Chapter 25
“Thanks, Trace. Your next drink’s on me,” Denise said, shooting her friend a grateful smile. She and Trace had arrived at the restaurant before the rest of their group, and she’d filled him in on Farrington’s plan to expand. He’d given her some valuable insights from his corporate law experience.
Her smile changed to a grimace. “I didn’t mean to make you talk shop in your downtime, though. Crap, I’m getting as relentless as my dad.”
Trace scooted his Stetson over from where it rested on the bar in front of him, so he could reach over and pat her arm. “You’re not making me do anything, D. It’s called helping a friend.”
“Cheers, then.” She clinked her glass against his. “On a more pleasant note, how are things going with Sabrina? Did you ask her out yet?”
“No,” he admitted with a sigh. “She’s sweet, but I don’t really think we’d be a good fit.”
“That’s okay. Sometimes you have to trust your gut on these things.”
Trace hummed in agreement, but he was no longer looking at her.
Instead, his gaze was fixed on the restaurant’s entrance, where Solange was visible through the glass doors.
She had her phone to her ear and was walking back and forth outside as she talked.
She must have had a meeting or video to shoot today because she was even more dressed up than usual in a hot pink suit.
Even from this distance, it was clear her hair and makeup were perfect, and she cut a gorgeous figure as she paced in the dusky sunlight.
Denise stole another glance at Trace to find his attention still riveted on Solange. She smirked into her glass. “Maybe the better question would be, when are you going to ask out the woman you really want to date?”
Trace’s gaze snapped back to hers, and his eyes widened. “What?”
“Come on, bud. It’s clear as daylight how much you like Solange. Why not give it a shot? You’re so much better than the guys she normally dates that it wouldn’t even be fair to make the comparison.”
His face colored as he ducked his head. Denise had seen Trace stoic and levelheaded in tense court battles and completely calm while standing toe-to-toe with the loudest, most antagonistic transphobes imaginable at protests, but here he was nervous and bashful over being called out on his Texas-sized crush. It was cute.
After a swig of his beer, Trace finally got a hold of himself and sent another long look toward the front doors. “Thanks, D. But even if I were sure she’d be open to dating someone like me…”
When he hesitated, Denise squeezed his arm. Everything she knew about her friend told Denise that Solange wouldn’t have an issue with dating Trace because of who he was, but it absolutely wasn’t her place to say. And she’d never downplay Trace’s experiences or valid concerns either.
“The other issue is, she’s always telling me I’m her safe place. Like she can be herself and comfortable around me. Solange puts on this fearless persona, but I don’t think she’s always had that safety. She needs it. And I can’t stand the thought of doing anything to screw that up.”
Denise nodded slowly. A safe place. What would that even look like with another person?
Without warning, an image flashed through her mind of Maddox’s little grin as they’d looked down at her when she’d woken up in their arms that night.
Yes, in that moment and the entire night, really, Denise had felt safe.
Safe to let herself go, to desire and be desired as she truly was: past, present, and all the messiness in between.
But that had just been one night. Anything more would be too much.
With a firm shake of her head, she returned her focus to Trace, but before she could say any more, the restaurant doors swung open and Solange strolled in, followed by Fi. Denise gave Trace a compassionate smile and one more squeeze to the arm before pulling away to greet the others.
Hugs were exchanged all around before the host came and escorted their group from the bar to a table for dinner.
After they’d all taken their seats and placed their dinner orders, Denise glanced around at her friends. “I really appreciate y’all taking time out for dinner tonight, with me needing to go out of town again so soon and everything.”
Fi had been the one to round everyone up via group text. Denise wouldn’t have asked them to arrange their schedules for her benefit, but seeing how willing they all were to make the time warmed her insides better than the glass of white wine she’d had a few moments ago.
“Well, I wasn’t sure we were gonna get to eat tonight as long as it took to drag Solange away from her phone,” Fi playfully groused.
“Hey!” Solange protested with narrowed eyes. “The new store that wants to carry my brand is in California. It’s still working hours there, and I needed to talk to them. I’ve been running off my feet all day with this deal.”
“There’s a store in California that’s going to carry your stuff?” Denise asked. “That’s amazing. Congratulations!”
Trace and Fi echoed her enthusiasm, and Solange beamed. “Thanks, y’all. But the even bigger news today is…I got the fundraising shirts!”
She rifled through her large handbag before pulling out a t-shirt and unfolding it with a flourish.
It sported a lovely abstract design in the pink, white, and blue colors of the transgender flag.
“It’s my final concept! Next week, it’ll go live on my website and hopefully start bringing in some money. ”
Solange had created the shirt to sell on her personal shop site as a fundraiser for Trace’s nonprofit, which, among other things, handled legal defense funds for families of trans kids in the region. None of them had seen the final design yet.
Solange handed the shirt to Trace, and he stared at it for a long moment with a soft expression in his brown eyes. When he didn’t say anything, Solange placed a hand on his arm. “Do you like it?”
He looked from the shirt to her hand and then up to her face before answering in a scratchy voice, “Beautiful.”
Then he cleared his throat and smiled. “It’s beautiful. Thank you again for doing this.”
She smiled into his eyes. “Of course.”
A beat passed where they didn’t look away from each other.
Fi looked at Denise, nodded at the other two and wiggled her eyebrows. Denise answered with a knowing grin.
“Solange, I—” Trace began, but a deep voice interrupted.
“Excuse me, miss.”
A tall, handsome black man in his thirties dressed in polished business casual attire stood behind Solange and addressed her. When she looked up, her eyes widened. Denise couldn’t exactly blame her. He looked like the lead in the Regency drama everyone had been gushing about a few years before.
“Yes?”
“I think you dropped this.” He handed her a leather wallet. It must have fallen out of her bag when she was digging out the t-shirt.
“Oh, thank you!” Solange accepted the wallet and flashed the stranger a million-watt smile.
“My pleasure.” The man continued to linger, eyes searching Solange’s face. “Sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but are you Solange Pierce?”
“Yes, I am!” she answered brightly.
Denise cringed. She couldn’t imagine giving her name to a random stranger like that, but then again, she wasn’t a social media personality.
The stranger grinned widely, showing off toothpaste-ad perfect teeth. “My younger sister follows you on Instagram. She loves your videos. But wow, you’re even more beautiful in person.”
Solange’s eyelashes fluttered in a way that would’ve looked utterly ridiculous if anyone else had done it, but somehow she pulled it off. “Thank you.”
The man continued to gaze at Solange but finally must have noticed the way Fi, Denise, and Trace were all sitting up and watching him.
He looked down at his shoes and chuckled.
“Okay, I'll bet that came across kind of stalkerish, huh? My name’s Lyle Turner, and I’m sorry for interrupting your evening. ”
Solange shook the man’s hand and raised a brow. “Well, maybe I’ll forgive you if you wanna DM me later and apologize some more.”
Lyle’s grin grew absurdly wider. “Maybe I will.”
When the man finally strutted off, he sat at the nearby bar. Denise had a distinct and unsettling impression he was still watching their table even after he left.
Fi pressed her lips in a thin line. “Well, that was something.”
“Yeah, something,” Solange repeated with a dreamy smile and one more glance over her shoulder in Lyle’s direction.
Then she shook her head and returned her attention to Trace.
His shoulders seemed to sag in a way they hadn’t a few minutes before, but Solange probably didn’t notice as she continued to talk of the fundraiser.
Since the discussion between Solange and Trace was getting more in-depth, Fi leaned closer to Denise and started a new topic. “So, did you sort out whatever your issue was about Maddox Daniels?”
Denise’s pulse skipped a beat at the question, and her fingers closed around her water glass convulsively. “Uh, yes. Everything worked out fine with that.”
“That was a nice, vague answer.” Fi’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, I’ll get more specific. Did anything happen between the two of you?”
There was no way Denise could have kept her cheeks from overheating as she remembered everything that had happened with Maddox.
“Oh, that expression says it all!” Fi said with a cackle. “I told you they were a lot of fun, didn’t I?”
Denise’s stomach clenched at Fi’s flippant tone, and she snapped, “Maddox is more than a good time, Fi. They’re smart, funny, and incredibly kind.”
Fi’s eyes widened and she pursed her lips. “Okay, okay. Take it easy. You’re right. They’re a total sweetheart. You certainly seem to appreciate that enough for the both of us. So that makes me wonder, what are you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?”
Fi took a sip of her drink, raising an eyebrow at Denise over the glass rim. “I mean that you’re going back to Middle Waters. You could be there for a little while. That means more time with Maddox.”
Denise’s hand froze as she reached for her glass.
She blinked. Fi was right, of course. It was such an obvious fact that Denise didn’t know how she hadn’t properly considered it until now.
She’d been so wrapped up in ensuring Darby had nothing to do with the deal and preparing for the negotiations that she hadn’t thought through all the implications.
She would see Maddox again. Be close to them.
Another image of them came to mind. Not from that night, but from before. That dawning realization on their face when they’d first recognized Denise from all those years ago. That moment of complete knowing.
Denise flinched in spite of herself. It was too much.
“Maddox was a onetime thing,” she answered quickly. “Now that we’re actually trying to make a deal with Middle Waters, I don’t need anything to distract me from the business at hand.”
Fi shifted in her seat to face Denise better. “Wow, hot-cold much, babe?”
“What?”
“First, Maddox isn’t just sexy. They’re smart.
Funny. Kind.” Fi held up her left hand, palm facing up, as if holding up the traits for display.
Then she held up her right hand to mirror the other.
“Now they’re a onetime thing and a distraction.
I can’t decide if you’re being weirdly wishy-washy, or if you’re trying to convince yourself of something. ”
“Well, you’re the one being vague now, and that is weird for you,” Denise grumbled. “What would I be convincing myself of exactly?”
“That a certain young resort manager hasn’t completely gotten under your skin,” Fi answered, settling her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm while she eyed Denise.
Denise swallowed. Was Fi onto something?
Granted, Denise’s history with Maddox was so much more complicated than Fi knew or would ever know, if Denise had anything to say about it.
But the fact remained that Maddox had gotten under her skin.
They were the one person outside Denise’s family who knew the parts of her story she never shared.
And somehow, they’d befriended her, put her at ease, and even drawn her close to a point that she’d abandoned all her inhibitions and gone to bed with them, sharing her body and emotions in a way she never had before.
In a few short days, Maddox Daniels had gotten close to Denise. Closer than almost anyone.
Too close.
Her pulse picked up like it did when she peaked over the edge of a roller coaster car at the tallest point on the track. She’d been on the edge like this before. And the subsequent freefall had nearly destroyed her.
Whatever had been between her and Maddox wasn’t nearly that serious. It had been too brief. But she had no intention of risking it turning into something more either.
Finally, Denise looked at Fi. Keeping her expression serious and her voice determined enough to halt any further poking or prodding, she said, “Two things can be true at the same time. Maddox is a…remarkable person. But that doesn’t change the fact that I have a job to do.”