CHAPTER 13 ALEXIS
Gregory asked how my brunch was, and I couldn’t really answer since I was still positively floating from that kiss.
I’ve never been kissed like that.
It was desperate and sweet at the same time. It was needy mixed with a side of charming, and it was hot and sexy while it was still absolutely adorable.
Sort of like Daniel James Brewer himself, I suppose.
I change his contact in my phone to DJ since nobody will know him by that moniker, and I can’t help myself. I text him before we even hit the highway back to our hotel.
Before I even text Brooks back. I’m sure Gregory has been in touch with him anyway telling him that I’m with him and I’m fine.
Me: Thanks again for an incredible brunch, DJ. I’m sorry I had to go.
I send it, and then I send another one before I lose my nerve.
Me: I had a great time. I’ll be in LA for the next two weeks if there’s any chance we can see each other for bacon and donuts again.
DJ: I had a great time, too. Let me check what my next two weeks look like but I’d love to make something work. You know, for the sake of donuts and bacon.
I smile down at my phone like a total dork.
I flip over to Brooks to let him know I’m on my way back to the hotel after grabbing breakfast with Gregory—which isn’t totally a lie—and another text comes through from Danny.
DJ: I have a series against the Padres next Friday through Sunday. Can you meet late Sunday night or Monday morning at the Beverly Wilshire?
I check my calendar. Things are added all the time, but in the weeks directly before a tour launch, fewer events are on my calendar as we prep to leave.
I have some press to do on Monday afternoon, but it looks like my morning is free.
I block off a two-hour window for brunch and cross my fingers I don’t have to tell anyone where I’m going, though I know that’s not likely.
Me: I can do nine to eleven on Monday morning. But only for bacon and donuts.
DJ: I don’t really do mornings but I can make an exception for America’s sweetheart. And bacon and donuts.
Me: I never liked that nickname. I want to be the queen.
DJ: Ambitious. I like it. Alright, Queen Carrie Alexis, duchess of bacon and donuts, I’ll see you Monday for brunch.
My chest warms that he called me Carrie. I for one can’t wait for our next bacon and donut date.
When I get back to the hotel, Brooks is pacing.
“Where the hell have you been?” he demands.
I suck in a breath. Now is not the time to admit I snuck away from him to meet Danny Brewer, who I admitted the truth to about our relationship just before he gave me the kind of kiss that will carry me through to our next brunch date.
“Breakfast.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You ate bacon.”
“How can you tell?” I ask, and I hand him the box of donuts as if they’re proof of where I was.
“I can smell it on you.”
“Sorry. Guess I should’ve brought you back a piece.” I roll my eyes.
“What’s gotten into you, Alexis?” he asks.
“A little bacon and donuts, that’s all.”
“You need to fit into your costumes for the tour. Now is hardly the time to take your eye off the ball.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter. He’s not wrong, but being constantly reminded of it is tiresome.
“We need to get over to the Wynn for Vail’s afternoon performance,” he reminds me, and I’m well aware of where I need to be.
It’s his job to remind me, so I take it with a grain of salt.
I’m also well aware that this whole situation is suddenly a lot more uncomfortable for me. I never noticed how I let him treat me like a child.
I never noticed how it bothers me, either. Maybe it never did bother me until something shiny caught my attention.
Is that all Danny is? I don’t think so. The tingles tell me it’s lust, but the way he kissed me today, the way it felt like I’d known him forever even though it was nothing more than a brunch date with someone I’d only met a couple days ago…
all that tells me it’s something much deeper than I was expecting.
Already.
But I’m not ready to admit anything to Brooks yet. Instead, I’ll get to know Danny on my own. He’ll be my little secret…the reason for my secret tingles. The reason I disappear every so often for an hour or two.
And maybe next time, we can do a whole hell of a lot more than just kiss.
Maybe he can show me if the Danny Brewer reputation is really true.
I don’t want to be just another notch on his belt, though.
While I like the challenge of being the woman who finally snags the bad boy of baseball, it goes deeper than that. Just as it felt like it must go deeper for him, too—or maybe snagging America’s sweetheart is just a challenge for him, and I’m just setting myself up for heartbreak.
But I’m twenty-eight, and I’ve never experienced heartbreak.
I’ve never experienced the ups and downs of dating, really.
I got close with my band’s drummer, Steven, on my third tour, and by the end of it, we were sleeping together.
But I wasn’t in love with him. It felt more like a friends with benefits situation than anything else, and when the tour ended, so did our tryst.
He wasn’t asked back on the next tour.
Right after that, my father let the world think Brooks and I were together, and that was that.
I’ve only been with one man, and it was four years ago.
Maybe I’m just horny…or maybe I was just waiting for the right man to come along.
And something tells me the right man just might be Danny Brewer.