Page 21 of Honey, Honey
“Come on, we’ll go find your friend.” I put her arm around my waist, pinning her wrist to my side while I continued to practically hold her up with my other arm. How had I ended up babysitting her, wanting to do the damn thing and feeling an uncomfortable pull in my chest when she leaned her head against my shoulder and smiled up at me? It was a drunk smile, but it was a smile all the same.
“She’s back here. I see her!” Honey exclaimed, raising an arm over her head and waving wildly at a woman sitting at a table. It was the redhead from the coffee shop and she was waving back just as excitedly.
Honey didn’t charge across the room like I expected her to, instead she looked at me. “You don’t think-” she began but I stopped her, knowing exactly what she was anxious about.
“I don’t think she’s mad at you,” I told Honey. She was worried about what her friend thought, which was understandable, but the way she had looked to me for reassurance... Her quick, breathy little“Do you think-?”was still ringing in my ears with all the reverberation of a gunshot at point blank range. She had my head fucking spinning, my ears ringing with the sound of that half asked question. She’d wanted me to set it right, and I had without even thinking about it. Because it’s what I needed to do for this woman.
“Really?” She asked, a tentative smile forming on her lips.
“Yes, she’s practically falling out of her chair waving at you. Come on, let’s get you over there and get the bill settled. I have to get you home.”
“But I’m in charge of getting Tiffany home,” she informed me with a shake of her head, digging her heels in when I started towards the table.
“You were,” I told her with a shake of my head. “Now I’m getting you both home.”
“But why?”
Because that’s what you did when you couldn’t shake a woman from your brain after a solid week. Because that’s what you did when you threatened to spank her. Because that’s what you did when you wanted to bend her over and fuck her into next week.
I cleared my throat and shrugged. “Seems like you need a little help right now.”
She bit her lip and looked away. “I got a little carried away. Sorry,” she whispered, barely audible over the din of the restaurant. If I hadn’t been this close, or this fucking attuned to Honey, I would have missed it. “I didn’t mean to.”
I dropped the hand that I’d been holding to my side and reached out, tipping her head back with a finger, so that her eyes were back on my face and not on the floor. “It happens,” I told her in a reassuring tone meant to soothe. That didn’t mean I was fine with her drinking choices tonight, “you need to be careful in the future, Honey. I won’t always be the man you run into when you’re drunk.”
“I’m safe with you,” she said, giving me a lopsided smile. “I can tell.”
“You’re not,” I told her. Her eyes widened slightly, pretty mouth opening with a barely audible‘Oh,’and I nodded at her, leading her in the direction of her friend. ‘Oh’ was right, but I wasn’t going to get into it with her, not in this damn restaurant when I still had to get her and her friend home. Not when I had to get her inside of her house while keeping her safe. Not when the biggest risk to keeping her safe was keeping her fucking away from me.
“Hey! I was worried about where you disappeared off to, but now that I see you with Mister Perfect, I get it.” The redhead shot us a finger gun and a wink. “I’m Tiffany by the way and I’m fast becoming your lady love’s best friend,” she told me, extending a hand when we were beside the table.
“Lady love?” I asked, looking at Honey who was shaking her head at Tiffany and giving me a look that could only be described as panic. Someone had been telling lies.
“When did you get here?” Tiffany asked, when I shook her hand. “Honey didn’t say you’d be joining us.”
I pulled out a chair and nudged Honey into it, before I took the one beside her and sat. “Honey gave me a ring. Told me you might need a little help getting home.”
Tiffany clasped her hands in front of her and smiled wide at me. “You’re amazing for rescuing us. A real gentleman!”
I waved off her thanks. “It was no trouble. I was having dinner nearby.”
“Oh, so you’ve eaten. That’s great news! Then you can have a drink with us before we go, because we finally got those beers. Even if our server has been totally giving you the stink eye since you two showed up.” Tiffany leaned over the table and stage whispered to us. “What do you think her deal is?”
Honey giggled and I turned my head, unable to hide the smile on my face at the sound. It was light and carefree. Sweet like her namesake, sweet like I knew her mouth would be when I kissed it. I frowned, the smile vanishing from my face at the thought. I should not be wondering if I would kiss her or not. I should not be going there. Not tonight.
“Let’s have that drink,” I said, reaching out and snagging the bottle of beer from the table. I poured us all a round and followed it with a soju chaser for each of us. Taylor would be coming any minute to get us—all three of us, with Tiffany’s addition.
“Cheers!” Tiffany exclaimed, lifting her glass in the air.
“Cheers,” Honey and I said joining her, but I noticed Honey’s cheers were softer now. She was watching me with a worried look on her face. She knew her little lie about our relationship was out in the open now and she was trying to gauge my reaction. Her big brown eyes were trained on my face, even as she spoke to Tiffany, her fingers twisting in the sweater she wore. I reached out, sliding an arm behind her chair and carried on the conversation with Tiffany. She was a nice woman, open and caring, and I could see I was right. Honey had nothing to worry about in terms of making a new friend.
My phone buzzed and I reached for it knowing it was Taylor. “Ladies, I need a minute.” I stood and nodded at them as I pulled the phone from my pocket. Taylor was out front. It was time to close out the bills and get Tiffany and Honey out of here. I passed the server from before on my way to the front, and I didn't miss the rigid look to her when our eyes met.
She stopped in front of me and asked, “You want your bill then?”
“That’d be great.”
“Follow me.” She took off at a fast clip, but I didn’t speed up to catch her. I knew where the front desk was, and it wasn’t like she would be able to settle my bill without me. There was no need to rush just because she was pissed about going home alone. When I arrived at the register the server was glaring at me but said nothing as she put my bill in front of me. “I’ll take the one with the redhead in the other room too.”
