“Yes, you are.” Leah nodded.
“I’ll take it,” Bailey teased, “but can I ask to what I owe the honor?”
“You lived out my fantasy,” Leah said as if it were obvious, but then scrunched her face as she amended, “Well, one of my fantasies.”
“What fantasy might that be?”
“You and Josh Scott.”
What the…?
How did she know?
Had Leah seen Bailey across the street?
The pet store had been closed, but maybe Leah had been working late.
Bailey felt her face go numb.
As much as she loved her friends, she never talked about her personal life with any of them. Her tight lipped attitude toward her personal life might be because growing up, she’d moved so much that she never had a chance to form any real bonds. In college she’d been trying to heal from some serious emotional trauma and had thrown herself completely into her studies.
She hadn’t had a close group of female friends until just a few years ago. Becca was her oldest friend and she only knew that Josh and Bailey had a past because she’d been around to witness it. But she hadn’t told her about the night they’d spent together and she had no plans to.
Leah wiggled her finger. “I don’t know how you got him to agree to do it, but holy shit, I would have pledged a million dollars if I thought dancing with Josh Scott for twenty-four hours was on the table.”
The panic rising inside of her calmed slightly. Her friend was talking about the dance-a-thon, not the night at the shop. It kept surprising Bailey that so many people knew about it, but from what she’d heard, the live-stream had been viewed by a lot of people in town.
“Leah’s been in love with Josh since we moved here,” Bea explained.
“I never said anything about love,” Leah countered.
“You’re right,” Bea conceded. “I’m sorry. Leah’s been in lust with Josh since we moved here.”
“Truth,” Leah confirmed. “I’ve flirted my butt off for years all for naught.” She mimed casting a fishing pole. “I’ve been throwing out the bait and never gotten so much as a nibble. How did you do it? You have to tell me your ways.”
Hearing Leah say that she’d flirted her butt off, that she was trying to bait Josh had an unfamiliar emotion stirring in Bailey. Jealousy had never been an issue for her…except with Josh. Once. It was freshman year and she’d thought he was interested in a girl named Camilla. As an adult, she’d reflected on it and chalked it up to her youth, but she wasn’t a teenager now. She was a grown woman who wanted to tell Leah to back off.
Which was totally insane.
She had no claim to Josh. He could date Leah, Bea, or anyone else for that matter.
“Please share your secrets with me.” Leah held her hands together as she pleaded.
Bailey laughed, not because it was particularly funny but because she was buying time. What was she going to say? How could she explain how he’d ended up on the dance floor with her? She could just tell them the truth, that he’d seen her on the road after her truck broke down, and picked her up and then offered to step in when her date flaked. There was no reason to tell them anything about her past.
She was saved when her phone beeped. When she saw it was a voicemail from the hospital, she listened to it immediately.
A four-day-old male infant born with Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia was being transported via helicopter to HCC and Bailey was being called in to perform open-heart surgery.
Before she’d even finished listening to the message, Bea must’ve figured out something was up because she said, “Go. Leave Felix here. I’ll bring him home with me after the shop closes and you can pick him up tonight or tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” she told Bea before addressing Leah. “Rain check?”
“I mean…I guess, if saving lives is more important than singing ‘Baby Got Back.’”
“‘Baby Got Back’? Really?” Bailey questioned as she headed out.
“It’s a crowd pleaser,” Leah shouted after her.
As she walked the short distance to her vehicle, she told herself not to look across the street.
Do not look.
Do not look.
Do not look.
She managed to make it in the car, without glancing in the direction of Josh’s shop. She was feeling really good about herself until she started to back up. Her eyes lifted to the rearview mirror and that’s when she saw it.
Josh and a brunette.
Kissing.
Unwanted tears filled her bottom lids.
Obviously, the night they’d shared together, didn’t mean to him what it had meant to her.
Whatever they’d had, was over.
For a long time, she’d known on an academic level that she and Josh didn’t have a future. Now she knew it on an emotional level.
Chapter 13
“I’ll get it.” Josh pulled out his wallet as the server set the bill down for their drinks on their high top table.
“Are you sure?” Heather questioned. “We can go Dutch.”
“No, that’s okay.” Josh slid his credit card into the booklet and set it down, knowing that he needed to say something before this date ended.
It wasn’t fair to Heather, or himself, to continue their relationship past tonight. He’d kept his date because he didn’t feel right about canceling on her, and also he wanted to see if how he felt might change. But from the second she got out of her car and kissed him, he’d known it was a bad idea. Dinner had been painful and the two hours they’d been upstairs in the bar area for karaoke had been torture, and it had nothing to do with the below-average level of talent singing their hearts out on stage.
He’d done his best to be present and engaged in the conversation, but all he kept thinking about was how soft Bailey’s lips were, how her head tilted to the side when she laughed, how she got on the floor and snuggled with Luna, how her milk-chocolate gaze softened when she looked at him.
Heather downed the last of her Moscow Mule. “I think I’m going to do one more song. Do you want to come up with me this time?” She rose from her seat but Josh reached out and covered her hand with his.
“No, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Her chestnut hair fell over her shoulders as she looked down at where their hands touched and she hesitated before sitting back down.
Cautiously, she agreed. “Okay. What’s up?”
Josh had been wanting to get this off his chest all evening and he just couldn’t wait through another song. This night was dragging on and on and he felt like every minute he sat here he was leading Heather on and on.
He leaned forward so that he didn’t have to yell to be heard over the woman belting out “I Will Always Love You.” “I’ve been having a great time with you, but my life has some complications right now and I’m just not in a place to think about a relationship.”
“A relationship?!” Heather pulled her hand away from his.
“Yeah,” Josh continued, “I think you’re amazing and I’ve really liked hanging out with you, but I just can’t start something serious right now.”
Heather stared at him for a second before her eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t think that you thought that we…” She waved her hand between them and her words were growing louder with each sentence she spoke. “This isn’t serious. This is nothing. We’re just friends with benefits. Or not even that. We haven’t even slept together!”
That last statement was loudly declared just as the last bars of the song faded out. They both looked around and saw that no one seemed to be paying attention to their conversation.
Heather tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and bit her lip, somewhat sheepishly. “I’m sorry if I made you think…”
“No, you didn’t.” Josh felt like an idiot for thinking that he needed to have some big talk. “I just thought…I didn’t want you to think…”
Her hands lifted, palms facing him.
“I don’t think anything. I like hanging out with you and you’re a decent kisser.”
Decent kisser?
Josh thought Bailey might argue with her, but that wasn’t the point.
Her face contorted as if the idea of them being any more was crazy. “But I didn’t see us as…or think we were going to…”
“Good. I just wanted to…” Josh was relieved that at least one thing in his life would be less complicated, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder if his ego had just taken a shot. If it had, it wasn’t fatal. “I’m glad we cleared that up.”
“Cool. Are you sure you don’t want to come up with me this time?” She motioned to the stage and the genuine smile on her face told him that he’d made a much bigger deal out of them hanging out than she had. “We can do ‘Summer Nights.’”
Josh would rather stick a screwdriver in his eye socket than sing “Summer Nights” in front of a room full of people. “I’m sure, but thanks.”
“Okay.” Heather shrugged before happily making her way beside the stage to pick another song.
He let out a breath that he’d been holding all night. He felt better knowing that Heather wasn’t going to be collateral damage to whatever was going on with him and he took a moment to relax.
The bar was crowded for a weeknight. Josh had never been there for karaoke night, even though The Grill was a short two-block walk from his shop. The shop that he’d made love to Bailey in.
He’d been trying to figure out what their night together meant. Or if it meant anything. One thing was for sure, he used to think that he thought about Bailey all the time, but he’d been wrong. It had been bad enough when his memories had all been nearly two decades old, now that he had fresh ones, his brain never stopped replaying them. Now, she was constantly in the forefront of his mind. It didn’t matter what he was doing. Working on a car. Making dinner. Talking to clients. Even when he was out on a date with another woman. All he thought about was Bailey.
The question was, what was he going to do about it?
He pulled out his phone and opened a text that Brian had sent him that he’d looked at least a hundred times. It was taken at the fundraiser. It was of him and Bailey dancing, they were looking at each other. If he saw this picture and didn’t know the people in it, he’d swear that they were in love. That was a look of love on both of their faces.
He hadn’t heard from her since their night together. He’d wanted to reach out, but something was holding him back. Fear. Fear that the time they’d shared hadn’t meant anything to her. He wasn’t sure that his heart could take that blow again. And the worst part was, if it did, this time he’d have no one to blame for the devastation but himself.
The facts were, he’d told her that he still loved her. She’d told him that she cared about him. He’d told her that he’d stayed away from her because being with her was physically painful. She’d told him that she wanted to be friends. He’d told her that he was worried that what they were doing was a mistake. She’d said that it was absolutely a mistake.
Right before she grabbed his dick and…
“Tell me something.” Leah Porter demanded as she sat down in the chair that Heather had just vacated. “What does she have that I don’t?”
He put his phone down so fast someone would think he’d got caught looking at porn not a picture of his ex. He stared at Leah for a moment, not quite sure how to answer her.
“Um…”
“How many times have I asked you out?”
That he had an answer for. None. At least none that he took seriously.
Leah and Bea had moved to Harper’s Crossing several years ago and he’d met them right away because they opened up their business across the street from the shop. They were technically identical twins, but they seemed to be polar opposites in every way, including their appearances. Bea was the classic girl next door, and Leah was the wild child. Today her hair was bright pink, but last week it had been jet black. And as far as their personalities, they were night and day as well. Bea was soft-spoken and sweet. Leah was flirtatious and loud.
“Zero, you’ve never asked me out.”
“Yes, I have.” She pointed at him. “How many times have I asked you if you want to go make babies?”
Josh chuckled and shook his head.
“So?” Leah leaned in and batted her eyes. “What does she have that I don’t?”
“She’s…we have…” Josh knew that Leah was just joking around, but he didn’t want to downplay or exaggerate what he and Bailey shared. “History.”
“History?” Leah sat back in her chair. “She said you guys met a month ago when she got her brake pads replaced.”
Oh shit. She wasn’t talking about Bailey.
“Oh, Heather, yeah. We did.”
Leah didn’t miss a beat. Her eyes narrowed. “Who did you think I was talking about?”
“No one. Nothing.”
Her smile widened. “Who do you have history with?”
“No one.”
“Hey, let’s get out of here.” A guy with a tattoo of a snake on his neck that he recognized as Leah’s date stepped up to the table.
Leah looked torn between continuing her interrogation and leaving with neck tattoo.
Her eyes shot back to Josh, pinning him with her stare she declared, “This conversation is not over.”
Then she stood from her chair and slid her hand around neck tattoo’s considerable bicep after he offered her his arm.
Josh couldn’t help but be entertained by Leah. He knew that she’d never seriously asked him out, but even if she had, he would’ve said no. Not because he wasn’t physically attracted to her. He was. Not only that, she was also smart, funny, and bold. He realized in that moment that he wouldn’t have said yes, because she wasn’t safe. She was exactly the kind of girl that he might develop real feelings for.
He’d been doing that his entire life. Sure, he dated, but only women he liked. Never anyone that he was even close to feeling any real connection with. Any woman that he’d felt a spark with he’d steered clear of. Always making up an excuse as to why he didn’t want to give them a chance. With Leah, it had been because she was just joking around. But he knew, deep down, that if he’d shown interest, she would’ve given him a shot. With Bridgette, it had been because they lived too far apart, but two hours really wasn’t that bad. With Anna, it had been because she traveled for her work, but the truth was, that didn’t bother him.
Epiphanies were funny things. There was no rhyme or reason to when or where they struck. But as clear as day, he knew now the real reason he’d never pursued anything with them was because he’d been scared. Scared that he might develop real feelings for them. He just wasn’t sure if he’d been protecting himself or protecting the place in his heart that had always been Bailey’s.
“I’m really surprised to see you here.” Brian clapped a hand on Josh’s shoulder as he took the seat beside him.
“Why? Because I sound like a wounded animal when I sing?”
“No. I mean, I’m surprised to see you here with…” Brian nodded toward Heather, who was still flipping through the large notebook to pick her song.
“Heather?”
“Right, Heather.”
Josh didn’t date a lot, but he definitely wasn’t a monk. He wasn’t sure why his cousin would be surprised.
Unless…
“She’s twenty-eight,” Josh explained.
With a round face and freckles, she did look young. He thought his cousin might think that Josh was having some kind of a midlife crisis. His cousin nodded as if that were interesting, but Josh could see that Heather’s age wasn’t what Brian had been referring to.
“What?” There was a hint of defensiveness in Josh’s tone. He wasn’t sure what this new fascination with his love life was, but he didn’t like it.
“Nothing. It’s none of my business.”
Brian wasn’t one that usually beat around the bush and it frustrated Josh that
he was doing it now.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
Brian set his beer down and leaned his elbows on the bar top. “Becca worked a graveyard shift the other night so I brought her lunch around two a.m. Came back home around three-thirty…”
“Okay…” Josh responded, unsure of where this was going.
“Did you know the shop is actually right on my way to the hospital?”
“Didn’t know that,” Josh responded as he lifted his beer to his mouth. He had an idea where this was going now, but he wasn’t going to concede any information he didn’t have to.
“How’s Bailey’s Range Rover doing? It must’ve needed a lot of work for you both to be there all night.”
Josh could lie, but he knew that Brian would see right through that. Plus, he didn’t owe him an explanation. And he didn’t have one even if he did owe him one.
“With all that work and all that dancing at the fundraiser,” Brian continued. “I was just surprised to see you here with someone else.”
“We’re not together.” Josh wasn’t sure who he was talking about, but it was the same for both women.
The only difference was he wanted to be with one of them. He could finally admit that to himself. The past was the past, nothing and no one could change that. But, he knew now that they might have a chance at a future.
The cousins stared at each other until mercifully, Josh’s phone rang.
He pulled it from his pocket and saw that it was the hospital. His dad wasn’t good at remembering to charge his phone, so he used the bedside phone a lot.
“It’s my dad. I gotta take this.” Josh stood and walked toward the door as he answered, “Hey, Pops. Hold on a second, I need to go outside.”
When he stepped into the brisk, night air he said, “Okay, I can hear you now.”
“Josh, this is Jamie Sloan.” Josh could hear yelling in the background. “You said to call if there were any issues.”
“What’s going on?” Josh had told the staff that he wanted to be contacted if there were any issues. It wasn’t Bailey’s job to calm his old man down.
Just One Night - Josh & Bailey (Crossroads Book 13) Page 11