Then suddenly she remembered.Everything.
Flinging her eyes open, she searched next to her. But Davis wasn’t beside her. He wasn’t on the couch at all. Or in the office she realized after her eyes took a quick trip around the room.
She pulled the blanket taut around her still naked body. Not wanting to focus on the fact that Davis had left at some point between their second round and now, she distracted herself by locating her scattered clothing around the office. As she did, she paid attention to the fact that her body ached in a deliciously satisfied way it hadn’t in quite some time.
Okay, yeah, so she’d been insane to think she could’ve gone the rest of her life depriving herself of that kind of pleasure. It just wasn’t natural.
In the process of dressing in her costume clothes, because lucky her, that’s all she had, she also found her phone. She exhaled a breath after checking and finding no unanswered texts or phone calls. She had to be in some bizzarro world because this was probably the first night she’d awoke to no one needing her. If she had enough time, she’d relish in this tiny, did she dare say it—victory.
But there wasn’t enough time.
Kelsey had promised her children they’d attend Pineridge’s Fall Festival. Complete with candy apples, face painting, carnival games, and a few kiddie rides, she was prepared to do it all today.
After the largest cup of coffee, of course.
For the first time in a long time, she felt optimistic. About her future and the bar’s future. She had her appointment with a finance specialist at the bank the next morning and she had a feeling it was going to work out in her favor. Call her crazy, but things had to start looking up eventually.
After locking up the bar, Kelsey hurried into her van and drove in the direction of the Daily Grind in desperate need of a caffeine fix before her day could truly begin. Even though she was still dressed in the outdated baby blue suit, she stepped into the local coffee shop proudly. At the same time, she tried to ignore the nagging ache in the pit of her stomach each time her brain reminded her that she woke up alone this morning.
Davis had better have a good explanation.
“Hey, Kelsey,” Hannah, the barista greeted her, eyeing her suspiciously. “Nice pants.”
“Part of my costume from the Halloween party last night.” She shrugged, playing it off. Everyone in town knew it wasn’t unusual for Kelsey to sleep at the bar. Especially if she was working the closing shift. Better to be safe at the bar than try to drive home sleep deprived after two a.m.
“Hmm…mmm…” Hannah muttered with a knowing smirk.
Kelsey frowned, tilting her head as she stepped to the side and waited for her drink to be made. Why the suspicion? It wasn’t like it was obvious she’d finally had sex, was it? Was there some way they could tell? She was being silly. No way could they know.
As the barista slid Kelsey’s coffee across the counter, Hannah hurried over and leaned in, glancing around the cafe and clearing her throat. “Ya know, a certain Vance twin was in here earlier.”
“Yeah? And?” Kelsey talked quieter than normal.
“And…he was still dressed in costume from the night before as well,” she whispered, hardly able to contain her growing smile.
As a tingle swept up the back of her neck, her ears grew impossibly hot. Normally Kelsey didn’t care what anyone thought of her. She’d been the gossip in Pineridge for months after Ricky passed away. But this was different.
Since Davis hadn’t been there when she woke up this morning, they hadn’t had a chance to discuss what happened the night before. And since they hadn’t talked it through, it felt wrong to discuss it with the barista at The Daily Grind first.
“Well, it’s not like that’s all that strange. It’s not like that’s something that really needs to be talked about. If you know what I mean?” She had to nip this in the bud before it got out of hand.
“Are you kidding me? If I got lucky with Garrett Vance, you better believe I’d be spreading that news like wildfire,” she said.
“Wait…no…but,” Kelsey tried to get out coherent words.
“Please tell me it was as good as I imagine it would be?”
“Shh,” Kelsey shrieked, glancing over both shoulders and then lowering her voice to a whisper before continuing. “You’ve got it all wrong—”
“Shut up. Was it not good? Because I’ve heard he’s good but kind of a selfish lover. Is that true? Because I can totally see that.”
Kelsey’s stomach tightened as Hannah rambled on and she tried to catch her breath so she could set the story straight. Though, did she want the town knowing she and Davis hooked up? And she didn’t even like the term hooked up. Because what they shared last night was more than that. Wasn’t it?
Although she hadn’t even heard from him yet.
Her phone vibrated in her back pocket. She slid it out and glanced at the screen.
Mama: Can you come get me? Need to open the bakery but shouldn’t drive.
