He clenches his jaw, clearly starting to rethink his previous answer of letting her go on the trip. It’s time to stop pushing him before I ruin my chances of him trusting me with her. Without Natalie I’ll be shit out of luck.
“She slipped her hand under the waistband of my pants and when I woke her up she freaked out and got me good with her elbow. It was an accident. And then she gave me the usual attitude and joined you in bed. Calm your fancy slacks, big brother. Nothing happened.”
“Yeah, well… I didn’t think so.”
“When does she go into work? I was hoping to catch her there, so she has a little time to consider it before I leave. I’m heading out tomorrow evening, which doesn’t leave much time for her to agree.”
He looks down at his watch. “In about twenty minutes. But she gets really pissy if you bother her when she first gets there. She usually has a lot of shit to catch up on from the night before. Trust me, it’s best to wait until later.”
I grin and slap his shoulder. “Thanks, brother, but I’m sure I can handle her.”
“You’re lucky I love your ass and want what’s best for you, because this is an extremely fucked-up request. If anyone else asked to borrow my girl I’d probably kill them with my bare hands.”
“Good thing I’m not anyone else then, brother.” I stop at the door. “Oh yeah. You might want to tell me her favorite dessert, aside from rock hard abs that is…” I lift a brow as I watch him tense up again. “I’m joking. I need to butter her up a bit if I’m going to have any chance of her saying yes. We both know this.”
“Caramel cheesecake from the bar across the street from the hotel. The one Carla works at.” Clearly annoyed with my mouth, he huffs and rerolls his sleeves again. “You’re going to send my stress level through the damn roof today, Madden. Get out of my office before I change my mind. You’ve got five seconds.”
I hold my bagel up to him and say, “You’re welcome for the bagels, dick,” before I disappear out his office door.
One of the women checking me out when I first walked in flashes me a seductive smile and bites her bottom lip as I walk past the front desk.
She clearly wants what I’m packing, but unfortunately, right now I’m not in the mood to take some hot secretary into the bathroom and bend her over like the last time I visited this place. It ended messy and I can’t do messy right now.
Plus, I have something way more important on my mind, so I keep on walking, not stopping until I’m getting into my old truck. Once inside, I head toward Sunrise Motel and hope like hell that getting Natalie some cheesecake from Carla is going to be good enough to make her hate me just a tad bit less than normal.
When I step into the bar, Carla is wiping down the counter while in conversation with an elderly man. “Take a seat, babe, and I’ll be right with you,” she says without looking my way.
“How’s my favorite girl?” I take a seat on the nearest barstool and grin when Carla’s head shoots my way, her eyes widening when they land on me.
She smiles and tosses her towel down. “Holy shit! I was wondering when I’d see my favorite rock star again.” She rushes over to give me a hug, before examining me. “You look good, Madden. Much better than the last time I saw you.”
“Yeah, well, that’s because it’s been almost a year since I’ve seen that crazy bitch Alana.” I take a seat again and Carla moves back behind the bar. “I can’t say that for long, though.”
“Shit. It’s that time again, isn’t it?”
I nod. “Yup. But that’s the reason I’m here. Well, other than coming to see you, of course.”
Her smile widens. “Let me guess… you need some advice?”
“What I actually need is cheesecake?”
“Really?” she questions, giving me a suspicious look. “You don’t even like cheesecake.”
“It’s not for me. It’s for Nat.”
She places her hand on her hip and narrows her eyes at me. “Explain,” she motions to my face, “because I’m not sure I like that look.”
“I’m going to ask Nat to come with me,” I say simply. “As my girlfriend.”
“Whoa… okay. I was not expecting that.” She leans over the