Drew had to admit he was a little nervous as he stepped inside the café. He homed in on Tommy behind the counter. When the man saw him, he smiled. That eased some of Drew’s anxiety. At least Tommy was glad to see him.
“You come for lunch, or to see Beth?” Tommy asked.
“Both, actually.”
Tommy beamed. “Tell me what you want to eat, and then I’ll run back and get Beth for you.”
After placing his order, Tommy gave Drew his change, and handed him a glass.
“Go ahead and have a seat. I’ll let Beth know you’re here and have her bring your food out to you.”
“If she’s busy, I can wait.” The last thing Drew wanted was to take her away from her job.
“No worries. We’re slowing down. She’s probably starting to clean up already.”
Before Drew could say another word, Tommy had disappeared into the back. What was it with people lately?
Shrugging it off, Drew went to get his drink and find a table. He chose a spot in the back again. Although there weren’t many people in the café at this time of day, Drew still wanted them to have some privacy. That, of course, was all based on the assumption that Beth was going to come out and talk to him.
As the minutes ticked by, Drew watched most of Beth’s few remaining customers file out of the café. By the time Beth appeared with his sandwich, only one other table near the front was occupied. As far as Drew was concerned, it was perfect.
Without saying a word, Beth set the plate down in front of him and took a seat.
“Thank you,” he said.
Beth nodded. “Thank you for the flowers. They were lovely. And rather unexpected.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked them.”
Silence filled the space between them as he dug into his lunch. He wasn’t sure how much he should push and how much he should let her lead.
Luckily, before he came to a decision, she spoke. “I don’t know how much you know about what happened. With me and my ex, I mean.”
“Not much, but I know enough.”
“Do you?”
There was an edge to her voice, and Drew was hoping he hadn’t overstepped again. “I know you were hurt, that he betrayed your trust.”
“I see. And did Nicole tell you that?”
“No. John did that first night I met you at the club.”
She sighed. “I guess I’m not surprised. Bad news travels fast.”
“John said he didn’t know the details, but he wanted to give me a heads-up since . . .”
Beth smirked slightly, and then frowned. “Since he realized you were interested in me.”
Drew met her gaze. “Yes.”
She was quiet for a several minutes, and he took the opportunity to finish his meal.
When she spoke again Drew had the urge to hug her, but he resisted. “I can’t offer you anything more than friendship right now. I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
“I understand.”
“You keep saying that.”
“And I mean it. Like I told you before, I’m willing to take what you’re offering. No strings,” he said.
Beth snorted. “You sent me flowers.”
“So?”
“So that isn’t exactly something a friend would do.”
He pretended to be offended. “Says who?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Says me, that’s who.”
“You’ve never had a friend send you flowers?” he asked.
“Not the point.” She rolled her eyes at him.
Drew had to admit he was having fun, and since she seemed to be right there with him, he continued. “Sure it is. You mean to tell me Nicole has never sent you flowers?”
“Yes. She has. For my birthday. But Nicole is not you.” There was a light in Beth’s eyes—a sparkle—and he loved seeing it.
“Ah. So I’m not special enough to send you flowers. I see how it is.”
Beth rested her face in her hands and laughed. “You’re impossible.”
He grinned. “Am I?”
She looked up at him, amusement the most dominant emotion on her face. “Yes. You know exactly what I mean, and you’re intentionally missing the point I’m trying to make. You’re a guy. Guys don’t send flowers to women they’re friends with.”
His expression sobered. “Would you rather I not have sent them?”
Beth paused and seemed to consider his question. “No. I liked the flowers. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
“I’m not.” He’d said it before, and if she needed him to, he’d repeat it every day until she believed him.
***
Beth wasn’t sure if she should believe what Drew was saying or not. It was obvious he wanted more than friendship from her. Looking like he did, she couldn’t imagine why he’d be willing to settle for friendship when he could probably go down to the local bar and find several women willing to give him whatever he wanted.
It irked her how much that thought turned her stomach. Although she wasn’t ready for a relationship with Drew or anyone else, the thought of him with another woman made her ready to pounce. Even she knew that wasn’t fair. Beth had no claim on him. He was free to date, and even sleep with, whomever he wanted.
She stood quickly, sending the chair scraping along the floor. “I should get back to work if I want to get home at a decent hour.”
Drew arose and picked up his plate. “Want some help?”
“That’s all right. Tommy and I—”
“Please? I took you away from what you were doing . . . put you behind. Let me help.”
Beth tilted her head to the side and considered his offer. If Nicole had offered to help her close down for the day, Beth would have jumped at the chance and would have immediately put her to work. If she was going to allow Drew into her circle of friends, shouldn’t she treat him the same?
“All right. Follow me.”
Without looking back, Beth made a beeline for the kitchen. Tommy was already at the sink doing dishes. When he saw Drew behind her, he winked.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed the tray they used to close down the dining room. Filling up the small bucket with warm soapy water, Beth handed it over to Drew. “Think you can handle wiping off all the tables and filling up the salt and pepper shakers?”
“Yeah. I think I can handle that.”
“Good. I’ll be out to check on you in about twenty minutes. And don’t forget to check underneath the tables.”
Beth thought she heard Drew chuckle before he headed back out to the dining room.
“Going a little hard on him, aren’t you?” Tommy asked.
“No.”
“Come on, B. Don’t play that game with me. I’ve known you for too long. You like the guy. Admit it.”
Picking up a clean towel, she wet it and began scrubbing the kitchen counters. “Yes, I like him. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. Satisfied?”
“Maybe.”
Beth groaned. “You’re as bad as Nicole, do you know that?”
Tommy laughed so hard he had trouble catching his breath. “I’ll take that as a compliment. I like Nicole.”
As much as she wanted to comment, Beth kept her mouth shut. Tommy knew a lot about her life, but he had no idea that both she and Nicole were into BDSM. Tommy was young. Okay, he was twenty-three. Still, he was young enough for her to feel the need to keep that part of her life away from him. She’d known him since he was sixteen, and in many ways, she still viewed him that way.
Trying her best to ignore the satisfied grin on Tommy’s face, Beth concentrated on getting her work done. Once she had everything cleaned and put away, she went out to the dining room to see how Drew was doing.
She found him near the front of the café. Even though she hadn’t told him to, he’d flipped all the chairs upside down and placed them on the tables. To her knowledge, he’d never been to her café after hours. Maybe he’d worked in a restaurant when he was younger. That or he paid attention to details. When she’d worked at the bakery, putting the chairs on the tables was something all the new employees had to be told. More than once someone would just try to vacuum around the chair legs and call it done.
“You put the chairs up. That’s good.”
He glanced up. “Figured it was easier to do it as I went. I didn’t see a sweeper anywhere, though.”
Beth took a long look at the table she was standing next to. The salt and pepper shakers had been filled and arranged neatly at the center of the table beside the sugar. She walked to the window and flipped the sign to closed before turning her attention back to Drew. “It’s in the supply closet. I’ll show you.”
She turned on her heel knowing he’d follow her. When she heard his footsteps behind her, Beth grinned.
Opening the door, she stepped into the small room, and turned on the light. Everything for the restaurant that wasn’t food-related was stored in this room. She spotted the vacuum on the far wall and was about to retrieve it when Drew brushed past her. The area he’d touched—albeit briefly—left behind an almost electric charge.
He must have felt it, too, because he stopped and turned to face her.
They stared at each other for several moments before Drew cleared his throat. “Do I need anything else while I’m in here?”
She swallowed and shook her head. “No. The vacuum should be it.”
Not waiting for a response, Beth left the room, and went to find Tommy. He was up front stocking supplies behind the counter. “Having fun with the firefighter?”
“Shut it. Now, what else needs to be done up here?”
Tommy chuckled and pointed to the large display case.
“Left that for me, did you? Thanks so much.” Beth took a wet rag and began cleaning the large glass case they used to display the baked goods. It was perhaps her least favorite part of running the café. Everything had to be taken out of the case, wiped down, and put back. Sounded simple enough, but when jelly or icing dripped and then dried on the metal racks, it sometimes meant scraping it off.
As she was prying some icing from the center rack, she heard the vacuum turn on. Beth didn’t need to look up to see Tommy was smiling—the amusement was vibrating off him. He was enjoying this thing with her and Drew way too much.
Before long, everything was as it should be, and Beth found herself standing outside the back door with Drew and Tommy. Beth knew she and Drew needed to talk, and figured this was as good a time as any. “Thanks, Tommy. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He glanced back and forth from her to Drew, and then nodded. “Call me if you need anything.”
She didn’t miss the thumbs-up Tommy sent her way as he was getting into his car. Beth sighed as she faced Drew and tried to prepare herself for what she was about to do. “Would you like to take a walk with me?”
“Sure.”
Drew seemed a little surprised, but he followed her down the alley and out onto the sidewalk that ran along the front of the café. She turned left, setting a leisurely pace. As they continued to walk, Beth realized he was intentionally keeping himself a step behind her. “You can walk beside me. I’m not your mistress, and we aren’t playing. There’s no protocol.”
Beth actually thought she saw him blush.
“Sorry. I don’t . . .” He shook his head. “Sorry.”
He lengthened his step a little and fell in beside her. “Thank you.”
“It’s my fault. I feel like I keep screwing this up,” he said.
“You’re not. If it were anyone else, I’m sure it wouldn’t be this complicated.”
Drew shot her one of his killer smiles. “Maybe I like complicated.”
She laughed.
They passed several more storefronts before either of them spoke.
Beth took a deep breath. “I want to apologize to you.”
“For what?”
“I told you we could be friends, but so far I’ve done a really crappy job at holding up my end of things.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.” There was no room for argument in her tone. “Although I said it, I didn’t mean it. Truthfully, I was hoping you’d lose interest and go away.”
“Is that what you want?” Beth didn’t miss the hint of disappointment.
She groaned. “This isn’t coming out the way I wanted it to. I wanted to apologize, and then offer for us to start again. Somehow I’ve even managed to screw up the apology.”
He stopped, so she did, too.
Drew’s brow was furrowed. It looked as if he was deep in thought about something. “So what does that mean, exactly?”
Beth released a harsh breath. “It means that before when I said we could be friends I didn’t really mean it.”
“And now?” he asked.
“And now? I’d like for us to try to be friends. Real friends. I still can’t offer you more than that right now, but . . .”
He didn’t answer right away. “How would this real friends thing work? As opposed to the fake friends thing.”
When she realized he wasn’t upset, she relaxed a little. “I suppose it means we would talk, hang out, that sort of thing. Isn’t that what friends do?”
“It is. I guess I’m just wanting to make sure I know the ground rules.”
Beth nodded and started walking again.
Drew fell into step beside her.
“Okay. Rule number one. While we can hang out, it can’t be anything remotely like a date.”
“So no showing up at your door with flowers. Got it.”
She grinned. “Exactly.”
“All right. What else?”
“Let’s see. No inappropriate touching. Or kissing, of course.”
“Of course.”
One side of his mouth pulled up, and she knew he was fighting a smile. He was taking this much better than she thought he would. Maybe this could work after all.
“Is there anything besides no kissing or date-like behavior that’s off the table?” he asked.
Beth shook her head. “Not that I can think of. If something comes up, I’ll let you know.”
“Fair enough.”
They’d covered almost six blocks when Beth turned left to head toward the local farmers’ market. She rarely bought anything, but she liked to stroll through the stalls to see what the vendors were selling—especially the ones hawking baked goods.
She knew the moment Drew realized where they were going. “Do you come to the market a lot?”
Beth shrugged. “I try to get here once a week. It’s good to check out your competition once in a while.”
“Ah. Good idea.”
As they strolled through the stalls, Beth wondered what was going through Drew’s mind. She’d laid out their friendship, and on the surface, he appeared to be content with the arrangement. But was he? She knew he wanted more. How long would he be happy with what she was willing to give before he became fed up with her and moved on?
“May I ask you a question?”
They were passing by a vendor who was selling a variety of apples. “Sure. And you don’t have to ask permission. We’re friends. You can ask me whatever you want. If I don’t want to answer, I’ll tell you.”
He nodded. “How long have you been a . . . a . . .”
Beth smiled. “About six years.”
“So you were in your early twenties?”
She chuckled. “Are you fishing for my age?”
“Maybe.” Drew’s eyes sparkled with mirth.
“I’m not like some women. I have no issues telling my age. I’m thirty.” Beth glanced over at him. “And you?”
“I’m twenty-eight. My birthday is next month, though.”
“So you’re a young thing,” she said, teasing.
“Not that young.”
Beth nodded.
“Does me being younger bother you?”
“Not at all. Why would it?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know. Just thought I’d ask.”
“Are you asking as a friend, or are you asking if it would bother me if we were more than friends?” She was fairly sure she knew, but she wanted him to spell it out for her.
“I’m curious if it would make any difference if this thing between us did develop into more. Eventually,” he hurried to add.
She made him wait for her answer, and as they rounded the corner to the last row of stalls, she could feel his tension growing. “No.”
“No?”
“No. It wouldn’t matter to me.”
Beth heard him release a large burst of air from his lungs. “Okay. Good.”
The two of them finished at the farmers’ market and headed back toward the café. When they arrived at her car, Beth leaned against the metal to face Drew. “Thank you for walking with me.”
“No thanks needed. I had fun. It was a good way to spend an afternoon.”
“When do you have to work again?” she asked. If they were going to be friends, she should probably get an idea of what his schedule was.
“Tomorrow. I work twenty-four-hour shifts. One day on. One day off. After three days on, we get four days off. It’s a nine-day rotation.” When he saw her confused look, he shrugged. “I know it’s a little confusing at first.”
“That’s okay. I think I get it.”
They stood in silence for several moments.
“Any plans for tonight?” Beth had no idea why she was asking.
Drew shrugged. “Not really. I’ll probably watch a little TV and turn in early.”
It sounded a lot like the evening Beth had planned for herself. “Well, I’ll let you get on with it, then.”
She moved to get into her car, but he stopped her. “Beth?”
“Yes?”
“Does this new friends thing include us exchanging phone numbers?”
Beth thought about it for a moment. Although giving him her phone number gave her pause, she wasn’t as nervous about it as one might think. Katrina was really good at screening applicants for the club. She’d even found Ben’s marriage certificate when they’d applied for membership. The problem was Ben was good at lies and procuring fake documents. When the subject came up, he was able to produce a very legal-looking certificate of annulment dated about a month after the marriage. Unfortunately, neither Beth nor Katrina had thought to question it. They’d both learned a very hard lesson.
No, nerves had nothing to do with Beth contemplating Drew’s request. Even without the background check Katrina would have done on him, she knew he was a firefighter. She knew where he worked, and even if he hadn’t told her, with Nicole’s help she would be able to find out. What was holding her back was the thought that it would be one more thing linking them together—one more step into opening herself up to trusting a man again.
“You don’t have to if you’re not comfortable,” Drew said.
“It’s not that. Okay, it is that. A little. But you’re right. Friends do typically exchange phone numbers.”
Before she could second-guess herself, Beth took out one of her business cards and a pen. Flipping it over, she scribbled both her home and cell numbers onto the card and handed it to him.
He looked it over, and then tucked it into his wallet. “Do you have another one of those? I don’t have anything with me to write on.”
Beth gave him another one of her cards, and he quickly jotted down his numbers. “The cell number is usually better. As long as I’m not out on a call, I’ll answer.”
She took the card and slipped it into her pocket. “Thanks.”
“I should let you go. Thank you again for this afternoon. I had fun.”
He waved, and she waved back before getting into her car. Every time she saw Drew, she got in deeper. How long would this ‘just friends’ thing hold?
She didn’t know the answer to that. But for the first time since Ben exited her life, she was beginning not to care. Drew wasn’t anything like her ex, which was good. The last thing she needed was another fake submissive who played with her and her emotions. She wanted real, and for all of Drew’s cockiness and his inexperience with being a sub, he was real.
Driving home, Beth tried not to let the possibilities weigh too heavily on her mind. She would let this thing with Drew play out. Hopefully, if he turned out to be another Ben, she’d find out before it cost her another broken heart.