Chapter 6 Abby
“Oh my god! There you are!” I turned to see Tab rush into the guest bathroom as I washed my hands.
“What are you—” She didn’t wait for me to finish talking.
“What is going on with you and Mark?” Tab asked in a hushed whisper. I didn’t have to look behind me where I stood at the sink to know Ember and Rosie were both creeping into the hall and hurrying straight to the bathroom. When the door shut behind them, I rolled my eyes.
“Group meeting in the bathroom? Really? You guys don’t think this is too much?”
“First off, it would be a family meeting,” Tab corrected. “And secondly, don’t try and change the subject! What is going on with you and Mark?”
“I don’t know what you’re—“ I started to deny as I turned the faucet off, but the moment my eyes met Tab’s, I couldn’t lie. Not outright like that. “He’s nice,” I said, knowing it was nowhere near enough.
“Nice?” Ember repeated, her eyes wide with glee.
“Oh. My. God,” Rosie whispered, and when I looked at her reflection in the mirror as she stood behind me, I could see she was two point five seconds from jumping and clapping and being all girlie.
“Don’t.” I pointed at her. “Don’t get all girlie on me. I just said—“
“You like him!” she whispered way too loudly. I worried someone outside could hear her. I couldn’t help the way my cheeks heated. By the way my three best friends were staring at me, I knew they hadn’t missed my blushing.
“That’s silly! We just met,” I tried to argue, but it didn’t sound convincing in my own ears.
“I knew when I saw Brewster,” Tabitha said softly, her kind eyes set on me as I turned to face her.
“Love at first sight isn’t a real thing,” I muttered, not exactly liking the way the words tasted on my tongue.
I’d grown up hearing all about love at first sight from my parents.
It’s why I was twenty-eight and hadn’t really dated.
I’d thought I was broken on the inside that no one I had ever looked at inspired anything inside of me.
And the real clencher had been that I’d never inspired any kind of feeling out of anyone else.
“He likes you,” Tab said. I started to shake my head, but both her hands rose and held my face in place. “He. Likes. You,” she repeated. I felt like a goldfish out of its tank.
“There’s no way,” I scoffed. “He looks like he does, and I’m…” I glanced down and shook my hips slightly. “Me,” I reminded them. I wasn’t horrible to look at, but I hardly turned heads. As my eyes bounced from one friend to the next, it was clear that whatever they saw wasn’t the same thing I did.
“He said he felt like he was home while looking straight at you,” Rosie pointed out.
“That was something out of like… a Hallmark movie,” Ember added, and I hated that I couldn’t argue with her. His words had bounced around in my head since he’d said them.
“He held my hand under the table,” I blurted out. All their eyes grew wide, and because it seemed like it was sharing time, I added, “And I think he was about to kiss me when we met at the door.”
“Holy shit,” Tabby said
“Is this okay, though?” I stared at her. “I mean, he’s your boss and—“
“Babe.” Tabby reached for my hand, her dark eyes searching my hazel ones. “You can date whoever you want. If I think about it now, you two make sense.”
“We do?”
“You’re both gorgeous,” Rosie said, slinging an arm over my shoulder. Ember did the same, resting her head on the other side.
“You guys would have seriously hot kids,” Ember added, and I rolled my eyes.
“Kids? That’s getting a little ahead of ourselves,” I squeaked, fighting the images that started to pop up in my head.
Little dark-haired kids with his smile and my eyes.
“We are definitely getting ahead of ourselves.” I shook my head and looked at my friends in the mirror.
“For all I know, the minute I walk out of here, he’s gone. ”
“I’ll bet you he’s not,” Ember responded with a know-it-all smile. “I bet you—“ I didn’t get to finish our bet because right in that moment, a heavy knock sounded at the bathroom door.
“Hey.” I didn’t need to hear more to know it was Mark.
Mark was on the other side of the door, and I could only imagine he’d just overheard everything that had been said.
Can a black hole pop up and just suck me away?
“Just checking on you. Everything okay?” His now familiar deep voice called. I shut my eyes.
“Told you so,” Ember whispered with a slight giggle.
“Shut up. He’s going to hear you,” I groaned.
“Umm, yeah! Everything’s good,” Tabitha called out, and for some god forsaken reason, Rosie opened the door.
We all turned to find Principal Mark standing at the doorway, slightly surprised at seeing four women crammed into a guest bathroom.
I should have been embarrassed or hurrying out of there, but as I stared at him, all I could think about was one thing.
When I was in school, I never got in trouble or sent to the principal’s office, but I found myself wondering if he’d have a lesson or two to teach me.
“You guys disappeared,” he noted, snapping me out of my dirty schoolgirl fantasy.
“There was an emergency,” Ember blurted.
“In the bathroom?” Concern laced his gaze before it locked on me. I felt myself brighten up like a tomato.
“No! Not, like, digestive!” Rosie tried to save, and all I wanted to vanish into thin air. “There was a spider,” she added, and the other two giggled. “Huge ugly spider.”
“But we got it,” Tabitha said. “Okay, well, now that we’ve all washed our hands after that… how about we go get dessert plated up? Rosie? Ember?” Tabitha impressed me with how calm and cool she seemed to be.
And just like that, they slipped past Mark, leaving the two of us alone in the bathroom.
“They’re kind of…”
“Helpful?” he guessed, but I shook my head.
“I was going to go with special, but helpful works, too.” I sighed and shook my head, then stepped out of the bathroom and into the darkened hallway. “I’m sorry about them. Did you need to use the—“ I pointed behind me, but he didn’t look away from me. He simply shook his head.
“No. I really just wanted to make sure you hadn’t disappeared.”
“Oh.” Does that mean he has been looking for me?
Mark moved slightly, and suddenly, his body caged mine against the wall. Not that he pressed against me enough to touch mine, but he was close enough I felt his body heat radiate onto me. Warm and cozy. He tipped his head lower.
“I’m really glad I came here tonight.” His Adam’s apple distracted me as it bobbed up and down. I liked the sight of it. I wanted to do nothing more than lean forward and lick his skin. Find out if he tasted as good as he smelled.
“I’m glad, too,” I admitted, feeling a little more vulnerable than I was used to. “Do you think—“
“Shit!” a deep voice sounded, but for some reason, neither of us jumped away. I watched as a muscle under Mark’s handsome face twitched, obviously annoyed we were interrupted.
And I kinda liked that.
“Sorry to mess up this vibe, man, but could I use the—“ Austin, the hot bartender from the bar, pointed at the bathroom. I could feel how much Mark didn’t want to move. Maybe because I felt the same way? Unfortunately, it wasn’t like he had any other choice.
When he pushed off the wall, I missed his heat and scent immediately.
Austin walked past us and closed the door. The moment was definitely over as I stepped away and shoved my hands into the pockets of my just-above-the-knee corduroy skirt.
“I should go back to help with some of the clean-up and serving up the desserts,” I noted. I didn’t want to leave. Not in the least.
“Right,” he said, his eyes glued to mine.
I forced myself to turn, and he was right beside me, matching me step for step until we were one away from the living room.
His hand found mine, and our fingers tangled.
My heart picked up its pace as I turned to look up at him.
Standing side by side made our size difference very clear.
His broad shoulders suddenly blocked the view of the living room.
“Would you like to sit outside with a slice of pie with me? Later, I mean,” he asked. I licked my lips and nodded slowly.
“I’d like that,” I whispered, my voice sounding a little husky in my own ears. “Once dessert’s all served up and stuff? If that’s cool? I want to help the girls.”
“Of course,” he answered. “Maybe I can help?” he offered, but I shook my head.
“Oh no!” I said a little too loudly. I didn’t want to imagine what the girls would say or do if he walked in there and helped. “It’s okay. We got it. So, later?” I asked, tripping over my words like a klutz.
I was terrible at the whole flirting thing. My eyes dropped to the floor to study the tops of my brown suede flats like they were the most interesting thing in the world. His fingertips touched my chin and tipped my head up. Our eyes connected, and I swallowed hard.
“How are you so damn pretty?” he rasped, almost like he hadn’t meant to say the words out loud.
My brows bunched. Me, pretty? I swallowed, and his eyes dropped my mouth. My lips tingled for his. Ached.
“You feel this, too.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.
Even then, my body completely overheated, I nodded.
“I’ll get us our dessert and wait outside.
” My thighs pressed together for relief.
“Any allergies, preferences?” he asked. My lips parted, and I shook my head.
His thumb moved from my chin and dragged against the too-plump flesh, making me shiver.
Goose bumps flared from head to toe as my nipples tightened and dragged against my satin bra.
He breathed in deeply, and I wondered if he could smell me; not just the perfume I’d spritzed on before I hurried out of my apartment but my arousal.
The crazy need I felt for him.
“See you in a little bit,” he said, his voice reassuring, before he stepped out of the way. I somehow found the strength to head straight into the kitchen, where I knew the girls were waiting for me.