He sighs, but nods. “Yeah. Go. Thanks for coming, man. It means a lot.”
“Sorry I can’t stay longer.”
“You came. That’s what matters.” He pulls me into another hug, thumping my back. “Drive safe. And Daniel?”
“Yeah?”
“Think about taking a vacation. It’d do you good.”
I force a smile. “I’ll consider it.”
I make my excuses to his parents, shake hands, and accept a plate of food wrapped in foil because Mrs. Rodgers insists. I’m hyperaware of Bailey across the yard the whole time, pretending not to watch me leave.
Our eyes meet one more time as I reach my car.
She looks as shaken as I feel.
I slide behind the wheel, the door closing with a solid thunk. My hands grip the steering wheel. The leather is cool, but somehow it feels hot against my skin.
Bailey Rodgers is now completely, catastrophically off-limits.
I rest my forehead against the steering wheel, exhaling hard.
“Fuck,” I mutter to the empty car. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Trevor’s warning echoes in my head.
I’ve already hurt her. I'd foolishly called her work adequate out of spite and talked down on her passion. And despite all that, despite knowing exactly how terrible this situation is, I can still feel her touch. I start the car before my thoughts spiral further, pulling out of the driveway without looking back.
But the image of Bailey standing in her brother’s backyard, looking lost, furious, and beautiful, follows me.
I’m in trouble.
And there’s no exit strategy for this.
5
Bailey
Iwake up, heart racing before I’m fully conscious.
The ceiling fan spins lazy circles above me. My apartment is quiet except for the refrigerator's hum and the distant sound of a siren.
But my mind is screaming.
I cannot forget Daniel’s face when he saw me yesterday. The shock that rippled through his entire body and the way color had drained from his skin before that mask of control snapped into place.
Trevor’s words replay in my head.You haven’t met my sister, Bailey.
The word ‘sister’ being the emphasis.
I press my palms against my eyes.
This can’t be real. This can’t be my actual life.
Except it is.
The man I had a one-night stand with is my boss. My boss is my brother’s best friend. And now I have to pretend none of it ever happened while working forty feet away from him five days a week.
