Tempted

“He’s Cal. He’s always working,” she says dejectedly.

“I can imagine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Bailey?”

“Nothing. I just mean with his job . . .”

“It’s hard. We’ve been struggling lately.”

“Because of me?” I ask, knowing that the position I put him in is likely at the top of their struggles.

“Not just that. I just . . . don’t trust him, Bailey.”

“What? What do you mean you don’t trust him?”

She blinks a couple of times. “I think he’s cheating.”

I jerk back. “Are you serious? Have you caught him doing something?”

She shakes her head vehemently. “No. Nothing concrete. He’s just been extra shifty lately. Working really late. Not coming home a few nights a week.”

“You need to end things,” I snap. I’d always questioned Cal’s loyalty. My sister’s intuition is typically spot-on. If she thinks he’s up to no good, he’s likely up to no good.

“Bailey. Please stop.”

I put my hands up in surrender.

“Fine. But listen to your gut, Harp. Get to the bottom of it.”

She looks at me expectantly. “Will you help me spy?”

“What?” I giggle, finding the question absurd coming from Harper.

“I need you to spy on him with me. We can try to break into his Facebook or something.”

As much as I think this is a bad idea, I can’t let her down. I nod in affirmation.

For the rest of the night, there’s no more talk of Cal. We laugh, eat, and talk about everything we’ve missed these past few weeks until my phone beeps, and I look down.

Drew: Get your ass to my place. I need you.

I look up at Harper’s baffled face.

“What’s with the goof-troop grin?”

“Just a friend.” I shrug.

“A guy friend? Spill it.”

“Nope, nothing to spill. It’s Carter. You met him at the diner. Then he kicked you out of the bar,” I remind her, and she grimaces.

“I should get going. Cal wants me to meet him.” She grabs her stuff and makes her way toward the door. Leaning over, she smothers me in an embrace. “Thanks for tonight. I miss you.”

I squeeze her back. “Me too, Harp.”

When I get to Drew’s, I can tell he is tense. “What’s wrong?” I ask, concerned.

“My mother can be very difficult at times.” He rolls his eyes. “Come here,” he says, bringing me to his chest. “You smell like fish.”

I laugh at his tone. It’s cute. “Harper and I had sushi.”

“Harper, eh? Did you tell her about us?”

I stiffen in his embrace. “Tonight wasn’t the right time. She asked me to help her spy on Cal.”

“She’s still marrying the douche?”

I laugh. “Yep. There’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to support her.”

“You don’t have to support your sister making the biggest mistake of her life, Bailey.”

“What am I supposed to do? I don’t have anything on him. She’s spying. If she finds something, she’ll walk.”

He kisses my forehead. “Let’s take a shower.”

He leads me to the bathroom, stripping me along the way. When the warm water hits my skin, I sigh in contentment. Drew takes care of me, washing my hair and massaging my scalp, and I am putty in this man’s hands. For the first time since we’ve been intimate, he doesn’t initiate sex. He simply pampers me. I don’t know what to think, so I don’t. I just enjoy all he offers me.

40

Drew

There are a few hours to spare before I have to meet Bailey at her apartment to pick her up. I decided to give us both a day off today. However, even though I won’t be working, I should probably stop by to check on things and make sure everything is running smoothly. With the new restaurants’ openings looming in the distance, I can’t have anything going awry.

When I walk in the door, it’s still early. The club doesn’t officially open for another hour. But that doesn’t stop it from being crowded. Most of the staff is here already. A private party before the main club opens was booked in the VIP room tonight, so some of the bartenders are here, making sure the bottles and mixers are ready.

When I see Carter, I give a little wave before heading over to the stairs that lead to my office.

Before I hit the landing, though, I hear a noise and giggling from the storage room. Normally, I wouldn’t stop, but I don’t need employees distracted tonight.

Stopping my pace, I turn around and move toward the door, swinging it open.

What I see hits me in the chest.

In front of me is Lauren and Darla. Lauren is kneeling over an extra table that isn’t set on the floor. She’s got a rolled-up dollar bill to her nose.

My hand clenches into a fist, but I take a deep breath before I speak.

They both look up from the table, eyes wide.

“Drew . . .” Lauren starts but then stops, clearly unnerved and not knowing what else to say. She puts down the bill and tries to cover the powdery white mess. “I didn’t think you were coming in today.”