Page 30 of The Playboy and the Waitress

He sits me gently on the couch and I lay back, grabbing the throw off the back, snuggling into it. I must have drifted back to sleep again because I practically scream when I feel hands on me again.

“Come on sleeping beauty, we need to get you a bath. You smell like a brewery, and you are going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.”

“Not want to, let me sleep.”

I have no idea how he got me down the hallway. But the next thing I know, I'm naked, and being held up by strong hands under hot water. My eyes fly open, and I grab onto the hands holding me up. Dage has gotten in here with me and is in the process of washing my hair when my mind finally seems to come back online.

Even the water running down my face can’t hide his naked body… that at this moment is right up against mine. His long fingers work the shampoo through my hair, me moaning out as it makes me tingle all over. When he bends down to wash my legs and feet, I can’t help but admire that fabulous backside of his as he bends down in front of me, and I'm not shocked when I see how hard he is before he turns me around to wash my back.

“Jenna, stand still there for a second, so I can rinse us both off.”

I don’t remember him drying me off, or even how I got in the bed. But the comfortable smell of my own sheets, and the feeling of my bed, has me out instantly.

The next thing I know, I hear an alarm going off, and the smell of coffee in the air. The feeling of someone sitting on the bed has me grabbing the blankets and scrambling to the other side.

“Shit, Dage, you scared the Hell out of me!”

“Sorry, I was just coming in to make sure you were awake. Here is some coffee. How are you feeling?”

“Give me a second to wake up and I’ll tell you. What time is it?”

“It's seven, you mentioned you had an appointment this morning, but you didn’t know when. I hope I didn’t let you miss it.”

“No, it’s at nine.” I take a drink of my coffee and relax. “This is great, thank you, and thanks for bringing me home. I don’t normally overindulge like that.”

“Alecia told me what happened yesterday, why didn’t you text me? Hell, for that matter, why haven’t you read a single text I have sent you for the last two days?”

“How would you know that?” He holds my phone up and right on the front reads sixty-four unread messages.

“Since you didn’t read these, I’ll simply tell you what they said. At first, I was trying to apologize for being an ass and being surrounded by more asses. When you didn’t respond to let me know you got home, I let every disaster imaginable float through my head. After I tried a dozen times to get ahold of you, I finally got in the car and drove out here. All your lights were off, but the car was here. Even though I really wanted to talk to you that night, I knew it wasn’t the time. Were you even going to text or call me back at all?”

I don’t answer him because I’m not sure of the answer. “How did you find me?”

“Locator on your phone; just had to put your number in after you butt dialed me crying. When I tried to call you back, it kept going to your voicemail.”

“So, out of the goodness of your heart, you decided to save me once again.”

“If that’s the way you want to look at it then, yes. I was truly worried, Jenna… and I know I haven’t been around you a lot, but you don’t seem to be the crying drunk type. I was relieved to see that you were ok. We all need those days to let go every now and then. Once we got here we must have done something to worry Brutus. Because after I got you cleaned up and started to leave… I was torn on what to do because I wasn’t sure you wanted me here. But anyway, that big guard cow of yours was standing between the porch and my car. He practically charged me when I started to walk off the porch..”

I can’t help but laugh. “He is a bull, Dage… and I would have loved to have seen that. Did you get any sleep after having to come to rescue me?”

“Once I realized I wasn’t leaving. I started to climb in with you but decided on the couch instead. I know you said you had things to do this morning. So, I’ll get out of your way. If you would get your cow… I mean bull, I’ll head out.”

I grab his arm when he goes to get up. “Dage, I don’t want you to go. I’ll be honest, I don’t do rejection and I don’t handle situations like that well either. You have gone over the top to be good to me and I feel like I'm running away from you with my tail tucked between my legs because I’m out of my comfort zone. Thank you for coming to get me last night, and thank you for taking such good care of me. I think that’s the first time I have done anything like that in years and years… I have never been a good drinker.

“Honestly, I tend to ignore things when they push me into unknown territories. And unfortunately, your whole world is unknown to me. If it were just you and me, I believe we would make an awesome team, but it’s not. It’s us against the world and it’s them all… against me… in yours. I don’t disagree with your friends, and I think that’s the sole reason I didn’t read those texts or call you back. It’s because as much as I dislike what they said and how they said it, honey, you need a girl from your world. They will never really accept me. You may be able to force them to acknowledge me differently. But I’m always going to be seen as a gold digger to them. I don’t want either of us to always be on guard or even defensive around everyone else. Relationships should not be hard. You should be my happy place no matter where we are. You shouldn’t have to pick between me and…yours.”

“Jenna, I can’t control what everyone else does and I wasn’t prepared for that either. Lord knows I have tripped over my own tongue over and over it seems, but you draw me in like no other. If you were the sun and I was a rare flower I would always lean towards you, trying to absorb as much of you as I can. I could have had any one of those girls from my world as you put it, but they are all cold and unfeeling. I would wither away with a woman like that. I want the warmth only you can provide.”

“How much are you willing to put into us, Dage?”

“I can only do my best, Jenna, it takes two. I’m sure there will be many trials on the way, but as long as we lean on each other, I don’t see an obstacle that we can’t overcome.”

“Ok, Playboy, with lines like that, how could any girl in her right mind not try to keep you in her corner? And as much as I would love to spend the morning with you, I have an appointment at nine that I can’t miss.” I start to get out of bed when I realize I'm naked.

“Seems like my apparel has been misplaced, Mr. Hart.”

“I prefer that outfit on you, Ms. Grey. I would keep you that way if I could. Do you feel like you could eat some breakfast?”

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