Page 7 of Dax (Big Hot Alphas 1)

“Of course,” I say, glancing back over at her. “Explore all you like.”

As Alice and Ian wander away to browse the shop on their own, Bailey finally looks over at me. She’s got the most beautiful smile on her face.

“This is such a great space,” she says. “When you told me about it, I formed a picture of it in my head…but this is way more incredible than anything I could have imagined.”

I take a step closer to Bailey. I’m standing close enough to her now that I could kiss her. Shit, how easy it would be to dip my head down and claim her mouth with mine.

“I need to see you, Bailey,” I murmur.

She gives me a teasing little smile. “You’re seeing me right now.”

“Alone.”

Her eyes flick over toward her parents, then back to me.

“When?” she asks, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Come over tonight,” I say. “Doesn’t matter how late. I need to talk to you.”

She blinks and bites down on her lower lip. Her gaze penetrates me. I can make out every little detail of her gorgeous eyes.

“I’ll try,” she says, just before her mom calls her over to look at something.

Chapter Three

Bailey

The rain starts to pick up as my parents and I walk back to the house—and then suddenly itreallystarts to come down. The three of us run up the driveway, laughing as we scramble to get into the house before we’re absolutely drenched.

Inside the house, we hang up our coats and wind down for the night. I go into the living room and mindlessly watch TV for a little while, my mind still racing from the last few hours of being around Dax.

Earlier tonight, when he walked into my parents’ house, my earlier anxiety about seeing him vanished. I immediately felt so at ease in his presence; it was like I was taken right back to that night when we first discovered our connection.

But it’s one thing to enjoy seeing him again. It’s a whole other thing to sneak out of my parents’ house and go over to his place.

I can’t actually go over there, can I?

If you go over there, Bailey, something is going to happen.

How can I not go see him, though? He said he needed to talk to me. And if I leave here this weekend without talking to him…I already know I’ll end up regretting it.

I have to see him.

I say goodnight to my parents, head up the hall to the guest room, and lay down on the bed. Restlessly, I turn on my side and stare out the window. And I realize something as I stare out into the night: I can actually see his house from here.

I wonder if he’s looking out one of his windows right now, waiting for me to come.

Outside, the storm grows fiercer. Thunder rumbles in the distance; lightning flashes in the sky. The storm is beautiful, though, too—even romantic, in a weird way.

After lying there for what feels like hours, I finally hear my parents’ bedroom door shut. To be on the safe side, I wait a little while longer, then get out of bed. I pull on a pair of sneakers I had the foresight to shove into my weekend bag, then pull a sweater on. Ideally, I would go get my coat and put that on, too, but I don’t want to risk waking my parents.

Carefully, I unlock my window and push it up. The cold and wetness of the night is a shock to my system.

But nothing’s going to stop me now.

I climb out, carefully lower myself down, and close the window behind me.

And then I run all the way to Dax’s cabin.

---