Page 62 of If You Were Mine
“It should only take a couple of days, but Wells? Do you think you can come with me?”
Elation slithered into me, but I tried not to latch on to that.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to look at the schedule, this isn’t a lot of notice. And I’m the owner. I have to be responsible.”
“I know. I’ll help with whatever I can. It won’t be too long, and frankly I can make my own schedule. I know you get a full day off, so if we work around your schedule, you won’t have to take off too much time or find too many replacements. We’ll make it work with you, okay? I just want you there.”
My lips formed into a small smile, and I told myself that I was thinking too hard yet again. Because Dorian wanted me.
And why did I feel like that might be one of the most connected and irrational feelings circling me?
“I’ll try.”
“I want to show you my Denver. My life down south.”
Reality settled in once again. Because Dorian did not live here. And my home was Cage Lake. My business, my friends. My life.
Dorian wasn’t permanent.
I had to remember that. We hadn’t promised forever. We had just promised honesty.
I swallowed hard and let out a breath.
“I’ll try. I’d love to go.”
“Good. I want to come over tonight, but I know you have to work early. I’ll see you tomorrow at the bakery though? I promise not to be gone for too long again.”
“Well, if I know you’re going to be there, I guess I need to make your favorite Danish.”
“Okay, dating a baker who knows all of my favorite things is going to be hard on my workout routines.”
He laughed as he said it, and I couldn’t help but cling to the word dating.
I was so far out of my depth, but I was just going to ride whatever this was.
Thinking too hard would only break me in the end.
“So, what are you wearing?” he asked, his voice low.
And when I burst out laughing, and followed Lucky back into my apartment, I smiled.
I may not know what I was doing, but I was going to live in the moment.
And when Dorian left, because he would have to, I wouldn’t break. Because I had set my own expectations.
And apparently when I said honesty was how I was going to work with Dorian, I only meant between him and me. Because I was sure as hell lying to myself.
Chapter 12
DORIAN
Why the hell had I decided to bring Harper with me? Of all the things I could do to try to get my head out of my ass and maybe focus on what I should be doing, bringing Joshua’s little sister with me to look at my clubs after spending far too long ignoring them didn’t seem like the best way to go about it.
But there was no going back now. Here she was, in my house, surrounded by things I had pieced together over the years to try to figure out my own sense of style, and I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do about it.
“Is everything okay?” Harper asked as she came out of the bedroom. We had taken the long drive down from Cage Lake to my house in the suburbs of Denver. Traffic had been a bitch on I-70 once we’d made past the hardest curve of the drive in the winter, and I was just grateful the pass had been open. Frankly, I probably should have hired the company helicopter to get back to the place, but I knew there was no way I could get in the air.
I would have to eventually. I used to love traveling. Used to love seeing the world and even flying on my own.
