relationships, red flags had gone up. Warnings she ignored because she was desperate to be wanted.
The exact feeling that came over her whenever he looked at her. She was becoming emotionally
entangled. At this rate she would be beside herself at the end of six months. Was it possible for
things between her and Dane to become permanent? The real question was, was it what she wanted?
If he had his way she was positive they would. When Dane squeezed her hand, she looked up.
“Hey you. Where did you escape off to?”
She smiled and shook her head. “Just thinking.”
The corners of his mouth tilted upward. “About?”
“How perfect all of this is.”
His smile widened. “The good thing is, it will only get better.”
* * * *
“Sorry I’m late guys,” Maylea stated when she joined them at the table. Bayleigh looked up
with surprise. Her friend was hardly ever late for sushi. However, her frazzled look was even more
puzzling.
Maylea picked up her green tea. “Thank you for ordering for me.”
“No problem.” Giselle responded.
“Especially since you are going to tell us why you’re so late. Also why you look like you’ve
been run over by a bus.” Deidre added.
Maylea rolled her eyes before taking another sip of her tea. “Two words, Rogan Davidson.”
Bayleigh sat up straight at the mention of the man deemed Lani’s pain-in-the-ass. There was
a history between Rogan and Lea and it wasn’t good. This should be interesting. Even Giselle sat up
to pay attention but Deidre was the one to speak.
“Okay, after that, we need more than two words.”
Maylea groaned. “Can I eat a few pieces of sushi first? I haven’t eaten since lunch and my
stomach is eating itself.”
“What stomach?” Bayleigh scoffed.
Maylea smiled as she mixed wasabi and soy sauce together for dipping. “I love you too,
Bayleigh.”
“Focus on eating. We want to hear more about your latest battle with Rogan,” Giselle stated
with a grin.
Maylea ate a piece of sushi, chewing slowly, while she studied Giselle. “Who says it was a
battle?”
Deidre chuckled. “With you and Rogan, it always is.”
Lea rolled her eyes. “When a man is responsible for ruining your fantasy and embarrassing
you on top of all of it, it tends to be that way.”
Bayleigh understood Lani’s words perfectly. After her relationship with Erwin, there was no
way she could be in a room with him and not be tempted to resort to physical violence.
Lea savored a few more pieces of sushi before sighing. “Rogan was just being his typical
overbearing self. Today it made the day a lot hard than it should have been. For some reason he
doesn’t comprehend that my job as Manager of Policy and Strategy is to make sure every rule put in
place is followed. He doesn’t appreciate the fact that these rules will keep us from being sued. More
importantly it keeps us in business.”
Bayleigh laughed. “Oh no. Rogan believes in rules. Men like Rogan always do. It just
happens to be the rules he sets forth.”
“Trust me. Rogan doesn’t know the definition of the word rules,” Lea stated with a shake of
her head.
Giselle smiled. “Which makes you his favorite person.”
“To torment,” Lea muttered. “But enough about my nightmare of a day with Rogan. Did
anyone actually have a good day?”
Giselle grinned. “I had a great week since I finally finished all of the graphics for the
company’s website.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Deidre said, clapping her hands.
Deidre and Lana worked together at a public relations firm, but they were in different
departments, so their work kept them apart, which was probably a good thing. Bayleigh could only
imagine the amount of trouble the two of them could get in otherwise.
Giselle shrugged. “It’s fancier than the last site upgrade, but more user friendly. Everyone
seems to be satisfied so far on the beta test we ran.”
Bayleigh smiled. “Why wouldn’t they be? You are the best Graphic Designer I know.”
“Bayleigh, I’m the only graphic designer you know,” Giselle responded, with an amused
look.
Bayleigh laughed. “So what? You would still be the best if I knew a hundred more.”
Giselle gave her an inquisitive look. “Do you need something?”
“No, Giselle. It’s called a compliment,” Bayleigh replied, rolling her eyes.
Deidre giggled. “Careful, Bayleigh. You might overwhelm her. Giselle isn’t used to
compliments.”
“Don’t be hateful, Deidre,” Giselle said, with a frown.
Deidre stuck her tongue out. “Whatever, Giselle.”
Bayleigh cleared her throat before the two of them got carried away. “What about you,
Deidre? How was your week?”
“Nothing exciting, just the same old work. However, I was thinking about going to Club
Onyx again.” Deidre responded, wrinkling her nose.
Lea seemed to perk up at the idea. “Sounds like fun. I had a good time the last time we
went.”
“Believe it or not, so did I,” Giselle said, with a nod.
All eyes went to Bayleigh. “Yes, I had fun, too.”
Deidre smiled. “Of course you did. It’s the night you and Dane became official.”
Bayleigh frowned in puzzlement. “Official?”
“You know, relationship official.” said Lani.
Bayleigh started to deny the assumption but paused. It was true. She and Dane’s relationship
had kicked off that night. She preferred to look upon it as dating. Yet, the more time she spent with
him, the more she realized relationship was the appropriate word for it. A few days ago she had
given into Dane’s wish to see her. Bayleigh had gone over and he fed her dinner, then they watched
a movie. The surprise came when he escorted her to the front door instead of his bedroom. It
seemed he only wanted to spend time with her. A day later she recognized his request was normal in
a real relationship. Unlike the way it had been with Erwin, who always seemed to want something
from her.
She was almost at a complete loss when it came to Dane. It was like being in a relationship
for the first time.
“Uh-oh. She’s thinking too hard.”
Bayleigh blinked, then looked up at Lani’s smiling face. “Dane gives me a lot to think
about.”
Deidre picked up a piece of sushi. “Which is a good thing.”
“In some ways yes, in others, no,” Bayleigh said with a shrug.
“Is being bad harder than you thought?” Giselle asked, with a smirk.
Bayleigh looked at Giselle in exasperation. “I’m not being bad. And if you recall correctly,
this was never about being bad. It was about doing something you wouldn’t normally do. Saying yes
to something you would normally say no to.”
Deidre nodded. “Like Club Onyx.”
Lea smiled. “You’re right, Deidre. I’m also glad you mentioned it. I was starting to get
worried because I haven’t found anything yet. But I just realized I have already. Even though the
club was your idea, I agreed to go, which is something I wouldn’t do under regular circumstances.”
“Relax, Lani. This isn’t a competition,” Bayleigh stated as she reached out and touched
Lani’s arm.
�
��If it was, Bayleigh would win hands down,” Deidre responded with a laugh.
Giselle shook her head. “I said from the beginning we shouldn’t have agreed to this
insanity.”
Maylea frowned. “This has nothing to do with being crazy. Bayleigh’s idea was good. Look
how happy she is.”
Bayleigh’s eyes widened. “I am?”
Three pairs of eyes looked in her direction, with three different expressions.
“You don’t know if you are happy?” Deidre questioned.
Bayleigh cleared her throat before answering. “Well yes, I’m happy, but it doesn’t have
anything to do with our pact.”
Lani’s mouth dropped open. “Bayleigh, it has everything to do with it.”
“I never intended to have sex with Dane,” Bayleigh responded.
Giselle rolled her eyes. “Be that as it may, the decisions you’ve made since then have been.”
Bayleigh opened her mouth to argue but couldn’t. Giselle was right. Starting with her
decision to agree to date Dane, even if it was on a time-limited basis.
“So you see, you do have a lead on us,” Deidre added with a smile. “But don’t feel bad. I
plan to catch up and have fun while doing so.”
“You sound too excited,” Lea muttered, with a shake of her head.
Deidre’s smile widened. “I am. Look at Bayleigh. She practically skips now.”
Bayleigh made a sound of protest. “I don’t skip.”
Deidre sighed. “I did say practically.”
“Why do I torture myself?” Giselle stated around a groan.
Lea shot her an even look. “Because we provide you with hours of entertainment.”
Giselle laughed. “You have a good point.”
Bayleigh rolled her eyes. “Back to the subject at hand. I don’t skip and never have.”
Lea nodded. “True. But you are smiling a lot more and you seem happier.”
Bayleigh smiled. “I’m surprised it shows with the internal battle I have going on.”
Giselle leaned forward with a look of curiosity. “What do you mean?”
Bayleigh chewed the piece of sushi she just put into her mouth, slowly, to buy herself some
time. She had to choose her words wisely or her friends would give her more to think about than
she already had. When she swallowed, she had no choice but to continue. Her friends looked at her
expectantly.
“Things are getting more serious between Dane and me than I expected.”
Deidre leaned closer, propping her chin on her fist. “Serious as in we need to start picking
out china patterns?”
Bayleigh’s eyes widened in shock and she gasped. “What the hell— I mean no.” She paused to
collect herself. “Mother Mary, Deidre, you can’t say stuff like that to me.”
Lani’s expression became one of clear confusion. “Why are you so shocked, Bayleigh?
Serious relationships do lead to marriage on occasion.”
Bayleigh gave Lea a hard look. “I know that, but I wasn’t anywhere near that level of
thinking, so Deidre’s response shocked me is all.”
Bayleigh closed her eyes and took a calming breath. What was it with everyone’s obsession
with marrying her off lately? Just when she managed to get it off of her mind, it was on everyone
else’s. First Tasha mentioned marriage and kids. Then her mother made a statement toward the end
of dinner about a wedding date in the near future. Thankfully her father smoothed the situation over
before she crawled under the table with embarrassment. Now Deidre was bringing it up. At this rate
she would be hog tied and carried down the aisle to Dane. For some reason she didn’t think Dane
would mind. She startled when Giselle reach out and touched her.
“Are you okay, Bayleigh? You look faint.”
She looked over at Giselle. “I am faint.”
Deidre stretched her arms out. “I’ll catch you.”
“If I were a violent person, I would hit you,” Bayleigh snapped.
Lea smiled. “You have such a way with words, Bayleigh.”
Bayleigh groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “Yes, well right now, all of you are
driving me nuts.”
Giselle wiggled her eyebrows. “Almonds or Pistachios?”
Bayleigh glared at Giselle’s ridiculous attempt at humor but couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“You better be glad we’re friends.”
Giselle reached out to squeeze her hand. “I am. Now calm down before we’re forced to
gorge you with sake.”
Bayleigh groaned. “I’m trying, but it’s complicated. Something happens when we’re
together.”
Deidre opened her mouth to respond then bit her lip instead. Bayleigh couldn’t imagine
what her friend was going to say.
“Is it a good thing or bad?” Maylea asked.
“It’s good. Too good,” Bayleigh whispered. “But it feels so wrong.”
Deidre frowned. “Why?”
“Because Dane and I are friends.”
Giselle gave her an understanding smile. “But you are also boyfriend and girlfriend now.”
Lea laughed. “Relax, Bayleigh. You are being too uptight about this. Just relax and go with
it.”
Bayleigh sighed. “Relaxing isn’t the problem. I relax than we wind up doing…things I
normally wouldn’t do.”
Deidre gave her a knowing look. “Right now it seems you like those…um…activities.”
Giselle smiled wistfully. “Personally, I’m envious. You have a guy that adores you.”
Lea nodded. “He also has you in a constant day-dreamy state.”
“Would it be so terrible if it works out between you and Dane? You like him, he likes you.”
Deidre said, leaning closer to her.
Giselle smiled. “You are both at a point in your lives where marriage and kids would be a
next logical step.”
Bayleigh sighed. “Those steps require love.”
“Love,” Lea repeated.
“Imagine that,” Deidre whispered.
“Wow,” Giselle added.
Bayleigh laughed. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one in shock?”
She was. Just mentioning the words to her friends brought back the rush of emotion she felt
when Dane mentioned it. This past week the word had raced through her mind several times. It was
getting hard to deny the seriousness of their relationship and what it meant. She couldn’t shake the
comfort of being with Dane.
“How do you feel about love?” Deidre asked softly.
Bayleigh smiled. “You know the answer to that. I believe in the concept. I want it, have for
years, but now it’s in my reach and I’m not sure I’m ready now.”
A baffled expression appeared on Maylea’s face. “Why would you be afraid of sharing love
with Dane? He is sweet, loving, responsible, and will do anything for you.”
Bayleigh held her hand up. “Please stop. I know you mean to reassure me, but you are
scaring me more than I already am.”
Deidre shook her head slowly. “Why are you scared?”
Bayleigh’s eyes widened. “Because it changes everything.”
Giselle laughed. “Face it, Bayleigh. Everything changed the moment you slept with Dane.”
Bayleigh closed her eyes. “I should have never said yes.”
Lea nudged Bayleigh causing her to reopen her eyes. “But you did.”
Bayleigh sighed. “I know and it was the worst thing I could have done.”
Deidre looked at her in shock. “Why would you say that?”
Bayleigh picked up her chopsticks. “Because onc
e you say yes one time, it’s hard to stop.”
Chapter Nine
Dane held Bayleigh’s hand as they walked through the Stockyards. For the first time he had
her to himself for a full Saturday. Her mother and sister had plans calling for them to cancel their
scheduled lunch. He hadn’t minded the change in plans. Spending more time with Bayleigh was high
on his priority list. Yet, when he picked her up he saw the shadow of uncertainty in her eyes.
Dane had the distinct feeling Bayleigh would prefer to not have to deal with him outside of
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