor's appointment today, and I promised him some for being so brave. The ones at work just don't cut it, apparently, but let's keep that between us."

Jenna moved to fill a box with the cookies.

Tara and Teddy had only moved to Rocky Valley a couple of years back. Beth didn't know that much about the pretty waitress. She kept herself to herself a lot, but she was always pleasant and friendly. And Teddy, her five-year- old, was adorable.

"Is Teddy alright?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, he came home with from school Friday with an earache, so I took him to get checked out. Dr. Larson is so good with him. Teddy thinks he looks like Thor, so he's always happy to see a superhero doctor."

Beth felt her heart skitter listening to Tara talk about Josh with Teddy. And she tended to agree with the kid with the whole Thor reference.

"Thor, huh?" Zoe grinned, eyeing Beth.

Her other friends were smiling at her too, while Tara frowned.

"Why do I feel like I'm missing something?" she asked, her brown eyes narrowed in confusion.

"You're not missing anything," Brooke said casually. "We were just about to find out all about Thor's hammer from Beth."

Beth's shocked gasp was drowned out by the burst of giggles from her so-called friends.

Tara's eyes widened before she laughed along with the others. "You know, Teddy is with Mrs. Beech and I know your grandma loves to spoil him, Zoe," Tara said with a grin, "so I've got time to kill."

Beth groaned and dropped her head into her hands, knowing that her cheeks would be on fire. So much for waiting to see where things stood with Josh before making a big deal of it. She looked up into the expectant faces of her friends. Well, here goes nothing, she thought.