Page 6 of A Sweet Mess

“Oh, shut up.” Aubrey’s cheeks caught on fire. “It hasn’t been that long.”

“Yeah, right. I was worried your girl parts would close up like neglected pierced ears if you didn’t get some soon.”

“Can you be more explicit, please? Your subtlety confounds me,” Aubrey said with a pointed look at Tara. “I didn’t take him home and sleep with him. We went to his room at Lola’s, and I didn’t sleep much at all. Though I did watch him sleep for a while before I sneaked out.”

“I beg your pardon. I was way off the mark.” Her best friend had the eye roll down to an art. “You went to a hotel with a gorgeous stranger and made love to him all night, then you stared creepily at him instead of sleeping.”

“I won’t see him again.” She shrugged, her blush deepening. “I was just getting my fill.”

“So you let himfillyou all night?” Tara grabbed the counter so she wouldn’t fall off her stool. She was laughing so hard she had tears in the corner of her eyes.

“You have the maturity of a twelve-year-old boy.” Aubrey bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from cracking up. She’d say her maturity level was on par with her best friend’s.

“Then why did you run out on him without so much as aso long, sucker?” Tara inhaled shakily, her arms wrapped tightly around her ribs. “Why not get his number?”

“He isn’t from around here, and I don’t have time for a relationship. We enjoyed each other for one night, and that’s that.”

“That’s all fine and well.” Tara’s expression softened as she brushed a lock of hair from Aubrey’s eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look like a faded rag doll.”

“You’re merely witnessing the aftereffects of what earth-shattering, bone-liquefying sex does to a woman.” Aubrey wiggled her eyebrows, unable to resist messing with Tara.

“Yowza.” Tara’s jaw dropped. “Details, Please?”

“Drop it, you perv,” Aubrey said, even though she’d brought it up first. “I don’t kiss and tell. At least not in detail.”

“Hello, ladies.” One of her regulars stood grinning at them, a few steps from the counter.

“Hi, Joe.” Aubrey smiled through gritted teeth, willing herself not to die from embarrassment.How long has he been standing there?“What can I get for you, hon?”

As Aubrey busied herself preparing his order and ignoring Tara’s anime leer, Comfort Zone filled with the sound of its morning crowd. When she finished plating the red velvet waffle and pineapple muffin, she held them out to her friend, jutting her chin toward the tables.

“Could you take these over to Joe?”

“What? I worked my tail off at the brewery last night, and you want free labor from me?” While her mouth grumbled, her hands grabbed the plates. “I’ll let you take advantage of my kindnessandcease the interrogation due to my benevolence. But at least tell me his name. Otherwise, I’ll have to refer to him as Mr. Hot-Piece-of-A—”

“Landon.” Aubrey blurted louder than she’d intended. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “His name’s Landon.”

Several things happened at once. Tara’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, but no sound came from her gaping mouth. Silence saturated the air and she stood as though time had stopped. At last, Tara came back to life and gingerly placed the plates on the counter. Her mouth opened and closed, but still,no words came out. That was alarming. Nothing rendered her friend speechless. Nothing.

“Okay. Now you’re scaring me,” Aubrey said, nerves knotting her stomach. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Landon?Oh, my God. I thought I recognized him from somewhere when I was giving him my death glare at the bar, but I couldn’t place him. He looked so different in jeans and a T-shirt with his hair all tousled. By the way, he should always wear his hair all tousled. It’s a good look for him.”

“Focus, Tara. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Your handsome stranger? He’stheLandon Kim. The celebrity food critic and blogger.”

“Oh… What?” The air whooshed out of her lungs.Were we seen together?“A celebrity food critic? Youknowhim?”

“I knowofhim. You’re the one whoknowshim. Intimately.” Tara winked and playfully pushed Aubrey’s shoulder. “It really isn’t a big deal. It’s not like you’re going to run into him again. I just got overexcited by our encounter with a star because I’m a total dork.”

“You’re not atotaldork.” She grinned, shaking off the weirdness of it all.

Visibility was a sensitive point for her. She’d run away from home when she was eighteen and had kept her whereabouts a secret from the people she’d left behind. She’d stayed in touch with her mom with their biannual phone calls and birthday cards, but Aubrey wanted nothing to do with her father. Having him find out about a one-night stand with a celebrity would be a humiliation she hoped to avoid.

“Wait.” Tara sounded panicked again. “Landon Kim came to the brewery. What if he was there to review it? Did he order any of our small dishes? What if he hated everything?”

“Hush, babe.” It was her turn to reassure her friend. “He told me he ended up in Weldon because of a blown tire. I think he was on his way to some other restaurant, so he couldn’t have been here to review Weldon Brewery.”

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