Page 353 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I blinked my eyes slowly awake, frowning when I reached towards the other side of the bed and didn’t find Bailey lying there. I sighed and lay back against the pillows, trying not to feel disappointed. I had imagined another morning like the previous one, with the two of us in bed for half of the day together. But Bailey, it appeared, had slipped out before I had even woken up.
I knew that I couldn’t blame her for that either. She had work. I appreciated the fact that Ian had brought me here as a surprise to her. It showed that he supported our relationship, and it was fun to give Bailey a surprise like that. But at the same time, I shouldn’t have expected her to drop everything to be with me. I knew she was under a lot of pressure here, just like I was back at Brooks Mountain. If our positions had been reversed, there would have been plenty of stuff that I needed to get done over the course of the weekend, and spending time with Bailey would have…
Just then, Bailey walked in off the balcony, though, dressed in only my shirt. She grinned at me when she saw that I was awake and pounced on the bed next to me. “Good morning,” she said.
“Morning,” I said, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she was actually still here. “What were you doing out there?” I asked.
Bailey wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, my phone rang a little while ago. A work thing. I didn’t want to wake you up. But anyway, it’s all sorted out now.”
I grimaced. “I understand if you need to get back to work today,” I said, even though the thought of losing those precious hours with her physically hurt me.
Bailey looked shocked that I would even suggest that she get back to work, though. “What? Waste your last day here? No way!” She shook her head emphatically. But then, she frowned. “Unless you’re trying to get rid of me? Are you sick of me already?”
It was my turn to stare at her in shock. “Definitely not,” I said firmly. “I just know that I’ve dropped in unexpectedly, and you probably have a ton of things that need to get done. That’s why they have you stuck here, after all, isn’t it?”
Bailey grinned. “Well, lucky for you, I’m not the owner of this business. Ian is. So if something needs to get done this weekend, then he can damn well handle it on his own.” She sighed and flopped back on the bed. “I’m willing to give them a few weeks of my presence here, if that’s what it takes for Ian to keep his job. But this isn’t my full-time job. They can’t demand that I be there every hour of every day. And honestly, the more I think about it, the more certain I am that Ian needs to take the reins again.”
She glanced over at me and giggled. “You’re probably thinking that I’m shirking my duties, huh? I know you have a stronger work ethic than me. Than anyone I know, really.”
I stared at her for a moment. Her naked breasts were just peeking out from the unbuttoned collar of the shirt. Her hair looked rumpled from sleep, but her eyes were bright and full of laughter. I didn’t think I had ever seen a woman look that sexy before.
I rolled on top of her suddenly, pressing my mouth insistently against hers. I nudged a leg between hers, my arms coming around her body as it arched up off of the sheets. She moaned, the vibrations sending sparks of lust coursing through my body. We kissed until there was no more air between us. Then, I grinned down at her.
Bailey sighed softly against my lips, her arms tightening around my body. “Do you really have to go back to Utah?” she asked quietly.
I brushed my fingertips along her cheek, wishing that I could say otherwise. But I sighed as I nuzzled her jawline. “You know I have to,” I told her.
“I could find someone else to step in at the resort. I know you don’t like all the things that you’ve had to do lately, anyway. I’m sure Gretchen or someone could handle it. Or maybe Mike is all better by now and ready to take over again.” There was a hopeful note in Bailey’s voice which made my heart wrench as I rolled away to the side.
“You know the work isn’t the only reason I have to get back,” I said carefully. “Ethan needs me.”
It was that tricky kind of conversation. I didn’t expect her to really understand it, even. As far as she was concerned, probably, Ethan was doing fine with his grandfather, and there was no reason for me to hurry back. She had never had kids, and she probably didn’t understand what it was like.
But Bailey surprised me, as she so often did. “I know, I know. Ethan needs to have his dad around. I remember how hard it was for me to leave my dad here in Vegas when Ian and I went back to living with our mom.” She paused and then snuggled in close to me. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t even ask about it. It’s selfish of me. But I just want to keep you all to myself.”
“It has been nice, the past couple days,” I admitted.
To be honest, before Bailey came along, I had sort of forgotten how challenging it was to balance a relationship’s needs once you had a child. Beth and I had eventually figured out a rhythm once we had Ethan, but for the first couple years, it had been a near-constant challenge to figure out when we had time for one another.
And then the balance had shifted again once Beth got sick. Especially in those last few months, I knew that I had been far more focused on Beth and the relationship that she and I had than I was on Ethan. I just didn’t have enough time for him, between all the doctor visits and everything else she needed.
For the first time, I wondered if that was a huge part of the reason why I had closed myself off to everyone except for Ethan once Beth was gone. Maybe I had felt guilty about leaving him with Dad so much during those last few months, and maybe I had been afraid to get involved with someone who would take me away from him again.
Of course, my reasons for closing myself off didn’t really matter anymore. What was done was done, and the only way to move on was to move forwards.
I wanted this relationship with Bailey. We were going to have to find our own sort of balance and compromise. But at least I already knew that Bailey and Ethan got along well. Maybe all three of us could find a perfect balance together. But that would have to wait until Bailey was back in Utah with us. I couldn’t very well pull Ethan out of school and ski club in the middle of the season.
Bailey trailed her fingers across my bare chest, carefully not looking at me. “I’m going to do what I can to see if I can come back to Park City a little bit earlier than the board really wants,” she said slowly. “But maybe you could at least come visit me again, if it’s going to be another few weeks or so? And you could bring Ethan with you next time. I’d love to see him, and there’s all sorts of stuff that we could do around here with him. Maybe even a day trip to the Grand Canyon.”
“That would be fun,” I said, my mind already running wild with the possibilities. But to be honest, at the end of the day, I just couldn’t wait for her to get back to Utah. I shook my head. “This is my bit of selfishness, I guess. I know that I told you yesterday that if you needed to stay here in Vegas for the time being, then I would figure out a way to be here. But I just keep picturing us in Utah. You know, curled up on the couch by the fire, a nice blanket over the top of us, a movie on TV. Just quiet nights together. The three of us.”
I was surprised to hear the words slip out of my mouth. I’d never really been much of a romantic; I was normally too practical for that. But I did like the mental image I had of us.
And from the way that Bailey smiled at me, I could tell that she liked it as well. “That sounds cozy,” she said, pressing up against me and lightly laying her head on my shoulder.
Eventually, though, I sighed, glancing at the bedside table. “I think I need to pack,” I said, though I didn’t make any move to get out of bed. “I need to get to the airport soon.”
Bailey pouted, her arms holding me close. “I don’t want you to go,” she said petulantly.
