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“It’s just a jacket, Shayna. Relax.” I head outside and hand the valet my ticket, then return to join her inside.
We don’t say a word while we wait for the attendant to return with my SUV. He does, and we head outside. Shayna looks hesitant about getting inside when the guy opens the door for her, but she does.
I try not to think about how good it feels to have her beside me in my vehicle as though we’re a real couple. As if I’m driving us home and when we get there, I’ll slide down the zipper of her dress, slowly peeling the red dress off her naked body. How my bulge will be evident and her hand will unbuckle and unzip me, freeing my hard-on. I’d lay her out on my bed…
“LEE!” Shayna pulls me back from my imagination. Damn, it was just getting good.
I shake my head. “Where does Bryce live?” She gives me the address, and I input it into the vehicle’s GPS while we wait at a red light. “I used to rent a place a few blocks away from there when I moved to the city.”
“Where do you live now?” She hasn’t looked at me once since we’ve gotten in the car, but I take it as a good sign that she’s choosing to engage in conversation with me.
“I’m in a condo over in the Russian Hill area.”
She chuckles, and it’s as if someone plugged my heart into an electric socket because I haven’t heard her laugh since before everything went to shit in college.
“I’m not sure why I even asked. I don’t know many places in the city yet.”
I smile and flick my signal on to make a right. “It’s down near the water, close to the marina.”
She nods. “Ah, where the rich people live.”
I look at her a little sheepishly.
“Oh jeez, don’t feel bad about it, Lee. You’ve worked hard to get where you are.”
She’s not wrong. I have worked my ass off to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. I work harder and longer, study more tape, and make sure I’m in peak physical condition. Still, when someone points out my wealth, especially someone who’s not in the same financial position as I am, I always feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe because I know what it’s like to be poor.
“We’re almost there,” I say to change the subject. “I’ll park and go up to the door with you.”
She gives me a look that says I’m being ridiculous. It reminds me a lot of the look she’d give me when she tutored me in college and I attempted to flirt with her. “You’ll never find a parking spot close to the building. I’ll run up to the door and buzz her.”
I frown. Unfortunately, she’s not wrong. I glance at the heels she’s wearing. There’s no way those are comfortable to walk in after she’s worn them all night. Especially in San Francisco with all the hills.
“Fine. I’ll double-park right out front so I can see you.”
She nods, and I park in front of Bryce’s building next to a car. “Be right back, hopefully to tell you she’s home.”
Shayna exits, rounds the front of my SUV, and goes inside the small lobby. She presses a button on the wall and looks inside. She presses it again and waits some more. Her fingers are now in her mouth and she glances back at me, then stares inside one more time. No one is coming.
From the way she’s walking toward the car with a frown, it’s clear Bryce isn’t home. She opens the door and plops herself down in the seat.
“No go?”
She shakes her head. “I have no idea where she could be. Now I’m kind of worried.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe she saw someone she knew at the gala and went out with them after. Or maybe she’s hooking up with someone?”
“Maybe…” She doesn’t sound convinced.
“So… what now?”
She turns her head and looks at me, worrying her bottom lip.
“I can drive you home—”
“My keys are in my purse, and since I don’t have my phone, I don’t even have the landlord’s number to call him. I barely know my neighbors, and I can’t fathom waking one of them up in the middle of the night to get it. Ugh!” Her head drops back against the seat and she stares up through my sunroof. “This is so frustrating.”
I could voice the idea I had earlier, but will she think I’m being an opportunistic douchebag? But it’s clear Shayna can’t get into her apartment even if she can get home and she won’t let me pay for a hotel room for her, so really, what are her options?
