I washed a bite of my bagel sandwich down with some coffee. “I shit you not, Bridget, he just left a few minutes ago.”
She squealed so loudly in my ear that it began to rang. “Holy shit! I never thought I’d seen the day. I mean, never! He stayed the entire night? In your bed!?”
I snickered. “As insane as it sounds, yeah. We just sort of tumbled into bed, and he was so comfortable, warm, and inviting. I slipped off to sleep and didn’t wake back up until this morning.”
“You mean, no nightmares!?”
I winced. “Can you tone it down a few decibels? I don’t quite have my second cup of coffee in me.”
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just that, well, when you call me up out of the blue to tell me that your date went well, you actually let him into your place, you slept with the guy, and then he stayed the night? After I couldn’t even get you to entertain the idea of mutual coffee with someone!? You can see why I’m a bit excited.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I suppose I see where you’re coming from.”
“Girl, I am so excited for you. But I want all of the sordid details. You promised me, remember?”
I rolled my eyes. “I know, I know.”
She shuffled around on her end of the line. “All right, I’m in bed, I’ve got my snacks, I’ve got my hot chocolate, and I’m ready for the story.”
I shook my head. “You’re insane, you know that?”
“Yes, I’m well aware. So, tell me how you two ended up at your place anyway. You told me he took you to this little beach area, did he somehow sweet-talk you into it?”
I shrugged. “No, not really. We were just enjoying ourselves and I didn’t want it to stop.”
“And your first thought was that you wanted to take him back to your place? Not go to his?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Actually, I kind of have something else I want to talk about.”
“Fine, fine. But we’re wrapping back around to this, got it?”
I giggled. “Got it.”
She munched loudly on something in my ear. “So, what’s taking up space in your mind when we should be talking about your rejuvenated sex life?”
I barked with laughter before I leaned back against my couch cushions. “I feel like there’s a lot he’s not telling me.”
“Oh? Like what?”
I rolled my eyes. “If I knew what it was, then it wouldn’t be bugging me.”
“No, I mean, like, what gives you that idea? What’s he done?”
“Well, for starters, I told you he mentioned being in the military over dinner, right?”
“Riiiiiight.”
I closed my eyes. “I burned my hand helping with breakfast this morning and he went all ‘doctor mode’ on me. I mean, cleaning me up, wrapping my hand in gauze, putting this ointment on my skin.”
“Oh, shit! You’re fucking around with a doctor?”
“He was a combat medic in the army, Bridget.”
“Still! That’s sexy as fuck. No wonder you wanted to fuck him.”
I groaned. “I didn’t know about the combat medic stuff until this morning when he was thrust into that position.”
“So?”
“So, why didn’t he tell me over dinner when we were talking about his military career? What’s the big deal about it? It makes me wonder what else he’s hiding.”
“I mean, did you tell him about—”
“Bridget,” I warned.
She sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is that you had one date with the guy. One date that went very, very well from what you’ve told me. Why turn it into something bad? You’ve got tons of shit you haven’t told him, and he’s probably got tons of shit he hasn’t told you. Why?”
I clicked my tongue. “Because we’ve only had one date.”
“Exactly. You won’t know the man’s whole life story after a day of interaction, nor will he know yours. Don’t write him off because your insecurities are creeping up now.”
“Hey, I’m not insecure. There’s just something nagging at me, that’s all.”
She giggled. “Maybe he’s in a gang or something.”
I shrugged. “I mean, he does have these patches on his leather coats and stuff.”
Silence fell over the phone. “Wait, you actually think the man’s in a gang?”
“He could be into some motorcycle shit or whatever, right? They wear patches on their leather jackets, yeah?”
Bridget laughed heartily in my ear. “Girl, he could just be part of some army riding crew that gets together once a month and takes some trip or some shit. Not all gangs are into illegal shit, you paranoid crazy person.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Maybe.”
“Are you seriously entertaining this idea?”
I crossed my arm over my chest. “I mean, it would make sense.”
“Yeah, if you wanted to find a reason to run from the guy, sure. But that’s all you’re doing right now. Your brain is trying to find a reason to run away because you’ve had such a good time, so of course it has to come with a massive down side. Right?”
I reached for my coffee. “I get your point. You can cut it out now.”
“Look, all I’m saying is to give the man a decent shot. You already slept with him, and you enjoyed it, so you might as well. I haven’t heard you this happy and giddy about something in a very long time. You deserve this, Molly. You really do.”
My phone beeped in my ear and I saw that Cole was calling. “Hey, I gotta go. He’s calling in.”
“You call me back ASAP, okay? We haven’t gotten to all of the nasty details yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Gotta go! Love you!”
“Love you too, beautiful!”
I quickly switched over the phone call and took a bite of my breakfast as his voice sounded in my ear.
“Hey there, gorgeous.”
I swallowed my food down and giggled. “Hey there, handsome. Everything going okay at work?”
“It’s actually not as bad as we thought it would be. A couple of the other shops around us opened as well, so the burden didn’t fall onto us.”
“That’s good. Do they need you to work today, then?”
“There are a couple of things I need to help out with, but I figured after I was done, I could come pick you up and we could get into something. You working today?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I usually do, but I called in this morning to give myself a day to rest.”
He chuckled. “I wore ya out, huh?”
I blushed. “Maybe a bit.”
“And what happens anyway when a nanny calls out? Does someone take your place? Or do the kids just run amok until you get back?”
I barked with laughter. “There’s a night nanny, actually, and we’re always on standby with one another. I actually just came off of a one-week around-the-clock care sort of situation because she took vacation. So, she’ll cover for me today.”
“Nice, nice. Must be some rich-ass couple you work for.”
I groaned. “You have no idea. It’s sick, the money they toss around.”
“Well, consider yourself booked for the day. I’ll be by in a couple of hours to pick you up. Sound good?”
I smiled. “Just in time for lunch. I’ll be ready.”
“Great, because I have this great place I want to take you. They’ve got the best damn fish tacos I’ve ever had in my life.”
I sipped my coffee. “Can’t wait. I’ll see you soon.”
“But not soon enough.”
I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. “See you in a couple of hours.”
I heard his smile in his words. “See you then, Molly.”
And the second we hung up the phone, my body grew excited. My nipples puckered and my thighs warmed at the mere idea of spending yet another day with this man. I squealed and kicked my legs, making sure I didn’t completely knock the coffee table over. Then, after I calmed down, I inhaled the rest of my food so I could take as much time as possible getting ready for our second date.
Because I wanted to knock him off his fucking feet when he saw me.
