Bailey’s arms wrapped around me and her tongue searched for mine. My entire body came alive as the kiss deepened. How had I gone through the last year with this woman so close, yet out of reach? I felt suffocated by need, unable to think of anything beyond Bailey.
The sound of Harleys racing past finally pried us apart. Bailey looked at the road then back at me and smiled.
“Nick,” she whispered.
“Bailey.”
Sharing her smile, I took Bailey’s hand and we walked into the restaurant. After a short wait, we were seated in a booth and ordered our drinks.
“Do you always drink Sprite?” I asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“I want to buy some for when you visit my place.”
Bailey grinned like I had told her she won the lottery. If she kept smiling at me that way, I didn’t think my ego could fit into the restaurant much longer.
“Do you always drink beer?” she asked. “Any specific kinds?”
“No and no. I just felt like a beer would help me relax after that kiss.”
Bailey touched her lips and smiled. “What’s your mom like?”
Tapping my fingers on the table, I wished she didn’t ask the standard questions. Why couldn’t we have talked about movies and sports? Bailey didn’t want to talk about those easy subjects. She wanted to know about my shitty family.
“I haven’t seen her in a decade or so.”
“How come?” Bailey pushed in the way she always pushed.
“She had issues with drugs. Meth mainly. Eventually, she was arrested for a bunch of things. I didn’t really know the details since I was a kid. All I knew was she’d gone to jail then to rehab. When she got out, she left my dad and moved away.”
Bailey opened her mouth and it remained open for nearly a minute. Once she shut it, I saw her considering her options. In the end, she just nodded.
“My mom is great. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault your mom is great and my mom isn’t.”
“Was your dad why your mom never came around to see you?”
Pushing back in the booth, I struggled to think about the woman I barely knew.
“She has a new family with new kids. I was a mistake she made as a teenager with a man she didn’t like anymore. That old part of her life was something she wanted to forget.”
Anger flared in Bailey’s eyes. “You know that’s fucked up, right? A mom should love her kid more than herself. I mean, even I would and I’m pretty selfish.”
Grinning, I liked how she was looking at me. Protective because I had value in her eyes. When Bailey looked at me that way, I felt more like Dragon than when the groupies wanted me to sign their tits.
“Tell me about your mom. Her name is Jodi, right?”
“Yeah,” Bailey said, smiling in the best way. “My mom is amazing. She loves me so much and I always know she’ll have my back. Like I could fuck up really bad and she would still love and protect me.”
“Your family is close?”
“Totally. I have idiot brothers and an evil little sister, but we’re still close. I used to want to kill the demon child then Raven explained things. Basically, sisters need to stick together, so I protect Sawyer even though she’s evil.”
“Evil?” I asked, grinning as I looked over the menu. “Not really though.”
“No, not really. She’s rowdy is all and has a big mouth. It was always weird hearing nasty things come out of her little mouth. I wasn’t like that as a kid. I was sweet.”
I grinned at her, causing Bailey to roll her eyes.
“I really was. I had my big loud brothers and I was the little princess. My pop carried me around everywhere like my feet were too precious to touch the ground. Mom was crazy about my hair because it wasn’t all curly like hers. Back then, I didn’t need to be bossy. The world was a paradise until Sawyer came around and destroyed everything with her giant dirty mouth. Bitch.”
Even realizing Bailey was serious, I laughed at her anger. “How old is she?”
“Seven.”
“So you were the baby for a long time.”
“Don’t lecture me please. I got enough of that crap from my therapist. It’s why I dumped her. Oh, and she didn’t think I needed an assistant.”
“Do you?”
“Sure. I want to be a manager and that means I need to get used to having employees. I’m in charge of Winnie. Her pay, hours, responsibilities, vacation time, sick time, all that jazz. I know it sounds easy, but Winnie isn’t easy to boss around. It’s good practice since being tough with normal people is easy. Being tough with Winnie takes finesse and that’s where I need practice.”
“Winnie is the girl you bring to class, so she can take notes for you?”
“Yeah.”
“She seems shy.”
Eyes narrowing, Bailey remained wary even after the waitress arrived and took our dinner order.
“You want her,” Bailey said as soon as the waitress left.
“I like blondes.”
Bailey’s anger faded. “Does it piss you off that I’m a possessive bitch?”
“No. If I thought you liked another guy, I’d want to bash his face in. I don’t think I would because I’d end up in jail with a record and never become a teacher. I’d want to hurt the guy though and I might give it a try, if I could get away with it.”
“Good. I want you to want me.”