"All night," he said without hesitation. "I thought we established that earlier when we said you were spending the night with me."
"I thought spending the night was code for sex."
"No," he said dryly. "It's not code for anything. It means what it sounds like it means. Spend the night means spend the night. It means your body sleeps next to my body."
Oh my God, I'd never heard anything so glorious in all my life. "All right," I said casually as I folded the jeans I was just about to slip into. "Do you have a T-shirt I can borrow?"
Chapter 14
We made love again that night. It happened in the middle of the night after we fell asleep entangled in each other's arms while watching a movie. One minute I was sound asleep, and the next thing I knew, we were making love. I wasn't even quite sure which one of us got the other one up, or how we got started, but it was at least as good as the first time we were together. We talked for a few minutes afterward and then fell back asleep.
I woke up in an empty bed, which made me feel disoriented. The clock by the bedside said 8:53, and I sat up to look around the room. I could see he wasn't in the bathroom because the door was open. I climbed out of the bed and crossed to the stack of clothes I had on the night before.
I'd just show myself to the door if I couldn't find him. I had on one of his T-shirts, and I was reluctant to take it off even though I should have changed into mine. I gathered my things and stepped into my flats before I tiptoed down the hall and stairs. I didn't see anyone from the foyer, and was too shy to go around the corner into the living room to check for him.
I stood there for a second before quietly opening the front door to leave. I slipped out of the door and started across the porch to the huge, stone staircase.
"Hey," I heard from behind me. I turned to see that Drake was standing at the front door.
"Hey," I said.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"So you were just planning on stealing my shirt and leaving with no goodbye?"
I looked down at my chest and the T-shirt I couldn't make myself take off. "Sorry," I said, looking back at him. "I kind of wanted it as a souvenir."
He smiled as he crossed the space between us. I had just started to descend the stairs, and he came to stand above me, making our difference in height even more dramatic than it already was. I stared up at him.
"I'll let you have the shirt if you'll come back and see me sometime."
I knew exactly what he meant by that, and honestly I didn't know how I felt about it. I desperately wanted to see him again but the awkward morning after feelings I was already experiencing made me a little wary.
"I think I should restate that I'm not the kind of girl who does things like this, so it's hard for me to promise anything. I have the feeling I won't be able to refuse you once that time rolls around, though."
"Well, it's hard for me to decide about the T-shirt then." He looked at me with a deadpan expression, and I started to walk around him so I could go inside and take it off. "I'm kidding," he said, laughing and putting a hand out to stop me. "It looks way better on you than it does on me, anyway. It'd be a crime for you to take it off."
"That's good, because I really didn't want to."
He reached out and put a hand on the back of my head. "How about I get to work on your table right away, and I'll call you when it's ready. Then, you'll have no choice but to come back."
"I thought that was the plan all along."
"Yeah, but now I'm just going to work faster."
"How fast are we talking?"
He shrugged. "Within a week."
I smiled because I just couldn’t make myself not smile. Okay, so maybe I hated him a little bit for not asking me to marry him this morning, but at least he wasn't totally heartless, right?
He tightened his grip on my neck and leveled me with a stare. "Promise you'll see me again."
My gut clinched as a wave of desire crashed into me just like it did every time he touched me. I nodded because I couldn't think of anything to say.
"I had fun, Addie," he said smiling.
"Me too."
I turned and went down the steps and over to my car, stopping to glance back at him right before I sat inside. He was looking at me and gave me a wave and smile which I returned as I closed the door.
I drove home in a daze, feeling a crazy mix of emotions, but on the whole, having no regrets. It was just past nine, and I figured Megan would still be sleeping even though it was Monday. She was planning on enjoying the last few weeks of freedom before she started working full time, and rarely got out of bed before eleven.
I was careful to be quiet when I opened the door, but I heard her voice before I even got the door open. "Good morning, Lovely," she said.
"Good morning to you too, Early Bird."
She laughed. "I have to help my dad at his office in a little bit," she said. I could see that she was already dressed, and figured I caught her right before she left. "I was planning on texting because I wanted to see if you wanted to get lunch after I help my dad. There's a Mexican place that just opened up by his office and I've been wanting to eat there."
"Sure," I said, since I was in a state of mind where I'd pretty much agree to anything.
"Okay good. The name of the restaurant is Agave. You should be able to find it. It's right there on Jefferson."
"I know the place," I said.
"I want to hear how it went last night, but I have to go. I'm already running late as it is." She looked at the clock with a worried expression. "Yeah, I'll have to hear about it at lunch. Did you at least have fun?"
I nodded and smiled, and she made a kissy face at me as she grabbed her bag and walked toward the door. "Good," she said with satisfaction. "I'll get the details in a few hours."
"What time?"
"Twelve thirty. You know what? Let's do one, just in case."
"One o'clock."
The door was almost closed when she picked her head back and smirked at me.
"Nice shirt."
I smiled. "Thanks."
She was off without another word, and I was left there alone with my thoughts of the night before. I replayed scenes of it over and over, reliving moments where we talked and laughed together. I felt like I really connected with him, and had to remind myself that so did every other girl who spent the night at his house.
It's just that I loved his personality, and was feeling sad that I had to be with him on a sex only basis. I decided to take a bath even though I gave some serious thought to leaving his smell on me. I didn't go so far as to wash the shirt. Instead, I just threw it on my pillow.
I met Megan at the restaurant at one o'clock on the dot. She was already there when I arrived, but said she hadn't been there long. They didn't have a wait, and the host showed us to a table right away. It was a beautiful day, so we chose to sit on the patio.
"I'm exhausted," Megan said. "They're having a big Botox event at my dad's office, and it was crazy in there. I've been on my feet all morning."
"What'd he have you doing?" I asked.
A waiter came by, and we both looked up expectantly, but he turned to speak to the table next to us.
"Paraffin hand treatments and schmoosing with the clients. It's no big deal. He makes me work it every year. I'm just tired and my neck hurts."
She rubbed at the back of her neck, but then remembered that she wanted to hear about my night and her expression shifted to wide-eyed curiosity. "Soooo?" she asked, knowing I would know what she was talking about.
I shrugged. "Don't worry about it if I just had a one night stand with him," I said.
"Well, I figured that," she said.
"Thanks a lot," I said.
She laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant I figured you slept with him since you didn't come home till this morning."
"I'm sorry if I made you worry," I said. "I think I'm sorry about a lot of things."
She gave me a co
nfused expression. "I just have some regrets."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know. I guess I sort of wanted to make sure you were okay with everything since you sort of saw him first."
She laughed. "Addie, I showed you the hole because I knew you'd think those guys were hot. Did I think you'd march right over there and sleep with him? No. Does that surprise me? Yes. But there's no way I would have had the balls to do that myself, so it's not like you were cutting in front of me or something." She smiled at me. "Besides, I like the one with short hair better anyway."
"Really? I thought it was Drake. You like Rory?"
She smiled. "Is that their names? Were they both there last night?"
"Yeah, Rory's the one with short hair. He's Drake's brother from another mother, which is really weird because they look alike. They sound totally different, though. Drake sounds like a Jamaican, and Rory's Irish."
"Seriously? And they look just alike."
"They definitely favor each other, but you can see the differences up close. They're both freaking gorgeous. Their dad's still hot and he's old."
She asked me several questions about them possibly being pirates, but I got away with vague answers since I really didn't know much.
Again, a waiter came to the table next to us. Megan and I both tried to stop him to tell him we hadn't been served, but he didn't see us before he turned and was off again. She looked at me, a bit perplexed. We'd been there for ten minutes and still no one had come to our table.
"Do you want to just go?" she asked. "I'm tired anyway. We have left over pizza in the fridge."
"I don't care either way," I said. "I just came because you wanted to come."
"I could go either way too," she said.
We sat there for another minute before deciding to leave.
"Have you been helped?" a guy said just as we were standing.
"No," I said. I was the one to speak because he was making eye contact with me. "We've been sitting here for ten or fifteen minutes, and nobody's come over here. We were just gonna head out."
"I'm so sorry. Let me go grab you some chips. I'll be right back."
He walked off and Megan and I looked at each other deciding what to do. We reluctantly sat down, and right when we did, a runner came to our table carrying a plate of quesadillas. He set it in front of me before realizing it was intended for the table next to us. He gave us a regretful look as he placed it in front of the little boy who was there with his family. I stared at Megan with a disbelieving look and we both decided it was time to cut our losses at this place.
We made it almost all the way to the door when we passed the server who'd apologized to us at the table. "We're gonna go ahead and go," I said.
He stopped walking and regarded me with a sweet, regretful expression. "Please let me make it up to you," he said. But at that point, the wheels were already set in motion. We were almost at the door, and I wasn't about to turn around and sit down at the table again. "It's okay, we were already leaving," I said, continuing towards the door.
We left the restaurant to head home for some leftover pizza. It wasn't until I had the chance to think back on the whole scene at the restaurant that I put it together that he had a tray full of chips and water in his hand and was probably headed to our table with it. I remembered the way he looked at me and thought about him saying, "Please let me make it up to you." He seemed so sincere when he said it, but I was too focused on leaving to see that at the time. I wondered if he might get in trouble on account of us walking out, and felt a wave of guilt
By the time I got home, I had myself worked up thinking we'd just cost a guy his job. It was probably a job he needed too. "I can't believe we just did that," I said, coming into the house.
Megan had beat me home, and was already warming her pizza. "Did what?"
"I can't believe we just walked out like that."
"What do you mean? We sat there forever with no service and then they tried to serve us some kid's quesadillas."
"Yeah, but that guy. He looked me straight in the face and said, 'please let me make it up to you,' he's probably gonna get in trouble for us walking out. What if he loses his job?"
"Addie, I promise we're not the first people to walk out of a restaurant. My mom walks out all the time for no good reason at all."
"I know, but I just feel really bad. He was totally holding our chips and asked for a second chance and I just feel so heartless for walking out like that."
She laughed. "Oh my God, you're the most tenderhearted person I've ever met."
"So you don't think he got fired?"
"No," she said laughing.
"I'm probably already a little emotional anyway."
"Exactly," she said. "One night stands can do that to a girl."
"I also feel really bad that I didn't ask you to come along—especially now that I know you like Rory."
"I wouldn't say I like him, I just think he's hot, but that's obvious. They both are."
"Well, I'm sorry I didn't ask you to come. I think you would have liked those guys. I was just too insecure to bring you because I thought Drake might…" I cut off and was quiet for a second before continuing. "Anyway, I'm sorry for not asking you to come."
She reached out and touched my hand. "Addie, I wanted you to go have fun. That was your project from the start, and I only wanted to go if you wanted to have me there for backup or whatever. You need to stop beating yourself up. I still love you and the guy at the restaurant still has his job."
Chapter 15
"I just hate that we did that. I'd feel better knowing he still has his job. Maybe we can go back sometime."
Megan regarded me sincerely. "Are you sure you're okay? You know, with everything that happened last night?"
"Are you asking because I'm overreacting about leaving that restaurant?"
"It's not just that. I just want to make sure you're good. I know you Addie, and you don’t take sex lightly."
"Yes I do," I said.
Megan leveled me with a stare that said she wasn't buying it.
"Okay, you're right. It's a little out of the ordinary for me, but I'm totally fine with it. I mean, I can tell by looking at him and have heard enough from you and your brother to know what I was in for. I didn't expect him to mention me coming back sometime, though, and he did," I said.
Her eyes popped up to meet mine. "He did? What did he say? Are you gonna start going out with him? How old is he anyway?"
"God, Megan, one question at a time."
"What'd he say about you going back?"
"He said he was making my table and would call me when it was done." I shrugged. "And he might have eluded to hanging out again when I picked it up."
Megan squealed.
"It really wasn't a big deal," I assured her. "There's still a significant chance that he won't call me back at all."
"You totally had on his T-shirt when you came home this morning," she said. "That was so cute."
"He's so cute."
She squealed again. "Tell me, tell me. Please tell me."
"First of all, I think your brother might seriously be onto something with the whole pirate thing," I said tentatively.
"Are you serious?" she asked in shock. "And you stayed over there?"
"It's not what you're thinking. They never said anything to prove they were, but I just got the impression by the way they talked. They seemed like businessmen who were more along the lines of the Sopranos than Wall Street, but they kept the conversation pretty clean around me, so it's hard to say for sure. Their dad did have this skull that sits next to his briefcase."
Megan choked on her own spit and started coughing uncontrollably at my casual mention of the skull. "Are you joking?" she asked as soon as she cleared her throat.
"It's not that big of a deal when you're around them. They're nice guys, and Drake said the guy who used to belong to that skull deserved what he got for the things he did to women and children."
/> "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard," she said. I could tell she was dumbfounded that I was okay with it.
I smiled, reassuring her. "It's not as weird as it sounds."
"Which is it? Are they pirates or is he a furniture builder?"
"Both I think. Like I said, I'm not really sure about the pirate thing. I think they probably juggle the real businesses on the side, though—the furniture and fishing businesses are legit and maybe even successful, but there's definitely something gangsta going on."
"So he's really making you a table even though he's a ruthless pirate. How much is that gonna cost?"
I laughed. "He didn't tell me," I said. "I'm prepared for it to take a chunk out of my savings, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? He showed me a few of the other things he made. He's a real artist."
"Oh my God, you are so in love."
"I am not."
She gave me another concerned expression. "Addison, you better not put yourself in a position where you let him hurt you, because if he does, I'm gonna have to go after him, pirate or not."
"I won't get hurt. I promise I'm okay with having a little fun. I know that's what he has to offer, and I'm good with it. No regrets."
We talked for another hour or so before she took off for one of her friend's house. She was always really nice about asking me to go along, but I knew she had a life before I moved in, and we both tried to be respectful about giving each other space.
I spent the whole afternoon reading. I read for four and a half hours straight, not stopping until my characters got their happy ending. The book I was reading had a couple of love scenes in it, and I couldn't help but compare them to the evening before. Reading romance novels usually gave me unrealistic expectations for the way sex was in reality, but last night with Drake was at least as good as the ones in my book, and I caught myself getting distracted by the truth being better than fiction.
Don't get me wrong, though—fiction was pretty dang good. The couple in the book had some hot times followed by a happily ever after, and I was left with a satisfied feeling that stuck with me all evening. I went to bed feeling a lot better about the guy at the restaurant and my maybe-questionable relationship choices.
Finding the Magic (Tom Kelly's Boys Book 1) Page 10