Page 23 of Beauty Sleep

“Is—Is it that easy to read me?” I stutter, my cheeks hot as hell.

His eyes crinkle with far too much amusement. “Yes,” he says. “And, seeing as we’re all apologizing… I’m sorry for what I said. It was a little harsh.”

“Don’t be,” I tell him without even thinking about it. “You were right. I need to do whatIwant to do.”

The older man gives me an amused shrug. “It was still harsh. But I suppose every curse is a blessing in disguise, if you know how to look at it.”

“Yeah.” I swallow back the lump in my throat as I smile up at him. “And every bad dream can become a good one.”

Without him, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to talk to Prince Charming, to invite him inside… to wake up and smell the roses.

“But you can’t just dream forever. Sometimes you gotta wake up and make those dreams come true.”

“Good advice,” says the Daddy’s friend from near the door. He’s holding a cup of coffee in each hand. He smiles at me and raises an eyebrow at his friend. “Ready to go?”

The mysterious stranger jerks his chin as if to say,Give me a minute, and his friend shrugs.

When he looks back down at me, my heart just about pounds right out of my damn chest. I’m frozen, waiting to see what he’ll do.

Is he going to touch me? Kiss me? Introduce himself? Give me his phone number?

Nothing. The seconds tick by, and he does nothing. But his smile is growing.

Oh. Ohhhh, shit.

He wantsmeto take the first step. And he doesn’t know that I did exactly that last night—and then I promised Prince I’d wait for him.

Shit. Don’t get me wrong, this Daddy is hot. I like him a lot. But I promised Prince I’d wait for him.

Who could believe this is my life? All this time living in my own fantasy world, and I’m suddenly entangled with two hot older men. One brings me to the light, while the other meets mein the dark. Both of them make me feel things I’ve never felt before. And none of us know each other’s names.

I have to find a way to let him down, and quickly. So I call up the memory of Prince’s hand on my back, his lips on the side of my neck, his gentle touch as he tucked me in last night… and, at last, I tear my gaze away and stare down at my homework.

“Anyway,” I mumble, trying to act like my heart isn’t leaping out of my mouth. “Thanks. I’ll see you around, yeah?”

Damn it. I couldn’t be less graceful if I tried. I hope that didn’t hurt his feelings.

But the Daddy just smiles crookedly, like he was expecting it, and heads for the door. “See you around, Beauty.”

The Daddy strides right out of the shop, grabbing his coffee from his friend along the way. Just before the door closes, he breaks into a cheery little whistle that catches me by surprise.

The second the coffee shop door swings closed and his whistle fades away, the table breaks out in chaos.

“You’re into Daddies?” Robby’s jaw drops. “You? Daddies?”

“Jesus, Briar!” Kurt laughs. “You kept that a secret.”

“I told you guys he’d be intosomething!” Theo exclaims.

“Dude, dude,” Robby says, gently shaking me by the shoulder. “Tell me you already got his number and you didn’t just blank him.”

I grab his arm before he can get up to chase after the guy on my behalf. “No. But it’s okay,” I promise him, and his eyebrows fly up almost into his hairline. “Really,” I add, laughing at the confusion on his face.

Robby slowly sinks into his chair again. “So what the hellwasall of that?”

Like I know.

Under the weight of their expectant stares, all I can do is shrug. “Maybe a sign?” I grin sheepishly, reaching down to fidgetwith the pages of my textbooks. “Or maybe it’s just confirmation bias.”

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