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Logan sits with his mouth open.
“Reed, you’ve made your point. Now sit down for fuck’s sake. The desserts here will help us all,” Brance mumbles, looking into his empty wineglass.
I suddenly feel sorry for the poor pastry chef. Her desserts better be mind-blowing because without a doubt, the night has taken a turn.
“Hello.” A petite woman with salt-and-pepper-colored hair and cute glasses walks up to us. She’s tiny and looks delicate in her white apron.
Brance jumps up, nearly knocking over a glass of wine to hug her. I want to too; her timing could not have been better. “Tess, Reed, this is the famous Dahlia Narvaez. She is the best pastry chef in the world.”
She laughs. “Well, let’s not go overboard. You look like you have been enjoying yourselves.” Her eyes take in our plates and wineglasses.
Turning to us, she says, “Hi, I’m Dahlia. Welcome to Mozza.” She shakes my hand first then Reed’s. Now, I don’t care if her desserts are crap. The fact that she acknowledged me first instead of my hot billionaire boyfriend makes her my new best friend.
“Thank you,” I gush. Even Reed smiles. I can almost feel Brance relax beside me.
“So, what are you guys going to do while you’re here?” she asks.
“I think we are going to eat and sleep. Hang out at the pool, maybe do some shopping.”
She nods as her crew brings out five different desserts. “Well, that sounds nice. I hope you enjoy your vacation.”
She smiles at us, turning to Brance and Logan. “See you two soon. Enjoy.”
After she disappears back into the kitchen, I turn to Reed, sighing into his neck. “I love LA.” He laughs.
“Oh my God, you have to try this.” I snap my head up quickly enough for Brance to spoon some lusciousness into my mouth.
“Holy God, that is divine.” My eyes roll back in my head. All of us are feasting and sharing, even Logan. When the check comes, Reed grabs it. Logan thankfully averts his eyes as Reed pulls out his American Express Black card and pays.
The temperature has slightly dropped to a beautiful 78 degrees.
Reed takes my hand. “You two go ahead. We’re going to get an Uber.”
“Don’t be a dick,” Brance slurs. “We are driving you two to the Four Seasons.”
It’s been awhile since I have seen Brance drink that much. He rarely lets himself get into this condition.
Logan is silent, and the drive is thankfully short because again, the only sound we hear is some strange instrumental music. Reed and I can barely get out fast enough.
“What the hell? You believe that guy? I love how he is funding his save-the-world campaign on Brance’s money.” He rips off his shirt once we’re upstairs.
“Reed, he’s different all right?” Although even I was surprised at his disdain for us. As I strip off my clothes, his blue eyes darken. “I’m drunk and tired, not to mention in desperate need of a shower. I don’t want to gossip about Logan right now.”
Marching into the spacious and classy bathroom, I turn on the shower and don’t wait to see if Reed will join me. All I want is to be clean and go to sleep. It’s not even eleven yet and I’m tired. I try to make myself feel better by saying it’s the time change, but I napped on the plane. Finishing my shower, I brush my teeth and pad out into the enormous bedroom suite. Reed is already in bed. He lifts the covers and I happily slide in, sighing at their clean coolness against my warm skin.
“Feel better?” He kisses my forehead, snuggling into me.
“So much better. My head is only spinning a slight bit.” I throw a leg over his, resting my hand on his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat.
“Just breathe.” He holds me tighter. “I love you, Tess. We’re truly lucky.” His voice is raspy with emotion.
I open my eyes then close them because it’s pitch dark in here. “Yes, we are.”REEDMy head is pounding. Tess is sprawled on top of me. We drank way too much wine and gin last night. Thankfully, we ate a ton, otherwise Kitten would be spending all day in bed recovering.
Slowly, I disconnect myself from her and make my way into the bathroom. After I pee and splash some water on my face, I start to think about last night. Shaking my head, I’ve got to give it to Brance. Only he would find a boyfriend who would want to save the world and be a dick about it. Whatever, as long as Brance is happy. Hopefully this guy is as good as Brance believes since he’s changing for him and footing the bill.
Visions of Brance in Africa trying to build a house then crying when he gets a splinter make me snicker. Honestly though, I admire him. He wanted to leave and start over and he did it. Now he’ll tackle saving the world. More power to him. I wasn’t joking when I said I would help. Maybe I should call Richard, one of our accountants, and have him wire Brance a couple million.
