I stand up and cautiously walk over to her side of the bed. Squatting down, I bring my face level with hers. She’s lying on her stomach with one arm extended out and the other dangling off the edge of the bed. Her head is turned toward me, and her eyes are closed. She looks beautiful even when she’s asleep. Just how I remember.
I carefully tuck her arm under the covers, so she doesn’t wake up with it hurting in the middle of the night from lack of blood flow. Then I run my knuckles across the side of her cheek, pushing the hair away from her face. “Good night, B,” I whisper before exiting her bedroom.
On my way out, I lock her front door from the inside and then shut it behind me.
Sounds of the last bit of construction in the background provide a unique melody as Harry and I are on opposite sides of the restaurant conducting server interviews. Harry has hired most of the management staff, so at this point, I’m just helping him round out our server count.
After finishing up the last interview for the day, Travis comes out of the kitchen carrying two chef salads and soup.
“That smells so good,” I say. My mouth is watering as he brings the food over and sets it on the bar in front of us.
Harry and I immediately start eating.
Travis leans against the opposite side of the bar. “How are the rest of the interviews going?” he asks.
Harry and I glance at each other, the same frustrated look on both our faces. Before either one of us can respond, Travis answers for us. “That bad, huh?”
“It’s not that they’ve been bad, it’s just that we’ve had some interesting ones,” Harry states, sneaking out a sarcastic comment.
“That’s a nice way to put it,” I offer, popping a crouton into my mouth.
“Well, that’s why you two do what you do, and I do what I do.” Travis tosses a towel over his shoulder and heads back toward the kitchen.
Harry and I spend the next hour discussing the interviews and touching base about what else needs to be done before our grand opening next month. Once in a while, he’ll throw in afunny story about Penelope. We’ll laugh about it for a minute, then continue discussing business.
Harry and I have been friends for years. We, along with a group of eight of our fraternity brothers from college, all keep in close contact. Even though most have moved to different parts of the country, gotten married, and created families, we still all attend an annual guys’ trip together each year. Out of all the years I’ve known Harry, I’ve never seen him so happy or fulfilled since having his daughter.
Sometimes I feel guilty for being such an asshole toward Jess in college. I was a horny single guy that wanted to party and sleep around—and I wanted my friends to do it with me. Harry always stayed faithful to Jess, though. I’m actually surprised it took him so long to propose.
“I’m glad we’re done for the day. I’m exhausted and I still have to pick up Penelope from my parents’ house. She’s over there playing with Luca,” Harry says.
My ears perk up hearing Luca’s name. “Is Bailey out of town right now?” I ask.
Harry shakes his head. “No, she flies out tomorrow morning.”
My head immediately starts to picture her being alone in her apartment. It’s only been a few days since I picked her up from wine tasting, and I haven’t been able to think straight since then. I need to see her. She’s so fucking hot. The way her body melts into mine, the way she says my name through those light pink lips. She had cherry ChapStick on when we fucked, and I can’t get the taste out of my mouth.
I wonder if she’s upset about the other night when I turned her down. She needs to understand that I meant every word I said about not fucking her when she’s drunk. I want—needher to feel all of me and if she’s had a few drinks, that’s not going to happen.
Just thinking about tasting her makes my dick hard. I shift in my seat.
“I’ll stay late tonight to give the resumes one more look before we decide. Then I’ll leave you my front-end recommendations on the desk so you can check them out when you come back in the morning,” I tell him, finishing up my lunch and pushing my plate to the side.
“Great. Thanks, dude. I’m going to head out to pick up my little princess.” He stacks the plates at the end of the bar, then goes to the back office to grab his stuff.
I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms at my chest, wondering if Bailey found her little reminder yet.
“See you later, Mason. Try not to stay too late,” he calls out as he leaves.
I respond with a quick wave.
Chapter Thirteen
Bailey
Ilie in my bed staring up at the ceiling with my AirPods in, blasting “Erase/Rewind” by The Cardigans. For the last couple of days, Mason has occupied almost every one of my thoughts, even though I’m still pissed about hisBe Mason’s Good Girlreminder on my phone. He thinks he so goddamn funny. Of course, he would think that I would belong to him.
When he suddenly appeared at the wine bar to take me home a few nights ago, it reminded me of a time in college when he practically did the same thing by showing up to take me back to my dorm room from a frat party. That time, he brought me back, and we ended up falling asleep together for the entire night. When I woke up the next morning, he’d already left. I remember burying my nose in the pillow he’d slept on. His lingering scent was everywhere.
