>
He stalks closer, the expression on his face indecipherable. "Are you busy tonight?"
"You have plans," I point out.
"With my sister," he explains with a sigh. "I can be free of that by ten. If you sleep now, you'll be up by then, right?"
I feel like I could sleep for a week, but I know I won't. I'll get in a few hours and that will be sufficient until late tonight.
"I just want to talk, Ad. We can meet for a drink. You pick the place."
I'm surprised that he didn't immediately suggest his club but that comes with a myriad of complications including all the women he intimately knows who hang out there on a regular basis.
They've never scared me away before and since we are still just friends, I see no reason to shy away now. "Veil East at eleven?"
His left brow twitches. "I'll be there. I'll have the manager close off the VIP area for us so we can discuss things in private."
I'm game. I don't like this awkward energy that's flowing between us. I want him to joke with me, kiss my hand and look at me the way he did before we played Truth or Dare.
"I'll see you tonight." I don't move from where I'm standing.
A slow smile blooms on his lips. "I'll count the hours, Adley."
Once he walks away, I turn back to my building. I catch Sydney walking out just as I'm about to walk in.
"Did you quit your job?" Her jaw drops. "You did it, didn't you?"
"No." I shake my head. Sometimes it's easier to tell an almost stranger your dreams and fears than it is those closest to you. I did that with Sydney early on and her confidence is something I know I can rely on. In some very narrow ways, she knows me better than Crew does, or even Ellie.
"I got the afternoon off," I go on, "I'm heading to bed for a well-deserved nap."
Her eyebrows lift. "You're in a surprise when you get up to our place, Ad."
"What surprise?" I ask suspiciously. I don't care what it is as long as it doesn't get between my bed and me.
"You know that super-hot friend you have? Black hair, green eyes and a fuck-me smile?"
"Crew?" I answer because seriously who else do I know who fits that description.
She nods. "He just dropped off a bouquet of insanely beautiful white lilies. He told me to put the vase by your bed because you love waking up to the smell of fresh flowers."
My bottom lip trembles. He knows that because the morning of the snowstorm I woke up in his guest room and noticed a vase of white lilies on the bedside table. When I asked him why they were there said he has his housekeeper bring in fresh flowers for both bedrooms twice a month.
I wouldn't shut up about how beautiful they were so he wrapped them up in an old roll of holiday paper and gave them to me to take home.
I kept them next to my bed until they all died a very slow and messy death.
"I wish I had a friend like him," she notes with a small smile. "You're so lucky, Adley."
I am. I just hope that what Crew and I had isn't lost forever.
Chapter 18
Crew
If I were the type of man who expected anything from a woman I would have been sorely disappointed this afternoon when Adley didn't call or text me to thank me for the flowers. I didn't hold my breath waiting for that to happen. It wasn't because I had three meetings and a photo shoot for our new lipstick line to manage.
It's because Adley York is old-school when it comes to thanking anyone for a gift. If she doesn't write out a thank-you note by hand, she delivers the words in person in the form of an enthusiastic hug.