She takes a sip of her drink and gazes up at me over the rim. “What’s that?”

“How in the world did Tony end up in bed with Pinky?” I ask, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear and treating her to a smirk.

Macey gives a short bark of laughter. “Seriously?”

I love that we’re confident enough in our relationship now, we can discuss things like this openly. “There has to be a story there.” I shrug.

“Who the hell knows,” Macey scoffs, but there’s humor in her voice. “She was our landlord, and lived just upstairs. Since he wasn’t working, they began hanging out during the day. I guess their friendship just evolved from there.”

“He’s a fucking idiot.” I take a drink of my own cocktail and thank my lucky stars that Tony fucked up the way he did. “Why did they call her Pinky?”

She shrugs. “She had a chunk of blond hair that had been dyed pink near her temple.”

“I’m so glad you figured out what a douche bag he was, and that you’re here now.”

She smiles at me warmly. “Me too.”

One of the servers stops by to ask if we’d like another drink. We both decline and share a heated look, knowing where our evening is headed. I want to be fully sober when I lead her into the scene we’re going to share tonight.

To say that my staff is shocked I have a girlfriend would be the understatement of the century. Over the last several weeks, Macey and I have grown closer, and tonight, we’re ready to explore the club together. We haven’t been in my private room since we started dating, and I considered clearing the room of my personal effects and turning it back over to the general club population to use. But when I mentioned that to Macey, she frowned. She didn’t like that our last memories there were sour ones, and I knew that I needed to fix that.

As we’re finishing our drinks, Oliver and Chrissy wander up. The club is in full swing tonight, and I know they’ll both be busy with clients later.

“Hey, boss,” Chrissy says, leaning in to give me a quick hug, and then gives one to Macey too. She and Macey have developed a friendship over the past few weeks, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by that. There’s been no jealousy, no cattiness, and no weird feelings. Oliver, on the other hand, is a different story. Macey blushes and stammers whenever he’s near. I think it might take her some time to accept that this man saw her naked and participated in a scene with us. Well, briefly anyway.

“Evening, Macey,” Oliver says, stopping beside her. He towers over her, and Macey shrinks back a step closer to me.

“Hi,” she squeaks. My normally confident firecracker is subdued in his presence. Chrissy exchanges a curious stare with me, obviously wondering what’s going on.

“Can I speak with you privately for a minute?” Oliver asks Macey.

She glances to me, gauging my reaction. “Go ahead, Pancake,” I tell her. Oliver’s got a way with words, and perhaps speaking with her alone will help her finally get over this awkwardness between them.

Chrissy and I watch as they walk away, heading toward the semi-private lounge area. Macey glances back at me, and I give her a slight nod of encouragement.

“What’s that about?” Chrissy asks, watching them where they sit together on a loveseat. Oliver is speaking in hushed tones, and Macey’s nodding along to whatever he’s saying.

I shrug. Chrissy likes to be in the know on club business, and normally I don’t mind that, but this isn’t club business—it’s personal. “Who knows,” I say. “You know Oliver. I’m sure he’s just sharing some bit of wisdom with her.”

“He is intuitive,” she says. “But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that you two are happy and in love.” She smiles at me. “It’s nice to see.”

“Yeah.” It is nice. “It’s been a long time coming.” Six long years I waited for Macey to come back into my life. And now that I have her, I’m never letting her go. A concept Hale’s still getting used to.

Moments later, Macey and Oliver head back our way, and it’s obvious their talk helped. Macey’s gait is lighter, and a small smile adorns her lips as she strolls to my side.

“Come on, Chrissy,” Oliver says. “We’ve got clients to entertain.”

Macey and I watch them walk away into the depths of the club.

“Everything okay?” I kiss the top of her head as she nestles in against me.

“Perfectly fine.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me more about his role here, and that it really wasn’t something out of the ordinary for him to be in a room with a couple, and not to make more of it than it was.”

I’ve told her the same thing three times. “That’s it?”

She nods. “And he said if it would help, he would let me see him naked too. Even the score, you know.”

“Not happening, sweetheart.”

She scoffs. “Even if that’s what I needed to feel better about the situation?”

Narrowing my eyes, I study her. “Is it?”

“Well, no.” Her cheeks pinken slightly as she glances away.

I chuckle. “Good.” I don’t quite know how I’d feel about that now that we’re exclusively together. I lean down and kiss the sensitive spot behind her ear. “Go into my private room and wait for me on the bed.”

“Okay,” she says on an exhale.

“I changed the code.”

“What is it?” she asks, watching me curiously.

Leaning down to whisper near her ear, I breathe in her scent. Lavender and vanilla, my favorite combination. “Your birthday.”

She smiles warmly at me. The truth is, this is not my private room anymore. It’s hers. If it weren’t for her pouting lip, I would have given up the room. Oliver could use a second therapy room, after all.

Lifting up on her toes, Macey treats me to a kiss on my cheek and then saunters away, her round hips swaying enticingly as she goes.

It takes all the willpower I have not to chase after her. My cock is already lengthening in my pants. But I want to take my time making love to her tonight. Intimacy and sex was something I withheld from myself for so long, and now that I have the girl I’ve wanted all along, it’s like I’m making up for lost time. We lay entangled together every night, and I bury myself in her once or twice every day just because I can, and still it’s not enough.

I wonder if it will ever be enough.

Chapter Seventeen

Macey

 

Six months later

“You didn’t have to do this, you know,” I say, stepping out of the limousine and glancing around at the park-like setting.

“Are you kidding? I wanted to. The chance to see you in a sexy-as-hell dress?” Reece’s hands skim down my sides, sliding over the silky fabric of the wine-colored dress I’m wearing.

My six-inch heels bring me a little closer to his height, and I only have to rise up on my toes to press my lips to his. We share a deep, passionate kiss before I finally pull away.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?” I ask.

“Come with me.”

The driver pulls off into the parking lot in the distance, while Reece takes my hand and guides me over toward the gazebo where he’s obviously taken the time to make sure everything would be perfect for our date. Twinkling white lights crisscross from the ceiling, and soft music plays in the background. A bucket of ice waits with a bottle of champagne, and a little farther away is a blanket laid out on a grassy hill under the stars.

“What’s all this for?” I smile at him. I’m still not used to the way Reece dotes on me, even after six months of dating.

“We’re still catching up on all the things I missed, all the romantic dates I should have taken you on.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

He shakes his head, smirking at me. “Remember when that twerp Jacob took you to prom?”

I grin. “Of course.”

“It should have been me. I still regret that I wasn’t the one who took you.”