Tease Me (The Macintyre Brothers 2)

In the morning, I woke early and had a shower, needing the hot water to feel better. I was tired after waking up in the middle of the night and struggling to fall back to sleep.

When I came out of the office, Steph was in the main bathroom having her own shower. We met in the kitchen and looked over the room service menu.

"Josh said he wanted us to indulge ourselves, so we can order anything we want."

Steph's eyes widened. "In that case, I want the works. Eggs Benedict. Waffles. Fruit. Coffee. Juice," Steph said.

"You got it." I called up room service and we sat down in the living room and waited for our food to come.

"What's up with your man?"

"I don't know," I said and frowned remembering our strange discussion in the middle of the night. "He said he had a personal matter to deal with that he wasn't proud of. It had something to do with his friend, who committed suicide and whose funeral he attended. It means he had to fly to California. He's going to stay with his brother and will be back on Monday, so unfortunately, he's not going to be able to meet you."

"That's too bad," Steph said. "I wonder what he could mean by the not proud part."

"I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine. Do you suppose it has to do with the man's wife? Maybe his parents? I just can't think of what Josh could have done that he wouldn't be proud of. He's a really good man."

Steph shrugged. "He'll probably tell you w

hen he gets back."

"I hope so. He's been having nightmares lately and I wonder if he isn't under a lot of stress and is feeling survivor's guilt."

"His friend did die. He's probably feeling bad that he hadn't kept in touch with him or something. When he gets back, he'll tell you."

"Why wouldn't he tell me now?"

"Give him time," Steph said. "His emotions are probably too raw. You know what men are like."

"I know," I said. I wanted to be patient, but I felt bad that Josh didn't feel able to tell me right away. Why?

Our food came and the two of us indulged, stuffing ourselves with the delicious food. Then, after I called Reg and arranged for him to come and ghost me for the day, Steph and I spent the morning walking through Central Park with Reg in tow. We stopped for a while by the lake and took in some sun, for it was a warm autumn day.

"I feel weird having Mr. Sunglasses following us. I wonder who Mr. Fedora is."

"Me, too. Hopefully, it's just a private detective doing some business research or something innocuous. What do you want to do?" I asked. "Anything special?"

"Just the usual tourist traps," Steph said. "I want to take the subway. I want to go down Fifth Avenue and I want to go to Ground Zero. Plus, maybe the Museum of Modern Art."

"That sounds like a perfect day," I said, happy to be going out and spending the day with Steph, doing touristy things. I'd been so busy with work and with Josh, that I hadn't done a lot of just wandering.

Our day was enjoyable and by the time we got back to the hotel at six that evening, we were both exhausted.

"What do we do for supper? Feel like going to the restaurant?"

"I'd love it," Steph said.

So, we got dressed up and went down to the restaurant lounge for a drink before a lovely meal of beef burgundy and dessert comprised of a special maple cheesecake.

"I don't know about you, but I want to get into my jammies and watch a movie. What do you say we watch whatever blockbuster is on the pay-per-view?"

"It's a plan.

So we did.

By midnight, I was exhausted and hoped that Josh would text me soon, so I could go to sleep.

JOSH: How was your day of fun with Steph?