Page 21 of Beauty Sleep

I’m on the way.

As I lock the front door, I shake my head and clatter down the stairs toward the street.

Why can’t I just suck it up and start taking the roles I’m given?

Quarrel will tell me to fight back. There’s a reason that’s his DJ name. But maybe I should just be making the magic Icanmake while staying right where I’ve always been: hidden in plain sight.

Lost in thought, I barely notice the walk to the coffee shop. I’m just suddenly pulling the door open, scanning the room for a familiar face—and terrible Crocs—before I head to the counter.

Quarrel isn’t there. But Idosee a face that I last saw in the moonlight, looking radiant as an angel.

It’s Beauty.

With all of his personal bouncers again this time—AKA, those overprotective friends. They’re huddled over a table with textbooks open, heads together.

The bell jingles behind me as I let go of the door.

Shit. Beauty shifts in his seat. He’s about to look up.

What if he recognizes me from the bar? Or worse still…

If I’m going to turn and run, I have a split-second to do it. But I’m stuck where I am, rooted to the spot by the memories unfolding in my body. And the sweetness of the thing that’s fizzing to life in my chest, too.

I remember Beauty’s moans in the night, his breathless giggles and sly smiles, his warm lips and unashamed desire, his nakedness… oh, fuck, his nakedness. He gave me everything last night without question, body and mind.

And I discovered something I’ve never quite believed before. I can be not just tolerated, even wanted… butneeded. And I’ve waited too long, fought too many dragons, suffered too many cutting defeats to get to that place.

I can’t turn and leave now.

“Whoa.” The door jangles again as Quarrel almost barrels right into me. “What’s the holdup?”

I can’t answer him. I’m still staring at Beauty, watching as he slowly looks up at me.

Our eyes meet.

The chatter around us from his friends and mine suddenly vanishes. Or maybe I’m just not hearing it over the ringing in my ears.

Even as his lips part with surprise, he doesn’t look away, and I wait for his reaction.

Anything but disappointment, please.

Beauty’s face is shifting again. Something is sparkling there. A glimmer of something mischievous and self-assured and somuch stronger than anything he showed me at the bar. More like what I saw in the night—and even bolder in the light of day.

That grumpy friend of his is standing up and scowling, and Quarrel puts a hand on my shoulder. But I barely even notice, because I’m smiling at Beauty, and I’m lost in the way he smiles back.

The first time we met, I wasn’t sure… but now I am. I’ve found a boy worth fighting for.

Chapter

Nine

BEAUTY

I’m frozento the spot, caught once more in the mystery Daddy’s mesmerizing gray stare.

I feel like I’ve been caught in my sleep, laid out perfectly for this man to do what he wishes. I can’t seem to tear my gaze away. But he’s not saying a word as he watches me. It’s like he’s toying with me, or… or something.

I can’t quite figure it out, but I feel like I’m in a game of cat-and-mouse.

---