Page 9 of Handcuffed Hussy
Me: Listen. You're gorgeous, Bailey, and any man would want you, me included. But we'd kill each other within twenty-four hours. I'd rather we both live to see another day. No matter how hard it is to ignore each other.
The bubble on the text screen showed she was typing a reply. I stared at it, hoping I hadn't completely pissed her off, but knowing that might actually be a good thing. The bubble went away and my screen eventually went black.
I didn't know if she was angry or if she agreed with me. Either way, the end result was the same: we were ignoring each other.
Past - Bailey
I woke up the next morning, feeling the ill effects of too much Jack Daniels and dreams of unrequited love. To say I was grumpy would be a drastic understatement.
I rolled out of bed in a rumpled t-shirt and undies, too hung over to bother with shorts. Hopefully Ivan was already out of the house. I looked at the clock and saw it was past ten, which meant I should have the place to myself. I stumbled to the coffeepot and drank my first cup of nectar, the cobwebs pushed back with each caffeine laden sip.
It was halfway into my second cup when I remembered a fleeting conversation from last night. Had I been texting Jack?
I clanked my coffee mug on the countertop and ran out of the kitchen to find my phone. The pounding aggravated my head, but I had to see the damage. I was cringing already, and I hadn't even confirmed it yet.
I swiped and opened my texts, scrolling through quite a few back and forths. I read from the top, gasping out loud at my blatant invitation. He'd turned me down, but his words left the butterflies in my stomach a mess. He said he wanted me, but we weren't good for each other.
And as much as that stung, I had to agree with him. I knew he wasn't the type of man I wanted, but I was still mad that he'd been the mature one in turning me down. Hadn't he ever heard of 'friends with benefits'?
I threw my phone on the bed and stomped back to get my coffee. Fuck. I knew I'd never be able to keep it to a friendship level if I had sex with Jack. I'd want him more than once. Then I'd be doodling his name and planning our wedding. He just seemed like that kind of guy.
And that was completely unacceptable.
Time to save face and be an adult. I would shower, get dressed in my cutest, casual outfit ever and pay Jack a visit. To confirm our plan to ignore each other.
Perfectly reasonable plan.
I walked into the police station, stopping at the front desk to ask for Jack. The man at the desk gave me a once over and then told me to take a seat while he located him. After a few terrifying moments of watching people in handcuffs being brought in and out the front door, the front desk guy called my name.
I jumped out of my seat and followed him through a door and down the long hallway. Lots of curious faces turned to watch my progression through the precinct, making me second-guess my outfit choice for this particular venue. And I didn't like second-guessing myself.
The guy gestured toward a door and told me to give it a knock before entering. He moved back down the hallway and I allowed myself one long breath before knocking quickly. As instructed, I opened the door right after my knock and saw that Jack was seated as his desk with people in his office. Having a meeting. Which I was interrupting.
Jack looked at me blankly and I felt so out of place, I wanted to find a hole in the ground to hide in. I was about to close the door again and slink back down the hallway when I realized the two people seated with Jack were Brinley and her new boy-toy Dean.
Brinley jumped up and rushed over to hug me. "Bailey! What are you doing here? Are you here to see me or Jack?" She looked a bit confused, probably wondering why I was interrupting them.
I looked at Jack in apology before turning to Brinley with a big ol' smile and putting my arm around her. I moved us to the hall saying, "Yes! I came to see you. I wanted to find out when your big game was so I could make sure I got it off work."
I ignored the hole being burned into the back of my head by Jack's gaze as I walked to the front of the station with Brinley. This was so not how this was supposed to go.
Great, now I had multiple things to apologize for.
