Play (Stage Dive 2)

Work would survive. Reece owed me. He wasn’t going to like it, but he sure as hell owed me. Between Tara and the new guy, Alex, my shifts could be covered.

“Thanks.” He nodded, gave me a small mile. “And it’s okay about the feeling something thing. I get it.”

“You do?” What a relief, because I still wasn’t sure I did. I’d never even said anything close to resembling those words.

“Yeah. You don’t need to keep babbling about it.”

“I wasn’t babbling.”

“You were, but that’s okay.” His fingers toyed with my hair. “The timing isn’t great for me, pumpkin. I didn’t need shit getting any more complicated. But like I said last night, we see where this goes. Agreed?”

Sounded like a solid plan. “Yes.”

“You’re good for me. You take me any mood I come in. I don’t have to be always happy or on around you. You roll with any shit I say and give as good as you get. You don’t let me push you around if it doesn’t suit you and you haven’t asked me to buy you a f**king thing.”

I arched my brows and “ooh”ed. “God, I’m so slow. It hadn’t even occurred to me. Can I have a Porsche?”

“Sure. What color?”

Holy shit, he would too. If only to mess with me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shook my head. “You never hesitate when I ask for something.”

“You don’t do it often. I figure if you’re asking, it’s something that matters.”

My eyes did not tear up again. I had allergies or something, probably to feelings. And you had to know, this man, he made me feel all the things all the damn time. “I don’t really need a sports car. But thanks.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.” He smirked, obviously having known full and well his agreeing would freak me out. Cunning man.

“Ev wants to organize a dinner tonight with the parents and everyone,” he said. “You good with that?”

“Sure. They’re nice and their place is beautiful.”

He stilled, studying my face. “Yeah, it is nice. Glad you like it there. They mean a lot to me.”

“They’re great people.” In my bedroom the alarm clock blared to life, belting out some long forgotten hit from the seventies. “I have to get moving.”

“Your legs working yet?” Mischief danced in his eyes.

“I think so.” I laughed.

“Call me today. I wanna know you’re okay dealing with Reece and everything.”

“I’ve been dealing with things for a long time.” My jaw tightened. “I can deal with Reece.”

“Hey, you were into him for over two years. I’m allowed to feel a little vulnerable and insecure about the f**kface. Stop trying to stunt my emotional growth, Anne.”

“I thought you were going to try to be nice to him. And stunt your emotional growth? How do you even come up with this stuff?”

“To him, not about him. And it’s a gift.” Given what was making its presence known once more against my hip, love and understanding wasn’t all he was searching for. “I have another gift for you.”

“We don’t have time for you to give me your gift. Plus, your good friend, my vagina, needs a rest.”

His mouth turned down at the edges and he rose up on his arms, sitting back on the mattress. He stood and offered me a hand. “Call me. I’m not trying to mess with your boundaries or anything. Just want to know you’re okay.”

Easily, he pulled me up onto my feet. “Alright, I’ll call.”

“Thanks.”

I cocked my head. “You going to call me if things aren’t okay with you regarding stuff?”

The little line appeared between his brows. Now maybe he appreciated how hard it could be letting someone into certain places. He looked away, jerked his chin.

What a pair we were. Sometimes it seemed we’d need a miracle to make this work. But my usually cautious heart had already committed.

“Thanks.” I placed my hand on his chest. “You don’t need to worry about Reece.”

“I know, I know. He’s nothing compared to my magnificence.” His fingers stroked mine and his eyes softened. “But just out of curiosity, how do you feel about getting my name tattooed on your forehead?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I was two blocks from work when I saw Reece walking toward me through the early morning crowd. His face was set in hard lines. Five minutes late. Five. Okay, seven (max) and he came looking for me? I’d even skipped my morning coffee fix to hurry things along. Excuses ran through my mind, backed up by all the times I’d stayed late to close because he had a date. I should have kept actual figures. They would have been so helpful right now.

“Reece, I–”

“About-face.” He hooked my arm with his and spun me around to face the way I’d come. “Keep walking. You don’t want to go to the shop.”

“What’s going on?” My cell buzzed in my handbag. Mal’s name flashed up on screen. “Mal?”

“Ah, hey. Got good news and bad news. What do you want first?”

“Does this have to do with Reece keeping me from my place of employment?”

“Yeah, he called here a few minutes ago.” He made a pained noise. “Listen, photos of us at the restaurant last night got around. Someone recognized you and told a reporter who is currently hanging around the shop waiting to get the inside scoop on our lurve.”

“Right.” Mind officially boggled. Reece rushed me across a road and down another block. “What’s the good news?”

“Everyone knows about us now. We don’t have to hide.”

“We weren’t hiding anyway.”

“Good point. Sorry, pumpkin, there is no good news. Things are going to be painful for a while.”

“You’re lucky I’m extremely fond of you. What happens next?” We turned into the entry of a café. A table was available in the corner and Reece and I walked toward it.

“Reporters will probably just scrounge whatever information they can on you or make shit up, enough to have a story to run with. They’ll wanna get it out fast, news’ll spread, and there’ll be more people digging into your life. It shouldn’t be anything like what happened with Ev ‘cause we haven’t done anything crazy stupid like getting married in Vegas.” He took a breath. “You don’t do anything else too newsworthy, they’ll lose interest. Meanwhile, how do you feel about us staying at a hotel?”