Page 47 of Singled Out
“That’s fair.” Darius led us all to the front door, let us out, locked up, and told us he’d be in touch tomorrow. After shaking our hands, he said, “You ladies have a good evening.”
“You too, Darius,” I said.
We watched him walk off. Then Cambria said, “I don’t suppose you two have thought about going into business, have you?”
“Not too much,” Dakota said, laughing.
I shook my head and thought again about my discussion with Max this morning, but there was a big difference between selling my jewelry online and opening a full store in downtown Dragonfly Lake.
“I might be willing to consign my pieces to you, but I’ll be honest. Opening a store scares the crap out of me,” I said.
“Me too,” Cambria said with a laugh. “I might take you up on the consignments. I have a lot of thinking to do tonight.”
“You do. Good luck with it,” Dakota said.
Once Cambria headed off, Dakota and I decided to go to Humble’s Pizza for a slice and a celebratory toast.
Arm in arm, we walked down the sidewalk toward the restaurant. My stomach was jittery, but I wasn’t sure if it was from excitement about the apartment or something else. Something like a gut feeling I should think more about Cambria’s offer.
One major life step was enough for today, I decided, and did the best to put the rest out of my mind so I could enjoy the evening.
Chapter Fourteen
Max
I awoke sitting up on the sectional in my living room, my feet on the coffee table, my body sweating, and my dick hard.
As I blinked awake, I took a few seconds to get my bearings. The sun had set. It was still Sunday evening, just after nine according to my phone. I’d been grading quizzes after putting Danny to bed. I’d dozed off and had one hell of a hot dream featuring the sexy troublemaker who’d kissed me this morning. In my dream, she’d done a lot more than kiss me.
“Fuck,” I said out loud as my blood pumped south.
I refused to give in to the urge to finish myself off to thoughts of my boss’s daughter. I wasn’t some eighteen-year-old who needed to rub one out just because of a forbidden dream. Instead I got up and headed toward Danny’s room to check on him, a surefire way to cool my jets.
On the way through the kitchen, I started counting backward from one hundred by threes to get my mind off the discomfort in my sweatpants.
I opened Danny’s door enough to see inside. He was asleep, so I snuck to the side of his crib to watch him for a few deep, peaceful breaths. As I’d hoped, my love for my son took over, and my body chilled the hell out. I reached out, wanting to run my fingers over this amazing little guy’s cheek but stopping myself so I wouldn’t disturb him.
I watched his chest rise and fall a few more times the way I’d obsessively done when he’d first come into my care. The never-ending anxiety that something bad could happen to him was like an old bathrobe by now. Familiar but ugly.
Content that he was sleeping soundly, I crept back out of his room, relieved my erection was gone. I returned to the pile of math quizzes on the coffee table and dug into the last two of the night, hoping equations would keep my mind off Harper.
When I finished, I put the graded quizzes in my work bag, and thoughts of the brunette with the brown eyes returned in full force. I wondered what she was doing. Back in the studio creating jewelry? Or was she in the house with Naomi’s unpredictable brother?
I didn’t like the second possibility. She might trust him, but what if her instincts were wrong? I didn’t know her well enough to have a gauge of that yet.
I picked up my phone to check on her. That was all.
Is your housemate leaving you alone?
I typed in the words but didn’t press Send. We weren’t this familiar, were we? I didn’t want to be a text buddy. Couldn’t really afford to open that door.
I couldn’t handle not reassuring myself she was okay with her unstable roommate though.
I pushed Send.
After thirty seconds, bubbles showed she was typing. I didn’t allow myself to think how relieved I was.
An eternity passed before a message appeared, making me wonder if she’d rethought replying.