“Well, at least someone’s happy to see me,” I murmured. No sooner had the words left my mouth than the dog decided even he was done with me, and walked away without so much as a goodbye.
As I sat there, watching my new furry friend walk away into the distance, I decided I needed a distraction. I pulled out my phone and opened a dating app I hadn’t used in months. Maybe it was time to put myself out there again, even if it was just for a little while.
After my last relationship, I had tried a different approach. During one of our lunch dates, Cara had convinced me to try something more casual, but when the time came, I freaked out. I couldn’t bring myself to be comfortable enough to have sex with a random stranger. I never mustered up the courage to tell her. Anytime she asked about it, I would deflect and change the subject.
I swiped through profiles, but my mind kept wandering back to Drea’s fierce eyes and the way she’d stood her ground. Not to mention, that thigh-clenching accent.
“Great,” I muttered to myself, shaking my head. “I’m already obsessing over the one person I can’t stand.”
With a resigned sigh, I stood up. I had work to do and a book signing to survive, and I wasn’t about to let her stand in my way.
Chapter Six
Drea
Mackenzie picked the worst time for this sex ban!Dealing with Blair and not being able to relieve some tension was not ideal.
She was insufferable, she was a pain in my ass, she was a fucking bombshell of a woman and I didn’t know how to handle myself around her.
I was still on the hunt for a class to take my mind off not being able to have sex. I enjoyed boxing, but the bruises didn’t look good on me, so I went back to playing pickleball with Cara for now.
I was actually getting pretty good, and the workout was great. It kept my mind off of things it had no business being on, like the way someone's outfit hugged every curve of their body.
Cara called me shortly after the meeting and tore me a new one. I honestly thought my phone had cracked from how loud she was. I apologized for being rude, but I couldn’t help it. Blair just rubbed me the wrong way. I promised I would try harder the next time I saw her, which, sadly, was tomorrow. Cara had another meeting, so it was going to be just Blair and me. Fucking perfect.
When I stepped out of my office and into the bookstore, my heart warmed.
“Babe!” Fallon rushed overfrom the counter and gave me a warm hug. It felt like ages since I’d last seen my best friend. She had been busy with her fiancée, and I guess I was simply a peasant to her now. Kaia was busy with a customer, but she looked up and smiled at us.
“Love! Oh, how I’ve missed you, my queen. I’m so glad you deemed us worthy of an appearance on this glorious day,” I joked.
“Oh, fuck off!” She swatted my arm. “Catch me up. What’s been going on?”
“If you bothered to make a phone call, you would know what’s going on, love. But you have more important people in your life now, I suppose.” I shrugged.
“Drea Elise, lose the attitude, please. You know I have a lot going on, as do you I’m told. I guess I don’t have to ask how your sex ban is going. You seem a little on edge these days.” Her grin was irritating.
I resigned my irritation with an exhale. “Sorry, love. You’re right, I’m a little testy these days thanks to your fiancée’s great plan. Not to mention, I’m only in the beginning stages of the ‘Blair Bitch Project’ and I want to scream! We had our first meeting a few days ago, and spoiler alert, it ended in a fight. If it were anyone else besides Cara, I would have vetoed this great business arrangement immediately.”
Fallon seemed to find my crappy life hilarious. “I’m sorry, Dre. Yeah, Kaia told me you’re working with Blair again, and I have to admit I was surprised. But if it’s for the good of the store, I know you’ll figure it out. You’re still coming to the cake tasting next week, right? Kenzie said she talked to you about it?”
I sent Kaia a glare, who blushed from embarrassment and only shrugged. “After the two of you ganged up on me and decided my sex life needed to cease? Yes, she did, and yes, I will be there, love.”
She smiled softly and gave me another hug, which nine times out of ten, calmed my anger. “Good. I can’t get married without my sister.”
Damn allergies! I wiped my eyes and cleared my throat. “Enough sentimentality. I have work to do. Are you going to be around?”
“Of course, babe. Go do your big boss shit. We got this.” She laughed, bringing Kaia in for a side hug.
I rolled my eyes but grinned as I headed back to the solitude of my office.
The next day, after a round of pickleball, which I lost, by the way, Cara and I were sitting in the club’s café having lunch.
“Okay, so Blair is stopping by the store around three today. Does that work?” Cara asked.
I blinked at her with a closed smile, trying to be as calm as I could be. I was not looking forward to seeing her again, especially if Cara wasn’t there as a referee, but I didn’t have a choice. “That’s perfect.” It was far from perfect. No good could come from Blair and me being in the same space together unsupervised.
“Good, and you’re going to be nice this time? I cannot have you two fighting every second. This is business, so can you act like mature adults?”
