Page 62 of Seeing You

“Unless…you don’t want me to stay.”

“What? Oh, no, that’s not what I meant at all. I was genuinely worried about John, that’s all. I’d hate to think of you just ditching him when he really needed you.”

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t take offense to that, but…he supposed he could understand why her mind would go there.

“No one's ditching anyone,” he assured her. “I’m here for as long as you want me here. If you’d like for me to leave at some point, I’ll go.”

“But…?”

“But I’d really like to spend the night with you. The entire night, and then wake up with you in the morning.” And that’s when something else occurred to him. “What time do you need to be at Books & Beans in the morning?”

The smile she gave him was full of promise. “You happen to be in luck. Tomorrow’s my day off. So…I can sleep in.”

“That’s good, because I plan on keeping you up very late and letting you sleep very little.”

“Mmm…I like the sound of that. A lot.”

“How about we clean up this mess and go back to bed and do a little more…less sleeping?”

“I’ve got a better idea?”

“Oh?”

“We leave this mess right here and go do all that less sleeping. What do you think?”

“That can be arranged.” After taking a final sip of his sweet tea, Marcus stood and swept her up into his arms again and carried her to bed, where they got very little sleep until the sun was ready to rise.

Chapter Eleven

“I both love and hate that goofy smile on your face,” Ashlynn said as she walked up to the counter at Books & Beans on Monday morning. “I mean…I know I helped you get ready for your date with Marcus, but I just kind of hate that he’s the one you’re with.”

“That’s not very nice,” Jade commented.

“It’s okay,” Billie told her. “My cute little baby sister with her little baby belly is just looking out for me.”

“I’d ask how it went, but you’re all glowy and shit, so I guess you had a good weekend.”

“Yes, I did!”

“Ew, gross! I don’t want details!” Ash hissed. “Just…give me a muffin and a brownie and…and two chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate cake pop, and a piece of the crumb cake.”

“Aww…it’s so nice that you’re bringing breakfast to the girls at the salon,” Jade said as she began boxing up the order.

“Um, no. This is to get me through the day and then to share whatever’s left with Reid when I get home.”

“Ashlynn Jane! There better be a lot of this left when you go home! You can’t live on cake!” Billie scolded. “It’s not good for you or the baby!”

Jade agreed. “It all tastes great, but you and the baby need healthier foods. The cake and cookies are okay for the occasional treat, but not a full-time menu.” She immediately began placing the cake back in the display case.

“Oh, come on! Not all of it! Just pick the four best, and I swear to bring two of them home to Reid!” With a huff of annoyance, she walked away.

Chloe stepped up beside her. “Good morning!” she said cheerily. “Why is Ash yelling at you guys?”

“She’s eating too much cake and we’re refusing to be accomplices,” Billie explained. “What can I get for you, sunshine?”

“Ooh…sunshine! I like it! I’ll take…” Pausing, she studied her sister. “Oh my God! Did you have sex this weekend?”

“What? Why would you ask that?”

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