“It’s not going to happen.”
She glares at me. “It’s been almost two years that we’ve been messing around.”
“Is that how long it’s been?”
“Yes, are you ever going to call this official? I can’t wait forever.” She tries to threaten me, but what she doesn’t realize is that I don’t care.
“I understand that. And you can walk away at any time.” I remind her.
Claire crosses her arms at her chest, clearly annoyed with me. “So can you, but you keep calling me back,” she retorts.
“I’m a guy. I’m not going to turn down a quick fuck.” I grab a bottle of water from the nightstand, chug it, and then make my way to the bathroom. “Goodbye, Claire,” I say before shutting the door behind me.
I hear the hotel door shut, and by the time I come out of the bathroom, she’s gone.
Claire is a nice person. She’s smart and has a successful real estate career. One of my vendor contacts introduced me to her when my dad was selling his house in Westlake Village. She basically threw herself at me during our second meeting. I didn’t mind. We’ve been hooking up since then. Nothing serious. I don’t do serious—or should I saycan’tdo serious.
A family is just not in the cards for me, and I make a point to be upfront with every woman I’m with. Some agree, and we fuck until I get bored and then eventually move on. Others have no interest in anything less than a possible promise of a future.
Even if I did ever want to date someone more seriously, it’s not like I’ve found anyone who has crossed my mind that I could ever consider seriously dating yet.
Sometimes I feel guilty about Claire, but then I just quickly remind myself that she is an adult and can make her own choices. I have been honest with her about my intentions since the first time we hooked up. My friends like to mess with me about her being a little obsessive, but it might not be that far from the truth. I’m not even interested in her, and the sex is just mediocre. Mostly, it’s her calling and me agreeing—because I want to get laid.
She wormed her way into accompanying me out here this weekend on the premise that I needed help with signing thelease on the condo rental I’m staying in while the renovations are completed on my new house.
I do not require her services for this, but I gave in anyway. After the walkthrough at the condo earlier today, she tried to come back to my hotel, practically begging me. My mind has been elsewhere, and the last thing that I wanted from her today was an average fuck.
I’m not in the mood.
Instead, I invited her up to have a quick drink and go over some details on my new house. We were both sitting on separate ends of the desk with our laptops open in front of us.
Most of the time, her focus stayed on business, but then, every so often, I’d hear her slip off one of her high heels. Then I’d feel my pant leg slowly lift from her gliding her bare foot along my calf. Each time, I would jerk away and adjust my body in the opposite direction—but sure enough, she’d still somehow find a way to wiggle her long toes against my skin.
I grimaced at the warm sensation and eventually moved myself to the bed.
I must have fallen asleep a short time later because that’s when I was hit with the memory of my mother coming back to haunt my dreams once again.
Chapter Three
Bailey
Fellow flight attendant and one of my best friends, Piper, and I are heading to our terminal when I see a very familiar man sitting at the bar to my right. Even with only a view of his side profile, I’d recognize him anywhere. Mason Miller, my brother’s best friend from college and a man I have despised for most of my adult life.
I continue talking with Piper as we make our way through the terminal of the small southern California airport. His back is facing out as she and I eat the distance between the three of us. We’ve almost made it past the bar when at that moment he turns his head slightly to the right, forcing our eyes to fall into the same line of sight.
Shit.
It’s obvious now that he has seen me, and he knows that I’ve seen him. I curve my lip upward, acknowledging him. Mason smiles back. I should at least go say hello. Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean I need to be classless. And since he and Harry are opening a restaurant together in Scottsdale—and to my unfortunate surprise, my brother also suggested my condobuilding for him to rent out until he can find a house, I guess I need to be civil.
“That’s my brother’s friend. I should probably go say hello to him,” I tell Piper as I veer toward the bar.
“No problem. I’ll see you in a bit!” she responds, heading toward our gate.
When Harry told me he was going into business with his college roommate, I was surprised to find out it was Mason. They met in college and were roommates during their freshman and sophomore years of school. Mason was attending in Arizona for the expansive hospitality program at one of our state universities. They’d both majored in it, but Mason instead decided to double major in business as well.
Since Harry and I are two years apart, I didn’t join them on campus until their junior year. Almost immediately, Mason and I did not get along well. Unfortunately, he was and still is my brother’s best friend, so I was forced to be around him a lot more than I wanted to be.
After he and Harry graduated, Mason moved back to California to open a restaurant. Harry takes a guys’ trip every year with his four buddies from college—including Mason, but I haven’t seen him since their graduation six years ago.
