Page 100 of The Need to Know

“Omelettes, please,” Paisley pouted.

Sloan took off for the kitchen across the room and I shot Paisley a thumbs-up.

“I’ll pass,” I said.

Sloan looked over his shoulder from his search in the fridge. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” I said.

Sloan went about collecting ingredients from the fridge to prepare his omelettes and I went back to Paisley.

“So I should just let it go, huh?” I asked.

The look in Paisley’s eyes told me she wasn’t about to coddle me. “With quickness.”

I sighed as I sunk into my place on her love seat. “I mean…you are right.”

“Listen, how about tonight I set you up on this blind date, catered by me, and you just go out and see what happens? Gray could be the one or he could not be, you won’t know unless you get out there.”

As if knowing what I was discussing, my phone rang, a call from Ezekiel. I didn’t bother to answer it.

Paisley was right about everything. This was a mess, and I wanted more, more than what Ezekiel was willing to give me. It was no one’s fault but my own for getting myself into this situation. I was a selfish lover, not wanting to share at all. I couldn’t be his friend-with-benefits, because he wasn’t the monogamy type. It was a brutal pill I’d have to swallow here and now before I got in too deep.

Shéc was officially closed until we came back from our vacation. I tried not to think about all the potential business we were losing. We’d postponed shipments until next week even. It was time to focus on rest and relaxation.

Perhaps starting with a night out with a potentially nice man.

“So, a blind date?” I gave in.

Paisley perked up and clasped her hands together. “Yes. Gray is thirty-one. He’s real polite. Kinda on the shy side, but I sense no toxicities—and that’s exactly what you need.”

He was shy and not arrogant—although a certain someone’s cockiness was a bit sexy.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to let it go. This date could lead to nowhere, but the point was to get back out there. I did want to go out again. I missed dates, spending time alone with someone, snuggling, and being loved. I was due for a romance movie for Nasty Noir and perhaps this would put me in the right mood to endure one.

“Okay,” I decided, throwing caution to the wind.

Paisley eyed my phone where it lay beside me. “My one true warning is to not tell Ezekiel.”

My stomach knotted up. “Why?”

“Because then you’re checking in with him. Giving him a heads-up. Until there’s an official title or relationship, you don’t owe him anything.”

She wasn’t wrong, but not telling him didn’t feel right. Doing this behind his back didn’t feel right.

The irony in feeling like I was betraying someone I had no ties to. Why be loyal to someone who couldn’t be loyal to me?

The screen of my phone flashed with a banner notifying me of a missed call from Ezekiel. Missed call because we were a bad connection.

“Today…is about me,” I declared. “No Ezekiel.”

“Right,” Paisley said with full support. “I’m going to hit up Gray and book a reservation at Room this evening. You can drive there, no pressure, and just have dinner. If you like the conversation and feel him, you guys can set up your own date.”

Room was one of Belmont’s nicest restaurants, not quite on par with Dellucci’s with a hard-to-get-in atmosphere, but everyone loved Room. Fine American dining with some international twists here and there on its moderately priced menu.

At home, in my closet, I’d been saving this spaghetti-strapped brown ruched dress for a special occasion, and I couldn’t think of a better reason to finally bring it out than this date. Though, I’d always planned to wear it with my hair pulled back in a neat bun, but with Ezekiel’s branding on my neck, that wasn’t happening.

I really could kill him for that. I’d never gotten a hickey before in my life. Worse, I hated myself for being turned on while he’d been giving me it, for loving the way he’d left his mark on me—for missing the feel of his lips already.