Page 27 of Business or Pleasure

With a smile, I climbed back onto the bed and pulled a blanket over us both. I’d ask again in the morning. Maybe over breakfast. Still smiling, I closed my eyes and, for the first time in a long time, was able to fall asleep almost immediately.

Eleven

Harlee

I was hot and had no clue why. The studio apartment I lived in was always cool, even in the summer, thanks to a combination of the people who lived under me always keeping their AC cranked up to insane levels and the shitty insulation between floors. At least it meant I didn’t have to run up my own electric bill for the AC during the summer.

But that didn’t tell me why I was hot right now.

Or why my blanket felt like it weighed twice as much as usual.

And then I realized that I couldn’t remember going home last night after…oh. Right.

I opened my eyes to see a dimly lit hotel room and a leanly muscled arm draped over me. Last night was a little fuzzy, but I didn’t drink enough to forget what happened. Hell, I wasn’t sure there was any alcohol strong enough to make me forget the best sex I ever had.

Twice.

And let’s not forget the orgasms he gave me when he went down on me.

Like I could.

My body throbbed in response to my memories, and I slowly rolled onto my back to see if Baylen was awake. Normally, on the very rare occasions I fell asleep at someone’s place after sex, as soon as I woke up, I got out of there, whether the guy was awake or not. And I usually wanted him to still be asleep. Now, I was half-hoping I’d see Baylen looking at me with that hunger in his eyes.

I wouldn’t say no.

The disappointment when I saw he was sleeping was sharper than I anticipated, chasing away even the thought of waking him up for another round. Carefully, I slid out from underneath his arm and made my way to the bathroom, closing the door before turning on the light.

I did a quick clean up and put on the underwear and bra I’d left in here, then headed out to the main area to find my dress and boots. The dim sunlight coming through the window was enough for me to find my clothes and it told me it was probably only six or seven o’clock at the most, which I hoped meant I wouldn’t have a lot of people watching me do the walk of shame.

Not that I was actually ashamed of having hooked up with a random stranger for a night of blazing hot sex. I wanted to fuck and that’s what I did. I wasn’t going to apologize for it or pretend that I didn’t want sex when I wanted it. That wasn’t who I was.

So as I slipped out of the hotel room, I held my head high…and nearly ran into a slender blonde standing only a couple feet behind me, as if she was preparing to knock on the door. I caught a glimpse of dark eyes before she looked away, mumbling an apology and something about needing to be on her way. I thought I caught a faint Scottish accent but before I could say anything, she disappeared into the room across the hall.

Shit. She was Scottish and across the hall from Baylen. Probably his sister or something like that since they weren’t sharing a room. And she just caught a woman coming out of her brother’s room early in the morning dressed in nightclub clothes.

No hiding what that meant.

I hoped she didn’t give him too much of a hassle about that. I didn’t want him embarrassed by our encounter. I wanted him to look back on it as fondly as I would. I wanted him to be a little sad that we wouldn’t see each other again.

Like I was.

Fuck.

I was sad I wasn’t going to see my Scottish friend again, and I was suddenly glad that we only exchanged first names. If one encounter had me wanting to see him again this much, I could only imagine what it would be like to know I could find him again.

Nope. It was better this way.

And I continued to tell myself that as I walked through the lobby and out the front doors to get a cab.

Twelve

Baylen

I’d never known Brigh to be this quiet.

Yesterday, I waited for her to text me breakfast, lunch, and dinner plans, but those messages never came. As I didn’t plan on us working, I didn’t reach out to her, wanting her to have the freedom to do as she wished. I considered calling Alec and seeing if he wanted to do something, but then I reminded myself that I wasn’t here to sit with my friend. He had a family now and I couldn’t expect him to drop everything because I suddenly showed up in his city.

So, I went out into the city and explored. Or, rather, I wandered. I went nowhere specific and did nothing intentional. I walked in and out of shops but bought nothing. I went into Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium, smiling and nodding at people but not striking up any conversations.

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