“Both.” He winks.
He freaking winks!!
My insides melt immediately, tonight may be more difficult than I thought. Who am I kidding? I didn’t think this through at all.
Talon unlocks the extremely tall door and gestures for me to walk into a warm foyer. The floors are a dark wood and the furniture is classy and comfortable in a smooth cream color and bold floral print accents. We step down into what looks like a family room with a lit fireplace. There are several candles lit and the far wall of windows are uncovered to a beautiful view of lush landscaping that runs right down to a small beach before going down into the water. I am in awe. But the candles and fireplace are confusing me; I thought he was coming up to be alone. Was someone else here already?
“Is someone here?” I turn away from the view and look to find him watching me. The thought of meeting his parents with him and not Kali makes me feel very uneasy.
He looks at me curiously and slightly shakes his head. “Nope, it’s just us. Why do you ask?”
“The fire is going and the candles are lit.” I sweep my hand in the general direction of the fireplace.
“Oh yeah.” He chuckles. “Uh, Helen is the house caretaker. She takes care of things while we’re back home. She’s been around forever. The fireplace and candles are always lit when we get here. She opens the place up to air it out and stocks the fridge for us.” He’s rubbing the back of his head and looking around while he talks. He’s acting as though this information makes him uncomfortable.
I smile at him and try to get a playful side out of him. “Well, that’s just handy, isn’t it?”
He laughs and starts up the wide curved staircase. “I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”
I feel a pang of disappointment that I won’t be staying in his room with him. I shake that insane thought from my head and follow him up the stairs.
CHAPTER TEN
TALON
I leave Bailey in her room and go out to get the rest of her things from my car. I need to take a minute to myself and call Kali to see what she knows about Bailey’s face. I was so shocked when I saw it peeking out from her glasses that the excitement of getting her to myself for at least twenty-four hours subsided too quickly for my liking. That kind of bruise comes from a large and blunt force like the result of a car accident or… a man’s hand. I’m putting my money on the latter and I want to kill this guy whom I’ve never even met. I finally got out of Kali the other day that Bailey hasn’t seemed too happy in her relationship ever since my sister befriended her, so I can only assume it is at his hand that her face and spirit are so broken. I walk all the way out to the car before I call Kali.
“Hey! Did you guys make it already?” she answers in her typically chipper voice.
“Yeah, we just got here. Kali, what do you know about Bailey’s boyfriend?” No point in beating around the bush.
“Not too much really. She hardly mentions him at all. Why? What’s going on?”
“She said it’s been a long couple of days which is why she wanted to come up today with me, and when I picked her up her face was all busted up. She won’t talk about it.”
“What do you mean ‘all busted up’? What happened to her?” Now Kali’s starting to freak out.
“It looks like someone backhanded her across her damn face, Kali! And I’m guessing it’s that freaking boyfriend of hers. She’s not denying that something is wrong but she’s not giving up any information either.” I take a deep breath to try and calm down. “She fell asleep in the car and I really saw it for the first time when she slipped her sunglasses off in her sleep. When I woke her up she started freaking out. It was like she was scared as hell and it took her several minutes to focus on the fact that I was talking to her. She was shaking and sweating and as soon as she put her glasses back on she started wiping away tears. She never said a word about it. I want to freaking kill him! WHO DOES THAT??? And to her? Seriously? What am I supposed to do? I can’t just let this go Kal.”
“Oh my gosh.” Kali sighed. “I knew something had to be off with him. She never talks about him really. Superficial stuff she’ll bring up but nothing really real. I can’t believe this. I don’t know Talon, but you can’t do anything. I know it sucks but it’s not your place.” I squat down next to my car and rub my face vigorously trying to calm the hell down. She’s right, of course, but I’m just not sure I’m strong enough to not do anything to protect her. Whether she is available or not, the girl has stolen my heart and I will do anything I can to make sure she’s ok.
“I know you’re right Kal, I just don’t know if I can do that. I guess I better get her bags and get back inside, see if she needs anything.”
“Talon be careful. I would hate to see you get hurt over this situation. I really like her, but I don’t know all that much about her relationship. She opens up about everything except for that, and if you picked her up from their condo then she obviously didn’t leave him. Try not to get too wrapped up in her, ok?”
“I think it’s a little late for that. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I hang up before she has a chance to respond to that asinine confession. I collect the rest of her things from the trunk and wonder what the hell did she pack that she needed two suitcases and a bag? We’re only here for five days.
I walk in and find her busy in the kitchen. She’s baking. She is absolutely beautiful in that kitchen, I want to stand here and stare at her all day. It breaks my heart that her perfect face was hurt so badly. I decide to take the bags to our rooms before I go and join her.
****
“Oh hey! I didn’t hear you come back in!” Bailey laughs. She was singing a song from who I recognize as Adele and twirling around in the kitchen with a spatula in hand and wearing my mother’s apron.
“That was pretty amazing. I never thought I’d get my own song and dance in my kitchen.” I try to be really serious but she’s blushing. And I want nothing more than to run to her and sweep her up in my arms.
“You could have announced your presence, ya know!” Her cheeks are a bright crimson and she’s letting out a laugh that hits me straight to the core. I am sickeningly fascinated with this girl.
“Now what kind of fun would that be?” I chuckle as I walk around the kitchen island to her side. “What are you making?”
“Banana Nut Bread. I hope you don’t mind. I know you were wanting to be alone today and I didn’t ‘peg you’ (she’s using the phrase I used towards her in her office about being a country girl, I must admit I like it) as the cooking type so I thought I’d be pretty safe in here to keep out of your way.”
I know I shouldn’t, but I walk up behind her and speak softly in her ear. “First, I love banana nut bread, good choice. Second, you are very wrong with your pegging, my dear. I’m an amazing cook; and third, you could never be in my way. I love your company.” She takes a deep breath before answering.
“I feel really bad though, I wish you would have told me when I called this morning.” She is so cute when she’s uncomfortable. I have to touch her. So I turn her around to face her and place my right hand on the left side of her face wrapping my fingers around the back of her neck and caressing her bottom lip with my thumb. Her breath catches and her eyes flutter closed. That is almost my undoing. Instead of losing control I make a confession in only a whisper.
“I was so excited to hear from you Bailey, I couldn’t be happier that you’re here. Please don’t think any more about it. I just want you to relax and enjoy your weekend. Now can you please finish my bread?” I smile when she opens her eyes and laughs at me.
“Yes sir. Let me get right on that!” She scrunches up her nose and steps right around me to finish up the batter.
“So what’ll it be? Coffee or tea?”
“Definitely coffee!”
“Definitely, huh?”
“Yup! I’m a coffee girl and I haven’t had any yet today, which must be some kind of record!” she chuckles at her own wit.
“Ah. I’m sorry about that, I kind of got distracted this morning and I didn’t offer to stop at all for you. I’m an ass. Sorry.” I turn to look at her but she doesn’t turn around; she just keeps pouring the batter into the respective pans. So I continue with making her coffee thinking the whole time only of how he has hurt her which is what kept my mind so preoccupied I didn’t even think to make a pit stop for her.
“Don’t worry about it,” she says, giving me a sweet smile. “I’m going to go jump in the shower while this bakes. It has a couple hours in there yet, so you won’t have to do anything with it.” She removes her apron and wipes her hands clean before turning to go out of the kitchen. “Hey Talon?” she asks just asks she reaches the staircase.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. I know you didn’t have to bring me along, but I appreciate it.” She looks worried or concerned. I don’t want this girl to ever look anything but happy.
“It’s my pleasure Bailey. Take your time, start your vacation and relax.” She smiles a little bigg
er then proceeds up the stairs.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BAILEY
This weekend is going to kill me. When I called Talon this morning I was so focused on getting out and away from my life that I didn’t bother thinking about the fact that he and I had a major attraction between us. We will now have to be fighting that attraction all weekend. And I made it that much more difficult by inadvertently securing time alone with him tonight and most of the day tomorrow.
I was surprised when he accepted so easily the fact that I didn’t want to talk about my bruises. He was visibly upset about it and I don’t blame him. I know he doesn’t know for sure that my boyfriend is the one who did it but I’m aware that he most likely assumes. I just don’t know how to tell him that his assumption is correct.
I opt for a really hot shower to try and relax my tense, sore muscles and to take a few minutes to figure out how I’m going to talk to Talon about this. The more I think about it the further away from a solution I become. I’m upset that I’ll have to discuss this at all with him, it’s embarrassing and uncomfortable. I am also getting super pissed the more I think about it. How does this fantastic guy come into my life at the absolute worst time? I was boyfriend-less for the majority of my adult life. Then, the one guy I decide to hand over my heart to destroys it. Now my heart is unavailable to the one guy I truly feel it belongs to.
Perfect.
Once out of the shower and dressed I decide I don’t really want to get ready. So I throw my wet hair up in a messy bun, put face makeup on to cover the ugliness, and my must-have mascara. That’s it.
Now I need coffee.
I go out into the hall to find Talon standing at the double doors at the end of the hall opposite the staircase. One door is propped open and I can see it leads out to a balcony.
“Feel better?” he asks sincerely.
“Yes I do, thank you.” I don’t think the dang butterflies will ever stop fluttering when I get around him.
“Good. Do you want to join me out on the balcony for a bit? I have your coffee...” He’s smirking. I wonder if he really thought he had to bribe me to sit out on a balcony, alone, with him, while looking out at a magnificent view. So I smile coyly to play along.
“Well, since you brought my coffee…” I let my voice trail off as I walk outside. My eyes widen as I take in all that he has done in the short time I was in that shower. He has throw blankets draped over the back of Adirondack chairs next to one another. There is a round white wood table in between the two chairs with a tray of two mugs of coffee, grapes, small squares of cheese, some wheat crackers, and a kitchen timer. He has a fire burning in a wrought iron fire pit situated just at the end of our chairs. The railing at the end of the balcony is low so you can see the water while lying in the chairs. It is amazing.
Talon is chuckling behind me as I make my way to a chair and one of those coffees.
“I set the timer so you can check your bread when it’s ready.” He gestures for me to sit as he does the same.
“Thank you. Talon, I can’t believe you did all of this, you really didn’t have to. I would have been good with just the coffee.”
“I’m sure you would have been, but you look like you could use something extra today.”
“I don’t know even know what to say to that. It’s so thoughtful, I don’t deserve this.” I know as soon as it comes out of my mouth that I shouldn’t have said it but it is too late to take back now. I can see his whole demeanor change.
Dammit.
He takes a long deep breath and then spins around to face me.
“Bailey, you deserve way more than you realize.” He removes his eyes from me but I can tell he’s not done so I stay silent. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear what’s coming next, but I did intrude on his alone time so the least I can do is hear out this beautiful man. “I know you don’t want to talk about what happened to you, but I need you to tell me. I was going to try and let it go, but I can’t. I can’t do that. Please trust me Bay, I want to help you in any way that I can.” He looks so stressed. This is exactly why I chose not to confide in anyone about my and Hollister’s relationship. I hate to think that I could bring any type of upset into the lives of the people I care about.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t want to bring you into my life that I don’t even understand. I can’t explain it, any of it. So there just isn’t much to tell.” I suck down as much coffee as I can, like it’s my life preserver.
“What do you mean you don’t even understand your life? Does this happen all the time?” He’s angry. His brow is furrowed and he’s running his hand through his hair repeatedly. I don’t know what makes me do it, but I need to tell him all about me. Things I haven’t told even Cheyenne or Drea.
“Yes and no. What you see today is a first. My relationship with Hollister was pretty perfect in the beginning, but as soon as I moved in with him I realized that he has issues. He was able to keep them from me before I was with him all of the time. Now I’m just confused and am not sure what to do. I know how stupid and naïve I must look to you by not having left him yet, but it’s more complicated than just packing a bag.”
“No, it’s not; it’s not more complicated than that Bay. Either you pack or you don’t, but the end result should be you not ever going back there.” He’s pacing behind me and I choose to keep looking out at the water, I don’t want to see what this is doing to him. I know he can’t possibly understand where I’m coming from because he would never even think about laying a hand on a woman.
“Jesus, Bailey,” he says exasperated and panicked looking, squatting down in front of me as he moves back the sleeve to my hoodie. I guess he saw the bruise around my wrist when I reached up to fix my hair. I’m not even sure how the bruises got around my wrists. I know who put them there, but I can’t remember everything from that night. He flexes his jaw and speaks through his teeth. “Where else? Where else are you bruised? What else did he do to you?”
Because this is the first time it’s been this bad this is also the first time I’ve had someone react so strongly and worry so much about me. Drea tells me how she feels about Hollister but she controls her anger in front of me because she still feels guilty. It makes my heart swell that he seems to care so much even though I just met him. It makes the connection I feel with him even stronger and brings tears to my eyes.
There are the ones up higher on my arms, but I don’t feel like I should mention those right now. I know it won’t solve anything; it will just upset him further, so I lie. “This is all there is,” I whisper to him and a few tears fall down my cheeks. He wipes them away and kisses my forehead before getting up and walking inside the house.
I can’t help but lay here and think how unfair life is to me. I’m not sure what I’ve done to earn such terrible karma, but it must have been a doozy, because the karma staring me down is a bitch. I have been in New York for years, nine to be exact. Not once did I find a guy worthy of an actual relationship, until Hollister that is. Looking back now I can see that moving things so quickly probably wasn’t the best idea. Now I’m stuck by obligation, fear, and my commitment to Hollister while this great guy just waltzes into my life. And there is not a damn thing I can do about it.
After I finish my cup of coffee, I curl up on the chair and cover myself with the lavish mink-like throw. I have so much to be crying for, and I do. Cry. I cry for the life I once had pre-relationship. I cry for my easy slow going life on my dad’s farm and the kind country boys I was raised with. I cry for my mom, because the pain I still feel from missing her immensely is absolutely consuming when I’m sad. I even let myself cry about the fact that I am convinced Talon is my soul mate and I fear I will have to go the rest of my life without getting the opportunity to be loved by him. I am so exhausted, even after the nap in the car; I just don’t feel like I have actually rested in forever. I can feel my eyes start to flutter. I feel the sensation of sleep tugging at me and I welcome it. I’m not sure what woke me, but I sit up to realize the sun is setting. I have been out here for hours. Talon never came back. At that realization I almost start crying again, but think better of it and regain my composure. As I go to collect the tray to clean up I see that it had already been cleared from the table between the chairs.
He did come back out.
I sighed contentedly at that thought.
Making my way downstairs I hear noises coming from the kitchen so I head that way. Nothing could have prepared me for what I see. Talon. Dressed to a ‘T’ washing the dishes. Sleeves rolled up, dish towel thrown over his shoulder and hands all soapy scrubbing away.
Hot.
“Hey beautiful. Did you get enough rest?” And there is that sexy grin again. I can’t help but let the fluttering in my belly begin and my own (what I hope is sexy) grin appear.
“I did. You should have woken me though; I planned on cleaning up after myself. You look very nice by the way.”
“You looked so peaceful out there, there was no way I was waking you. And thank you. Are you hungry? I made dinner reservations for an hour from now if you would like to go.” He will never stop surprising me and I need to stop getting so dang happy about it when he does.
This is not a date Bay, so chill out. Two friends having dinner out so we don’t have to cook, that’s all.
“
Sounds good to me, just let me go change and try to tame my hair.” I point to the messy bun on top of my head as I twist my face. I’m scared to look in the mirror after that little nap outside.
That makes him chuckle. “Alright, it’s just up the road so you have plenty of time.” I tell him “ok” and the head for my room. Just as I start to ascend the stairs he calls out to me. “Hey Bailey, can you do something for me? Please?” Something about the expression on his face and the way his voice sounds is making it difficult for me to breathe.
“Sure, what’s up?” I feel timid and nervous for some reason and he’s grinning like a damn fool.
“Wear one of those pencil skirts if you’ve got it.” He arches one eyebrow at me expectantly.
“I have a pencil dress, will that work?” I can’t believe that is what he’s grinning about.
Talon smiles. “Yes, that’ll work perfectly.”
“Any other requests Mr. McAllister?” I want to laugh at his teenage boy enthusiasm over my skirt, but I don’t. I remain in control on the outside although I am melting on the inside.
“Nope. That should do it.” He chuckles and turns around. I go on upstairs to get ready fo
r dinner with Talon McAllister.