One Reckless Night (24 page)

boyfriends.”

Dane threw his hands up. “Give me a break Tasha. I love your sister. Why the hell would I

risk it?”

Dane had the pleasure of watching Tasha open her mouth, but no sound came out. When

the ability to speak came back to her is wasn’t pleasant.

“
Damn
, Dane. What the hell were you thinking?”

Dane’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t do anything.”

Tasha closed her eyes and shook her head. He watched her mouth move but no sound came

out. Finally she stopped speaking and returned her gaze to his.

“I just said a prayer for you because you are going to need it.”

Dane had a sinking feeling she was right. Bayleigh was already skittish and the smallest thing

had her ready to bolt. He felt like he had just given her the excuse she needed even if it was a

misunderstanding. None of this was going like he planned. How could an innocent lunch with a

woman he had no interest in lead to this? He looked at Tasha with despair. “I didn’t do anything

wrong.”

Tasha’s eyes widened again. “Didn’t do anything wrong?” She laughed but it was void of

humor. “Dane, you have got to be kidding me. What would you think if you ran into Bayleigh

having lunch with an ex? A lunch arrangement you didn’t know about?”

Dane frowned. Tasha had a point but it was hard to admit it. However, Bayleigh should trust

him. He wasn’t like the other men she had been involved with in the past. Even on a bad day. Yet

he had to admit he would have been jealous. But Dane would have demanded an answer from her,

not run off.

Closing his eyes, he sighed. Bayleigh wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t confrontational. Never

had been. It seemed as though Tasha inherited al of the confrontational genes. Dane opened his

eyes to find both Tasha and Marie giving him sympathetic looks.

“How am I supposed to fix this?”

“Apologize,” Tasha replied.

“Grovel,” Marie responded simultaneously.

Dane groaned. “I have a feeling it will be both.”

Marie made a sound of sympathy. “I’m sorry, Dane. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.

I will talk to Bayleigh if—”

Tasha’s sharp bark of laughter cut her off. “I know my sister very well, Marie, enough to

know she won’t listen to anything you have to say. She might not even listen to Dane.”

He stood there in morose silence, while Marie gave him a quick hug, wishing him luck with

Bayleigh before walking away.

Tasha shook her head. “You have your work cut out for you this time.”

Dane growled in annoyance. “This isn’t fair, Tasha. This lunch didn’t mean anything to me. I

was just catching up with a friend.”

Tasha shot him a look of understanding. “I know, Dane. I also know you would never do

anything to intentionally hurt, Bayleigh. Because of that I know this won’t be easy to fix. However, I

will talk to her. Whether my sister is willing to admit it or not, she is the happiest she has ever been

with you.”

Dane sighed. “Where is a time machine when you need one?”

Tasha laughed. “Well wherever it is, you don’t get to use it this time.”

She looked down at her watch and grimaced. “Unfortunately I have to go. Jarvis’s sister has

a performance tonight. But I will check on Bayleigh as soon as it is over. She wouldn’t talk to me

right now anyway. She needs a little space.”

Dane nodded then embraced Tasha. She may need to give her sister space but he wouldn’t.

He needed to see Bayleigh immediately. Tasha turned to walk toward her car and he headed for his.

It was difficult to obey the speed limit while he drove to Bayleigh’s apartment.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where she would go so he was taking a chance but he didn’t care. He

needed to speak with her. When he pulled up to her apartment, her car was there. Dane raced up to

her door. He rang her doorbell with no answer. She was there. Why wasn’t she answering?

Dane pressed the doorbell again. Still no answer. He knocked on the door, then pounded.

When a neighbor stuck their head out, he stopped, giving them a contrite look, hoping they

wouldn’t call the police. Dane waited a few minutes trying to sort out his next move. Calling her cel

phone, he cursed when it went straight to voicemail. Hanging up called her home number. It rang

the customary amount of times before going to voicemail.

“Bayleigh, I know you are listening to this. Please pick up.”

He waited a second but she didn’t—not that he expected her to.

“Today was a big misunderstanding. It wasn’t what it looked like. I want to explain

everything.” Dane paused again. “Just call me when you get a chance Bayleigh…please.”

Dane hung up the phone waited a few moments and when the phone didn’t ring he got in

his car and drove away. He would catch her at work tomorrow. She couldn’t avoid him there.

Bayleigh pushed the sushi around on her plate half paying attention to her friends. Almost a

week had passed since the disastrous lunch with Tasha. She still hadn’t recovered from what she had

seen. Bayleigh had called into work sick all week. Dane had called her phone several times, but she

hadn’t answered nor had she returned any of his calls. His pleading voice had been hard to ignore

but she needed time to herself. Time to sort out her feelings, her thoughts.

After speaking to Tasha a few times she was much more rational. She no longer thought he

was cheating on her. Like her sister pointed out, he wasn’t that sort of person. He valued her too

much to do something so stupid.

Deep down, she had known Tasha was right before her sister had been kind enough to point

it out to her. The issue was what being in love with Dane meant. It was about more than just being

in love and him loving her back. Being in love with him meant she cared for him more than she had

for any other man.

Seeing him sitting across the table from Marie brought up so many bad memories from her

break up with Erwin. Her first thought had been what had she done to make him want to spend

time in the company of his ex. What terrified her even more was she didn’t want to lose Dane.

Bayleigh wanted him more than anything else she ever wanted, including her favorite
Cabbage Patch

Doll
or Hot Pink
Barbie
bike with the matching streamers. She had cried and begged for weeks for

those toys. The fact that she wanted Dane on that level made her heart race.

“Bayleigh, are you sure you feel okay enough to be here?”

Bayleigh looked up at Giselle, taking in her friends’ concerned expression and smiled. “No

I’m not. But I have been in the house all week and needed to get out. I could find no better excuse

than my friends and sushi.”

Deidre gave her a sympathetic smile. “You have to talk to Dane sometime, Bayleigh.”

Lea nodded her agreement. “Avoidance isn’t going to help you.”

Bayleigh shook her head. “I’m not avoiding him. I just need more time to figure this all out.”

Deidre sighed. “Yeah, well we all know that isn’t true. You just need to know that he isn’t

going to wait forever, Bayleigh. Dane has already waited a long time. His patience is bound to wear

out at some point.”

Bayleigh frowned as her friend said the words she didn’t want to hear. They were true but it

didn’t make them any easier to accept. The corners of her mouth tilted up, slightly. “I will talk to

Dane soon. I promise.”

Bayleigh was surprised when they didn’t respond. Instead they were looking at her with

amused expressions.

“When?”

Bayleigh shrieked. The question hadn’t come from any of her friends. Instead it came from

behind her. She turned around slowly. Her racing heart began to pound. “Dane? What are you doing

here?”

He looked horrible to say the least. His eyes were drawn, guarded. Dane hadn’t shaved and

he looked exhausted. Then again, she wasn’t fairing any better herself. Giselle had offered to drive

her to the hospital tonight when she showed up.

“I’m here to see you. I stopped by your place and your car was gone so I took a chance

coming here.”

She had considered skipping dinner, but she wanted sushi and to spend time with her

friends. Try to take her mind off Dane. The plan hadn’t worked. Right now she was willing to say it

had backfired. Seeing him hear like this made her realize she still wasn’t ready to face him. “I didn’t

want to talk.”

“I’m really hoping you’re ready to talk now.”

Bayleigh heard the same pleading note in his voice that she listened to countless times over

her answering machine. Dane gave a wary look and she sighed. It was time to face the inevitable.

“Okay.”

His expression lightened some but he was still guarded. “Will you come with me?”

She turned back to her friends who were nodding their approval. “Yes,” she told him before

reaching for her purse. Dane stopped her when she reached for her wallet. He pulled enough bills

out of his own to cover her dinner, also leaving a nice tip.

Bayleigh didn’t argue, instead letting him pull her to her feet. Hugging her friends, she told

them ‘goodnight’ with the promise to call each of them later. She allowed Dane to take her hand and

lead her out of Zenkichi’s. He surprised her when he didn’t take her to his car, instead leading her a

few doors down to a café.

It was one of the super fancy coffee shops where you were actually served your coffee,

instead of waiting at a counter for it. Bayleigh was thankful when he pulled her toward a private

booth in the back. His hands brushed the small of her back when he slid into the booth, beckoning

for her to follow him. Dane surprised her by insisting that she sit next to him, not across from him.

Like his body craved the closeness hers had missed all week.

The waitress came up to their table. She ordered a regular coffee with cream and sugar. He

asked for the same. Now that she was sitting in such close proximity to him, she felt more fatigued

than she had all week. There was an awkward silence until the waitress returned with their coffee,

cream and sugar on the side. It gave her something to do, at least for a few seconds.

“I’ve missed you.”

The anxiety she felt seemed to melt from her body at his heartfelt words. “I missed you

too,” she murmured.

Her relaxed state didn’t last long.

“I would also like to point out that I thought we have enough of a solid friendship where

you would never doubt me in such a way.”

Bayleigh sighed softly. “I don’t want to argue, Dane. I know you aren’t cheating on me with

Marie.”

Dane studied her with guarded eyes. “How long did it take you to figure it out? And once

you did, why didn’t you call me?”

She squirmed in her seat. He was backing her into an uncomfortable, tight corner. “I said I

don’t want to argue with you, Dane.”

His mouth tightened into a grim line. “We aren’t arguing.”

“Then what are we doing?”

His expression became serious. “We are talking. Communicating about our problem. Or at

least I’m trying to.”

Bayleigh shrugged, knowing they would start out talking, but this was bound to become an

argument with the topic he had chosen. “Then talk.”

His eyebrows rose. “Are you going to listen or are you going to shut down like you normally

do?”

Bayleigh looked around in embarrassment, looking to see if anyone had heard him, before

turning her attention back to him. “Don’t humiliate me, Dane. I have had enough of that in this

lifetime.”

His expression softened. “I’m sorry, Bayleigh. I didn’t come here to embarrass you and I’m

sorry if I did.”

She waved him off. “It’s okay. You’re partly right. I shouldn’t have played the avoidance

game. I know firsthand how frustrating it can be waiting on a return call that never comes.”

Dane reached for her hand. He seemed to know how much the admission cost her.

“I thought you were blowing me off, Bayleigh. In a way—”

“Bayleigh?”

Her heart plummeted at the sound of the voice calling her name. Just when she thought this

week couldn’t get any worse. Bayleigh wanted to find the nearest hole and crawl in. Forcing her gaze

from Dane, she turned and looked up, staring into the incredulous expression of her ex.

“Hello, Erwin,” she said, her voice lacking the emotion she felt. “What are you doing here?”

“Meeting a colleague for coffee. Good Lord, Bayleigh, what have you been doing? You look

terrible.”

His disapproving gaze took her appearance in. She tried not to flinch, knowing how

unkempt she looked. Tonight she hadn’t bothered with any make-up. Her hair was pulled back into

a ponytail, her attire consisted of a T-shirt and jeans. She definitely had better days. Still she wasn’t

going to let him get under her skin tonight.

“Thank you, Erwin. You always did have a way of making me feel special,” she replied

sarcastically.

He raised an immaculate brow in her direction. “Would you prefer I lie to you?”

Bayleigh shrugged in a careless manner. One much more casual than she felt. “Why not?

You did it the entire time we were together.”

A look of displeasure spread across his face. “Actually, it seems I was more right than you