Bittersweet Deceit (9 page)

“See, you do like me more than you let on.”

“Good night Stayman.”

“Good night
, OCDC.”

T
hursday morning showed up way too soon. The light coming in through the blinds quickly made me aware of a slight headache. I moved around in bed and felt relatively normal. Then I looked at the time.
Shit!
10:35 a.m. In all that had happened the night before, I hadn’t set or charged my phone. I’d have to plug it in once I got to Bella Boutique.

I stumbled to the bathroom, finding my
land legs. After freshening up and taking two Tylenol tablets, I headed into the kitchen and almost collided with Stay. “Fuck, you scared the hell out of me!”

Stay, in boxers and a white T-shirt
, was scrambling eggs. “I thought you might be hungry after last night.”

I stood there staring at him, trying to wrap my head around having him my apartment.
Although thin, his legs and arms were far more defined than I imagined.
Maybe he could have carried me
, I thought. I also couldn’t help noticing that his bulge strained the opening on his shorts. Our group had gone skinny-dipping before, but I hadn’t taken notice of him then. It was hard not to while he occupied my kitchen. He needed to shave and it gave him a harder edged sexy appearance.

“Are you okay?” he said, reaching out to touch my shoulder.

“Oh, yeah ... just waking up. I came in here to start the coffee, but I can see you have it going already. Thanks. I’m starving.”

“No problem. Do you mind if I cut up some of the cook
ed chicken from the fridge and toss it in the eggs?”

“Use whatever you’d like.
”

“Wheat or raisin toast
?”

“Ra
isin,” I said, finally noticing the kitchen. “You cleaned up?”

“Yeah, last night. I corked the red wine and put
the bottles in the cabinet with the others.”

“Thank you so much Stay, for taking care of me, cleaning up, and for feeding me too. I ... well ... I’m going to shower quickly and get dressed for work.” As I walked away, I thought,
I need to get this man out of my home and fast or I’ll end up adopting him and having him live in my second bedroom.

As I showered, I wonder
ed if I would hear from Mason. He looked so hurt when he left. I hope I hadn’t screwed things up for us. His jealousy did something strange to me. Instead of angering me, it actually turned me on. We had never discussed exclusivity, but last night he had made it clear. I just wondered if he had the same expectations of himself.

My hair would have to air dry, however, I took extra care with my makeup and it irritated me.
You don’t care what Stay think
s, I reminded myself.

I quickly jetted across from the bathroom to my bedroom, and found my bed made and the evidence of last night gone. M
aybe Cat was right and a man could be
too
nice. Of course I couldn’t ignore the fact that I told her that was ridiculous.

I
dressed in a more casual outfit of crisp, pressed, designer jeans and a nice, sheer blouse in the hue of blue that we currently had on sale. After pulling on my high heeled sandals, I called Sam.

“Bella Boutique, how can I help you?” Her chipper voice helped me to relax a bit. The store was in good hands.

“Oh my god, you are a godsend, thank you, Sam. How’s it going?”

“Oh, it’s going great
. I’ve made a few sales already. It’s quiet here at the moment. Oh, and I didn’t have a chance to grab food on the way in.”

“We can order something in at
lunchtime.”

“Great.
Hey, the bell on the door just rang so I have to go.”

“See you soon.”

I checked my reflection one last time and decided to braid my hair into a ponytail. Once done, I thought I looked presentable. “Please let him be dressed,” I said to myself before venturing out of the bedroom. To my relief, he was.

He had set the table for two
. The cloth napkins that I rarely used were folded under the flatware. Eggs, toast, and sliced strawberries filled the table along with coffee and water.

I smiled, truly grateful that the night was over and that Stay had made it far less unpleasant than it could have been.
“Wow, this looks great! And I owe you another thank you for straightening up my bedroom.” I took in his warm easy smile.

The hair growing in on his head and face really altered his appearance. He lo
oked older and more dangerous. “As long as you’re impressed.”

“How could I not be? This looks delicious.”

We both sat down and I sighed internally that he not only acted like a gentleman, he ate like one too.

“
Oh yum. The eggs are delicious with the spicy chicken. Do you cook a lot?” I asked, buttering the raisin bread.

“I mostly do the expedient thing, like roasting a chicken or making a sandwich when I’m on my own. I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my grandmother and know how to make several dishes and desserts. I think I heard you say that you don’
t cook?”

“Cooking isn’t my thing, but I can get by in the kitchen. I never do anything elaborate, but like you, I rely
on the basics. Hot premade meals from the deli at Publix or Trader Joe’s plus restaurant food make up a lot of my diet.”

“Same. There
’s a Trader Joe’s not far from my place.”

We ate in comfortable silence for the rest of the meal and quickly cleaned up. We found an easy rhythm working side by side.

Once in his car, he said, “So are we on for dinner Friday night?”

“Only if you let me pay,
to repay you for taking care of me.”

“A definitely no to that one. A man always pays according to Granny and as I already explained, I have other ideas on how you can repay me.”

“Stop it,” I said, mostly because my body responded to his sexual innuendo against my will.

“I thought we already settled this. You
’re heavily in my debt and I’ll accept payment at a later date. I told you, I’m patient.”

“You’re going to have to be because it’s going to be a long time before hell freezes over.”

“My intuition says otherwise.”

Thankfully my phone rang and interrupted
us.

“Hey
, Lainie. Sorry about the food fiasco,” Jacqs said when I answer the call.

“At least you weren’t the one
who cooked it.”

“Very funny.
It figures my sister would be immune.”

“How are you
, girl?” I asked.

“Oh me, I’m fine, but Red insisted I take the day off. You
know how stubborn he can be. He’s also insisted on taking care of me,” she said, chuckling.

“Sounds like he just wanted an excuse to stay in bed and ditch the office.”

“That’s exactly what I said. You can’t argue with the head of the company. Plus there are plenty of perks right here.”

“Oh, I can
only imagine,” I said.

“Is it true Stay took you home last night?”

“Yes, and he’s driving me to Red’s right now to get my car.” I glanced over at him and he shot me a sexy look. I almost smacked his leg, but decided against it.

“
He spent the night? You have to come in and tell me everything!”

“I have to get to the store. Sam opened for me and is there by herself.”

“What happened to Mason last night?” she asked.

“Long story.”
I glanced at Stay.

“Fine. Call me as soon as you get into your car.
I want to hear all of it.”

“Isn’t Red
beside you, wanting your full attention?”

“We took a break
from other activities, to do some work. He’s on a conference call.”

“
Well, my insatiable friend, I’ll call you in a few.”

Stayed pulled up beside my car and said, “
Five-thirty on Friday.”

“Yes, okay.” I turned in my seat to face him and said, “Listen Stay, all kidding aside, you made last night and this morning so much easier for me and I’m forever grateful.”

He touched my cheek. “Thank you for letting me.”

How do you respond to something like that? I had no idea what to say.
My eyes started to close and my head rested into his warm palm. When I realized what I had done, I blinked my eyes and shook my head. “I’ve got to go. See you Friday.”

Once in my car, I dialed Jacqs.

“I’ve been chomping at the bit here,” she said when she picked up.

“All of three minutes?”

“It was a long three minutes. Tell me everything!”

“There’s not much to—”

“Bullshit! This isn’t the time to hold out on me.”

“Fine, give me a second.”
I pulled into traffic and stopped at a red light. “Stay stayed the night because he’s the one who drove me home and I didn’t have my car.”

“
That was nice of him. Did he sleep in your room?”

I thought I heard her whisper something. “Of course not. Is Red with you now?”

“Yes, go on.”

“He was an incredible gentleman and after I got over being mortified to be
“tossing my cookies” as he called it, in front of him, and crying like a blubbering idiot, I found out that he’s a decent guy. That is, when he’s not being a complete flirt.”

“That’s what I’ve been
trying to tell you. So he flirted with you. Excellent!”

“Well, let me tell you this. Mason was there waiting for me.”

“At your place?” she asked and then she mumbled something to Red.

“If you’re going to tell him everything, you might as well put me on speaker phone.”

“Great!” she said and then I heard the click.

“I was kidding.”

“I’m not. Go on. Did Stay meet him?”

“Yes and it was no love affair.”

“Oh, I see what you did there,” she said and giggled. “I’m so jealous that he got to meet him. Boy that must have been exciting.”

“That’s not what I would call it.”

“Did Stay and, um, the other man talk?”

At least she had some boundaries. “Yes. When I was busy in the bathroom divesting myself of lunch.”

“To be a fly on the wall in that room... What did they talk about? Hang on a second.” Then I heard her say,
“Stop it,” to Red, but her voice sounded playful. “Red says I’m being too nosy. Please tell him this is how we talk.”

“
She’s right, but she is excessively nosy too,” I said, laughing.

“Thanks for throwing me under the bus. So go on...”

“There’s not much else to tell other than Stay really saved me from what could have been a horrible night. He even made me breakfast this morning and it wasn’t half bad.”

“So wait a second. If you ended up at our place, that had to be because...”

“Yes, Mason stood me up, but then showed.”

“Wow. You certainly had an interesting night.”

“Listen, I’ve just pulled into the back of Bella’s and I need to run. Oh, before I forget again, my mother is having one of her horrible parties in a few weeks and I was hoping I could drag you along.”

“Just let me know when. I would love to see your father
, and the food is always amazing. Plus, you have to admit, the people watching potential is just excellent.”

“That’s only because you and my father make up
fake conversations that are hysterical.”

“Your dad is a kick. Tell him I said hi next time you talk to him.”

“I will. Hi and bye Red.”

“Hey
, Lane. Glad to know you’re better. Has Jacqs told you we are planning a dinner party soon?”

“
Honey, I wasn’t planning on inviting her. Just kidding! No, I totally forgot,” Jacqs said before I could respond.

“
A week from Saturday,” Red said.

“Sounds good.”

“Talk soon,” Jacqs said.

“Bye guys.”

After placing my purse down on my desk, I lifted an unopened box and carried it out into the shop. Sam stood behind the counter.

“Love the flowers,” I said to Sam as I placed the box down. “They look great on the counter. Where’d you get them? I can reimburse you
the cost.”

“They were delivered. Who’s MM?” Samantha said with a
n assessing look that reminded me of Jacqs.

The multicolored
, gerbera daisy bouquet filled a clear rounded vase. I plucked the envelope off the plastic holder and opened it.

Lainie,

I hope you’re feeling better.

I need to see you tonight.