“Donut miss me too much.” The line went dead, but his hearty laugh danced all the way to the door as he strolled back to the driver’s side of the Batmobile. With one last wave, he was gone.
The alarm on my phone blared rudely, startling me awake. According to my phone, it was 8:30 a.m. I laid there for a moment and rubbed my eyes, my body already begging for coffee. By the time I’d texted Ella to let her know I’d made it home safely and willed my brain to shut down, it was after 4 a.m.
I groaned as I rolled out of bed, my feet reluctantly hitting the floor. I’d only had one glass of champagne, so why did I feel hungover? My stomach was jittery thinking about Jax and how much we’d connected the night before. My insides were a jumble of nerves. Was it possible to have an emotional hangover? Or perhaps it was because I was almost thirty-seven years old, and I’d stayed out all night like a teenager.
My phone pinged with a text before I could even make it out of the bedroom.
Ella: You have exactly one hour to get your adorable rockstar loving ass over here to tell me about last night, or I’m coming over.
I chuckled as I typed out my response.
Liv: Be there soon. Brew more coffee, and set up the IV, please.
I padded into the kitchen and turned on the Keurig before I started back down the hall to the bathroom. I flicked the light on and turned the handle on the shower, letting steam fill the room. I caught a glimpse of my tired reflection in the mirror, my mind still reeling from the night before.
Will you let me know you?
Jax’s words echoed through my mind as I recalled how persistent he’d been the night before. My mind drifted to how handsome he’d looked leaned against the Batmobile when he dropped me off. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it had all been a dream.
Whether it had happened or not didn’t really matter. What mattered was that it was back to work, and back to reality, now. There was no way in hell this dinner thing was happening.
After a quick shower, I covered the dark circles under my eyes with some concealer so as not to frighten any customers I might have to see. I sprayed my scalp with a steady stream of dry shampoo in an attempt to make my hair look presentable. I slipped a hair tie around my wrist and tousled my hair on my way to the closet to throw on some clothes.
I shoved my feet into my boots and went back to the kitchen to feed Mama who was nowhere to be seen and grabbed a cup of coffee on my way out the door. The walk to work was cool and drizzly, but I didn’t mind. The contrast of the chilly air and the warm coffee helped wake me up a bit. When I walked through the back door of the kitchen at 9:23 a.m., I already felt more alert. Ella stood waiting to interrogate me with the pot of coffee in her hand.
“You had exactly seven more minutes before I came to beat down your door.” She refilled my coffee as I pulled my apron off the hook, tying it around me. I tossed my bag on the hook, and she handed my mug back to me. “Tell me everything.”
“Okay. Let’s start with how Cash sure loved him some Ella.”
“What?” She tilted her head quizzically, as though she had no clue what I was talking about. “No way.”
“Girl, he made sure he was next to you all night,” I reminded her. “After you left, he said you were a pistol. He’scutetoo.”
She grabbed her own mug off the counter and filled it. “Yeah, he’s hot, but I hardly think a guy like him would be interested in some mom with a teenage daughter. Besides, I’ve only got this year before Grace goes off to college, so I’m not trying to find any distractions.”
I raised my brow at her, but decided to drop it. “Where’s Katie?” I asked, surveying the kitchen and all of the cupcakes and tarts she’d already made. Damn, that girl was always on top of it.
“Stocking the cases out front,” she responded impatiently, returning the coffee pot to its place on the counter. “So? Spill it. What happened? Did you guys make out?”
“No.” I snorted, choking on my coffee. “Of course not.”
“What do you mean,of course not?He’s a hot rockstar. Whywouldn’tyou make out with him?”
“It wasn’t like that.” I brushed her off. I pulled the binder that contained our orders off the counter, but before I could even open it, she’d snatched it out of my hands.
“Okay then, whatwasit like?”She plopped the binder back down for effect.
“He took me to get donuts.” I sighed and leaned against the counter, taking another glorious sip of my coffee. “Then, we went for a walk over in Berry Hill. He showed me one of the studios the band records at and this pie shop he really likes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So, you just went for a walk?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me.” She raised her brow at me accusatorily.
My eyes shifted to the inside of my coffee cup. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You little turkey.” She rounded on me, pointing her perfectly manicured nail in my direction. “Tell me. What happened? What did he say?”
