Chapter Fifteen

Hadley

I stared out the window into the night sky as we sped across town in Blake’s zippy sports car. Riding high on exhaustion and elation, I reflected back on what had to be one of the best nights of my life. Tonight had been everything I’d dreamed about and more. People genuinely loved my food. They’d sought me out to deliver compliments and inquire about recipes. I couldn’t believe it! Here I was, eons away from that shy girl from Alabama whose one and only goal was to own her own bakery, living the dream. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, could ruin this moment for me. Not Blake’s posse of women. Not my mother and sister’s surprise visit. Nothing. I wanted to just sit back and ride this high forever.

“Your mom and sister are...interesting,” Blake said, pulling me from my reverie. My mother and sister were complete menaces. I couldn’t believe they crashed in my bed after I told them to sleep on the sofa.

“I’m glad you think so. At the moment, I’m not real fond of them.” His chuckle reverberated through the car, making me smile. “I apologize on behalf of my sister, by the way.” His brow furrowed in question. “For feeling you up, or should I say down,” I corrected. “She was obviously raised in a barn.”

“Sounds like Hunter’s kind of woman,” he muttered, and it was my turn to laugh. His head turned and his eyes were on me.

“What?” I asked, wondering what he was thinking.

“I like hearing you laugh. You don’t do it often enough,” he stated, before turning back to the road. His comment caught me off-guard.

“I don’t?” Surely he was mistaken. I laughed all the time, didn’t I?

“Not around me, you don’t, but don’t worry, I plan on remedying that.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that but I liked the sound of it. Who was I kidding? I just plain liked him. It was too bad he had heartbreak written all over him. I didn’t doubt that Blake would make a great father. With his easy-going manner, happy disposition, and endless supply of patience, any kid would be lucky to call him Dad. A perfect father, however, didn’t necessarily translate into a perfect partner. Blake clearly had no problems attracting women. I mean, just look at the man. Each time we were alone together, I ended up with my tongue in his mouth. But that was just it, from the looks of it, so did every other woman in Charlotte.

“I can see the wheels spinning. Care to share?” The sound of his deep voice caused a shiver to roll through me, which was a clear reminder of how affected I was by him.

“I was just thinking about tonight,” I lied, and gasped when his hand latched onto mine and gently squeezed.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you that you did a great job tonight, babe.” My eyes closed at the sound of such a sweet endearment.

“Thanks,” I responded on a whispered sigh.

Blake lived in a townhome community. His house was located on a corner. The day I visited with Cat, I remembered her saying the houses on the end were bigger, due to the additional side yard. All of the homes in the community were constructed of red brick. Each had white shutters and a large, white door. We pulled into a parking spot and I waited for him to kill the engine.

“My place is on the end,” he pointed out.

“Yes, I remember.” My dry response got me a smirk.

Blake reached for my bag, while I grabbed my purse. Then I followed him up the steps and waited for him to unlock the door.

“Sorry about the mess,” he mumbled as he held the door open for me. The first thing I noticed was how big the place was. From where we stood, I could see all the way across the living area and into the kitchen. “This is the living room,” he announced. The room was square in shape and recessed on all sides by two large steps. A large black leather sofa flanked by two matching leather chairs with ottomans perched at their feet, sat facing a large fireplace. Hanging on the wall above the fireplace was a giant flat screen television. “As you can see, the kitchen is straight back. You can’t see the dining room from here, but it’s off of the kitchen.” He pointed to an open doorway to the right of us. “The master is behind that door and the two guest bedrooms are upstairs, one of which I currently use for my office. Come on, I’ll show you.” Instead of steering me in the direction of his bedroom, as I expected, he guided me up two flights of stairs and down a long hallway. I had to admit I was slightly disappointed. I wasn’t planning on sleeping with him, but for him not to even try was, well...disappointing.

We stopped in front of one of two doors and I waited for him to turn the handle and push it open. Blake ushered me inside, and with a flick of his fingers, he flipped on the lights. A decent sized room with two large windows came into view. My heart sank when I spotted the tiny twin bed pushed flush against the wall. His gaze swiveled to me and I smiled. This felt awkward. I felt awkward. What was I doing here? I should have stayed at my place.

“Wow, this is great. I really appreciate you letting me stay with you tonight,” I told him. God, I was such a horrible liar.

“Not a problem. It beats the hell out of that sofa bed. The bathroom is through that door. You’ll find fresh towels and washcloths under the sink. Do you need anything else before I head downstairs?” He looked exhausted and I suddenly felt bad. He’d gone out of his way...for me, and here I was, being ungrateful.

“Nope. I’m good. Thanks again,” I repeated.

“Great, see you in the morning.” He paused, as if wanting to say more but didn’t. Instead, he shook his head and exited the room, leaving me quite confused as I shut the door behind him. What was that about?

After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I crawled into the tiny bed. I hadn’t slept in a twin bed in I couldn’t remember when. I was kind of a wild sleeper, so the likelihood of me ending up on the floor was pretty darn high. To prevent this from happening, I slid between the sheets and nestled my body between the crack in the bed, with my back against the wall. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it would do.

I woke to a bright light shining straight in my eyes. For a moment, I had no idea where I was. Then I remembered last night and Blake’s guest room. Peeling my eyes open, I saw that I’d forgotten to close the blinds. That’s also when I noticed that the wall was no longer at my back and I was hanging precariously off the side of the bed, secured only by a few tightly-tucked blankets.

“And this is why twin beds shouldn’t exist,” I muttered out loud, as I tried to figure a way to untangle myself without hitting the floor.

“What’s that?” a deep, masculine, and all too familiar voice asked from the doorway. With a surprised gasp, I jerked my head up. The sudden movement caused the covers to shift around me, and with a heavy thud I hit the floor. Blake, the giant ass, busted into howls of laughter.

“Help me up!” I shouted, now mostly under the bed. Laughter followed him all the way across the room to where I was attempting to extract myself from the cover cluster. Still laughing, he pulled the bed out from the wall and held out a hand. I thought about slapping it away, but then noticed I was hanging out in a nest of dust bunnies and changed my mind.

Once freed, I turned on him and asked, “What sane adult still sleeps on a twin bed?”

“You...last night,” he responded through more laughter.

“That’s because you made me!”

“Correction, I offered it. You could always have said no.” Was he kidding?

“And what? Slept in your bed?”

“It’s a nice, big, California King,” he bragged.

“I seriously hate you right now,” I grumbled as I attempted to dust off my body.

“Now, now, that’s no way to talk to the man who saved you from a much worse fate.” With a humph, I stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door. “When you’re done pouting come downstairs. I made you breakfast!” he called after me.

Half an hour later, I joined Blake at his kitchen island for a brunch of pancakes, fresh fruit, and crispy bacon. After apologizing for laughing at me, we discussed last night’s opening, where I learned that Wayne had a meltdown when we ran out of champagne and Saul and Patrice caused a scene before going on stage. I seemed to have missed quite a bit of drama in the midst of my big debut.

Mom called to check up on me while I was upstairs packing. I told her I would be home shortly before going in search of Blake. I found him sitting on a sofa in the middle of a large screened in porch with his phone to his ear, talking quietly. At first, he didn’t see me standing there. Clearly, I was interrupting, but Mom and Tilly were waiting and Blake was my ride home. Oh, what the hell, I thought, and made a noise in my throat. I was aiming for a cough, but as luck would have it, it sounded more like a burp. Blake’s head snapped up. Our eyes connected, and I could tell by his surprised expression that he thought I’d just belched. No! I silently screamed. My face flamed with humiliation as I wondered whether to say anything or not.

“I’ve got to run. I’ll call you later,” Blake murmured into the phone.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I stammered, after he disconnected the call. He studied me, as if trying to figure out which species I’d originated from, while my face continued to flame with embarrassment. “That wasn’t a burp,” I blurted. His lips twitched.

“Sure, it wasn’t,” he replied, his voice tinged with humor.

“It wasn’t! I didn’t want you to think I was spying on you, so I cleared my throat, only it came out wrong.”

“Excuses, excuses,” he taunted, and I wanted to scream. The man was infuriating.

“I need to go. If you can’t take me, I’ll call a cab,” I angrily snapped. His smile faded to something that looked a lot like anger.

“Relax, Hadley, I was just teasing,” he growled.

“Yeah, well I don’t like being teased, Blake,” I growled back at him.

“Christ,” he huffed, and turned to grab his keys.

The drive back to my apartment was all kinds of uncomfortable. Mom and Tilly aside, I wasn’t used to people laughing at or teasing me. I wanted Blake to like me, not to view me as some back-country hick with no manners. I’d humiliated myself twice in a matter of a two-hour period this morning. I wasn’t about to make it three.

“I’ll just leave you here,” Blake announced as he turned into Riverbend’s drive and halted beside the front steps to my building.”

“Thanks for the ride,” I muttered. When he didn’t respond, I grabbed my stuff and exited the vehicle, closing the door behind me. His car squealed as he peeled out of the drive and I couldn’t help but feel as if he’d just given me the equivalent of a giant middle finger. “Right back at you,” I whispered. Feeling stupid, deflated, and a little heartsick, I made my way upstairs, where I was greeted by...an apartment filled with people.

“Who are you?” a woman standing near my front door asked. Ignoring her rude tone, I stormed through the living room in order to get to the kitchen and my mother’s distinctive shriek of laughter. In true Maureen-like fashion, I found Mom perched on a stool and holding court.

“Hadley!” she called out when she saw me standing there glaring at her.

“What are you doing, Mother?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“What does it look like? I’m holding an open house!” she announced, as if it made all the sense in the world.

“Whyyyyy?” I questioned, because it really made no sense at all. All I wanted to do was to come home and nurse my wounds while I hung out with my family. Was it too much to ask for my mother to act like an adult, for once?

“Well, Tills and I ran into that lovely Miss Weston on our way out the door this morning and when I mentioned your name, she had no idea who you were! On a side note, I think I could rock a caftan, don’t you?”

“Kimono,” I corrected, “and Miss Weston does know me, Mom.”

“Well, she didn’t remember you, which means you evidently didn’t make an impression.” Her words stung. “Anyway, I put my thinking cap on and came up with...” she spread her arms and shouted, “An open house! And, get this,” she added, “Tonight we’re having a pub crawl!” Oh, God. This was just...awful.

“Mom, this is my only day off this week. I’m exhausted and really would like a quiet evening with you and Tilly.”

“I came all the way from Alabama, only to discover that my eldest daughter has no friends. Is she grateful when I help her out? Noooooo,” she announced to her audience.

“Forget it,” I huffed. Then I marched out of the kitchen and across the living area into my bedroom, where I closed the door and locked it behind me. Then I crawled into bed and eventually drifted to sleep.