Page 125 of Never Kiss and Tell

Charlie chuckles, planting a kiss to my forehead.

“Of course. You’re about to be ruined for Californian food for the rest of your life.”

Charlie

“There are so many people here, Charlie,” Bailey whispers when I help her down out of the truck. I toss the valet boy the keys and take her hand, leading her up the sidewalk to PoshA’s, the restaurant hosting Andi’s rehearsal dinner.

Bailey pulls me to a stop before we can reach the doors and uses a small mirror to double check her lipstick. She’d had to reapply it after our impromptu side of the road loss of control and I’d had to scrub my face with a napkin from the glove box to Bailey’s amusement.

“You look beautiful, baby,” I say, pressing a kiss to the top her head while she shoves the compact back in her bag.

She chuckles quietly, pressing a quick kiss to my cheek before allowing me to take her hand, again. “You’re just saying that to get in my pants.”

“Better let me eat first. How are you going to survive the night without me?”

Her eyes go wide and I can see she hadn’t remembered shewould be staying the night at the hotel where the wedding is being held with Andi and our cousins.

The better question is, how will I survive?

Bailey Carpenter has fucking ruined me.

I crave her from the moment I wake up until the sun goes down. How the fuck I let this happen is beyond me. It was supposed to be sex. Now, I’m thinking of every possible thing I could do to keep her.

Fuck, I thought I lost her early when she told me to take her home. I can’t explain the fucking punch to the gut I felt. Like I was going to explode. I’m not a man to beg, but I was damn close when she jumped in my lap.

My sexy little vixen. I never would have thought when I met her that she would become as desperate for me as I am for her. She’s the first thing I thing about in the morning and the last thing at night. It’s not healthy.

I’m obsessed.

This obsession runs deep, too.

I briefly debate on if I need therapy as we near the restaurant. A therapist would probably lock me up. A therapist wouldn’t understand how hard I’d tried to keep her out of my thoughts, how hard I’d fought just to stay away from her. I wanted to hate her because she seemed unobtainable to me. It should have been easy. Not with Bailey, though. With her, it’s damn near impossible.

“Do you know all these people?” she asks when I tuck her hand into the crook of my elbow and lead her inside. The food smells fucking delicious and my mouth waters. PoshA wouldn’t be my first choice of New Orleans cuisine, but it’ll do in apinch. It’s fancy, too fancy for my blood, but this is where Andi and Tom decided, so Sarah paid the almost ten grand for us to rent the place out for two hours.

“Don’t worry. I don’t remember most of them.” It’s true. I never go to family reunions anymore. Too many questions. Most of them centered around Mom.

“There you are,” Andi interrupts, looking like a brunette Malibu Barbie in a bright pink dress. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.” She stops a few steps back, inspecting us. “You guys look amazing together.”

“Sorry, I forgot something,” Bailey lies smoothly, brushing over Andi’s other comment. Andi pulls her into a hug, shooting me a look over her shoulder before coming to hug me.

“Why did you invite Jake? He keeps making fun of my dress.”

I look down at it in all its poofy glory. “I wasn’t aware we were going to prom.”

Bailey scoffs and swats me on the arm. “I think you look beautiful, Andi. Jake’s probably just stunned by how great your tits look in that dress.”

I raise a brow, daring her to continue.

Andi wrinkles her nose. “Ew. Come on you two. Dinner is going to start soon and Mawmaw’s been asking for Bailey.”

Bailey eyes me over her shoulder as Andi pulls her away as if to say told you so.

Dinner is a buffet of all of New Orleans’ finest food. It’s nowhere near as good as my family’s, but I guess it will do. Bailey likes it, at least, enjoying the burnt honey cake the most.

She laughs and giggles with Mawmaw, who insists on sitting beside her, despite Sarah’s seating chart. In fact, no one sits intheir assigned seats.

I end up next to Andi, who chooses this exact moment to ask me about my deal with Bailey.

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