Page 183 of Santa Daddies
“What the fuck, Kace, this is why I can’t get hold of you?” He turns to Bellamie, his jaw flexing.“Is he why you were in such a hurry? Did last night mean nothing?”
I bolt out of the confined space. Last night… I’ve been a wreck ever since seeing him leave the auction with her, not understanding why she would be in a virgin auction and why she was with him. If they wanted to have sex, they could have– I cut my thoughts off before my brain explodes.
But also because I have to hear her answer.
“Last night you fulfilled your end of the contract. You said so yourself.” She’s hurt. I can hear it in her tone. What the fuck happened?
Loren tries to grab her arm but she darts to the side, bumping into a clothing rack. He waits for her to steady the clanging hangers. “Yeah, and I got you home… away from that horrid auction. So we could be alone.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Horrid? What if I liked it?”
I can’t hold back. “Bellie, is that why you held back the other night, because you had to stay a virgin for the auction? Why didn’t you just tell me?”
Her nod is almost imperceptible.
“Stay out of this, Kace. I’m sorry, Belle. I should have asked. I just… everything… ” He looks at me. “Why are you here? You’re supposed to be at the other festival.”
“I had to know…”
I pause to consider my wording and Loren interrupts. “If you could completely destroy my trust, ruin everything we’ve built.”
“Nothing has to change.”
“Everybody knows you can't mix business and pleasure.” Loren’s losing it.
I can’t blame him after how I felt last night. He needs time to process and plan. Fuck! This is moving even faster than I like. “Let’s all calm down. Everybody's not always right.”
“Wait!” Bellamie jumps in. “What do you mean, mix business with pleasure?”
Loren holds a hand up, for me to back off. “Kace is my business partner. I assumed you knew. But when we were talking to our parents this morning, it occurred to me that you hadn’t put it together.”
Her mouth drops open. “How would I put it together?"
“How many Kaces do you know?”
I own my fuck-up. “I didn’t tell her my name.”
Loren looks at the dressing room. “You fucked a guy without knowing his name?”
I can’t let him go there. “You wouldn’t have given it a second thought if a guy did that.”
He squares up with me. “Except this wasn’t spur of the moment. You didn’t tell her who you were on purpose.”
“Yeah, I’ll own that.”
“Perfect timing. What do we do now?” He puts himself between us. “Belle, I’m sorry I confused you last night. I don’t wantusto end.”
She worries her lower lip as she rubs her wrist.
“Don’t make this hard on her, Loren. We can work this out.”
“You broke bro code, man. This was going to be hard enough.”
“Oh shit.” Bellamie stares out the front of the store. “That’s Debbie, my boss.”
“Well, hello, Bellamie and company.” Debbie looks at each of us expectantly.
“Hi, my brother was just dropping off my keys.”
