Page 26 of Securing Her Surrender (A Cut Above)

“Never, but we may have had a little bit to drink,” Bridget giggled.

“A little bit?” She wasn’t late, so she wondered if they had been drinking prior to coming to the restaurant. If so, she sure as hell hoped they didn’t drive.

“Okay, I may have had more than a little but not Lainie. She’s being a stick-in-the-mud.” She nodded at her friend.

“No, but I see no reason to spend the day drunk. I have plans this evening that don’t include a hangover.”

“Well, not all of us have such plans, so I will do what in the hell I want to.” Bridget reached for her glass and raised it at the other ladies before putting it to her mouth and finishing what was left.

The waitress came to the table, and Samantha ordered a sweet tea, not wanting to drink alcohol so early in the day. Then they ordered their food and talked about everything under the sun. Samantha couldn’t shake the feeling something was going on with Bridget.

“Bridget, is everything okay? You seem upset.” Samantha couldn’t stand to see her acting out the way she was. It seemed like she was trying to get attention; this was more than just her usual outgoing personality.

“Everything’s fine, unless you are referring to my husband having an affair. That’s not fine, no not at all.” She reached over and grabbed Lainie’s drink, downing it before the other ladies had the opportunity to say anything about it.

“How on earth could you think that, Bridge?” Lainie put her hand out and rubbed her back.

“Because it’s true. He doesn’t touch me anymore. He’s never home. He always says he has to work late. He just doesn’t want me anymore. There has to be someone else.” She broke down crying before laying her head in her arms on the table.

Samantha got up and moved over to sit beside her friend. She wasn’t quite sure what to say, so she remained silent and held her hand as she calmed herself down. When she stopped crying, she sat up and looked around, her face reddening.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what the fuck came over me.” She looked at Lainie. “You know what happens to me when I drink.”

“She becomes an emotional mess,” Lainie told Samantha.

“Don’t we all.” She squeezed her hand and offered a smile.

The waitress walked up with their food. “Would you like another drink?” she asked Bridget.

“No!” all three answered at the same time then erupted in fits of laughter. They ate without discussing the drama, other than Bridget saying, “Yes, I’m worried about my marriage, but no I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

Samantha laughed more than she could remember doing in her life. After losing Jennifer, she’d closed herself off to relationships, but her time with these ladies was showing her it was okay to open herself up; it didn’t mean the sky would fall, or the world would end.

Before leaving, the ladies made plans to meet at Samantha’s for dinner on Monday. They told her they wanted to help her through her first night alone since being with Derrick. She was actually looking forward to it.

* * *

Derrick went downstairs after seeing Samantha off to her brunch. Before he even walked into the main room, he smelled the delicious aromas of breakfast waiting for him.Oh, the perks of being in charge.

All the guys were already there when he entered. “Did I get the time wrong?” He looked at his watch. He was ten minutes early.

“No, we’ve been here all night. It was the smartest thing ever when we designed this place to include apartments for each of us.” Matthew smiled.

“Well, I’m surprised any of you guys made it downstairs based on the ladies I saw each of you with last night before I left.” He’d thought he might miss being able to pick up a different sub every night, but he didn’t.

“Let’s get down to business. We’ve all got things to do, and, with Derrick leaving Monday, we need to make sure we’re ready for the week. Let’s start with security. Any updates, Derrick?” Ian had a way of getting straight to the point.

“We had that situation last week with Kyle McAllister, but he seems to be lying low for now. I don’t trust the situation, but we can’t do anything at the moment but watch and wait. When we’re done here, I’m going to run the security protocols again to make sure we’re up to date, but you don’t have to worry. My team knows what they’re doing, and they will manage while I’m gone.” He popped a strawberry into his mouth.

He had the utmost faith in his team, knowing the club would be in good hands no matter how long he had to be gone. “Kyle is an asshole, that’s for sure, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try to get back in if he hears I’m away. That means you all need to keep your eyes open as well.”

Derrick couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but his gut was screaming at him that something was going on. He needed to make this trip as productive as he could because he didn’t want to be gone any longer than necessary.

“That dude is a douche who lives off his daddy’s money. He is a big talker but not much to back up his words.” Jacob rolled his eyes.

“Jacob, I get why you would think that, but trust me, my gut isn’t wrong about this guy.” He kept thinking about the way he looked at Samantha. “Don’t underestimate him. It would be a mistake.” He couldn’t get his point across strongly enough.

“Is there something you aren’t telling us, D? The responsibility to keep our members safe falls to all of us, and we need all the information if we’re going to be able to do it.” Ian didn’t play games.

---