Page 33 of Sweet Heat at Bayside
“I won’t say a word, Serena. Don’t worry. But Chloe’s right. I wouldn’t worry about it,” Mira said. “I love my brothers, but when it comes to women, they’re both a little thickheaded. Look how long it took Drake to finally give in to his feelings for you. He’s not going to back off because you like himtoomuch.”
Serena sighed, feeling better. “You’re right. I’m overthinking. I’m so nervous about”—last night—“starting my new job, it’s making me overthink everything. Look.” She grabbed her notebook from the table and held up her lists, explaining each one as she turned the pages. “I made all these lists just since I finished unpacking. A grocery list, questions I want to ask Monday, clothes I want to remember to bring back next weekend, things I need to follow up on for the music store. I even made a list of suggestions for Justine at Shift to help streamline her processes.”
“You are a sick woman.” Chloe smirked. “If I were in a new city with no responsibilities for two days, I’d be out exploring, finding out which clubs are the hottest, where to get my morning coffee, where to hang out and get tan…”
And yet here I am, in a new city, wishing I were back at Bayside in the arms of a certain man.
Long after her conversation with the girls, when the streets were quiet and moonlight shimmered in the harbor, Serena lay in bed texting with Drake. She told him about her loft, which was efficient and cozy, though smaller than the cottage she rented at the Cape.
There’s a view of the harbor, she texted.It’s not spectacular, but at least I can see water.
His response came fast.Are there good locks on the doors? What’s the neighborhood like? Safe? Did you find the grocery store? Gas station?
She smiled at his typical guy questions as she texted.Yes to locks, and yes, it’s safe. I’ll go to the grocery store tomorrow. It’s only about twenty minutes away. I had ice cream for dinner.
He texted a scowling emoji.How will Supergirl survive without an all-night cookie bakery?
A better question would be how would she survive without seeing him except on weekends? Last night he’d opened a tap, and her emotions no longer eked out only to be swept away. They flowed like a river. But she had no idea where she and Drake stood, so she tried to keep those thoughts to herself and changed the subject.Did you eat cookies on my behalf for dinner?
Her eyes slid around the bedroom, thinking about how lame it was that she wasn’t asking what she really wanted to know. But she was nervous, and he was taking a long time to reply to her text, which made her even more worried. She tried to concentrate on how different the loft was from her cottage. She entered the cottage directly into the living room, and she had a real bedroom. She entered the loft between the laundry closet and galley kitchen on the left and the bathroom on the right. The bedroom had two entrances, one from the kitchen and the other from the living room. Neither had a door, and the bedroom walls stopped about a foot from the ceiling, allowing moonlight to stream in. It felt strange, but she thought that was probably normal, since it was new to her.
Her phone vibrated, and she read Drake’s text.No cookies. The only thing I want to taste is 100 miles away.
“Ohmygosh!” She pressed the phone to her chest, eyes slammed shut, an unstoppable grin on her face. The cardhadn’tchanged his feelings.
Or had it? For the better, maybe?
She couldn’t live like this. She had to know what they were doing, where they stood.
She thumbed out a message before she could chicken out.You know I stink at not knowing where I stand with ANYTHING, so I have to ask…What are we doing?She pushed send and held her breath.
Every silent minute that passed felt like an hour. After five minutes, a fissure formed in her heart. She set her phone beside her pillow, contemplating backpedaling with an apology, or saying he didn’t need to answer. She closed her eyes, and her phone vibrated.
With her heart in her throat, she opened and read his text.Texting. You should get some rest. You’ll need your energy for grocery shopping.
A kissing emoji popped up, and then a sleeping emoji with the message,Good night Supergirl.
“What…?” she seethed into the darkness. “You can’t practically start sexting and then go all big brother on me.” She started texting exactly that and suddenly realized what she was doing.
She waschasing.
Her motherchased.
Serena didnot. Not even forhim.
She set her phone on the nightstand and burrowed down deep in the blankets. A minute later, the first warm tears slid down her cheeks. As she drifted in and out of her thoughts, it was Drake’s handsome face that accompanied her, his rough voice threading through her mind:Nothing could ever delete tonight from my memory banks.
Except maybe a hundred miles…
Chapter Nine
DRAKE’S PHONE RANG at a little before two o’clock in the morning, and Serena’s name flashed on the screen. He felt bad for the way he’d left things with her, but he’d had to get his head on straight and make a decision once and for all before answering her question. He put the phone to his ear, and before he could get a word out, her panicked voice rang through.
“Drake! Someone’s banging on my door. What should I do?”
He clutched the phone tighter. “Slow down and look through your peephole.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m so scared.”
