Page 20 of February (New Orleans #2)

M onica heard a knock on the door but knew it had to be way too early for housekeeping. She could feel the arms wrapped tightly around her waist, so she snuggled back into Bridgette even more. It had been a very long time since she’d had someone this close, someone to share a bed with at night, someone to hold her to remind her that she wasn’t alone. Then, there was that knock again, but it had to be on another door because there was no reason why–

“Shit,” she said as she pulled the blanket away and shot up out of bed, checking the time on the clock. “Shit. Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Bridgette asked her as she rolled over onto her back and rubbed her eyes.

“Mom!”

“Oh, shit.” Bridgette sat up just as quickly. “Aaron?”

“I’m late. He’s supposed to be at the airport.” Monica found her phone and shoved it into her purse. “Can you…”

“What? Hide?”

Monica looked at her pleadingly.

“Fine.”

Bridgette got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, which was bad because Monica needed to pee. That would have to wait, though, because she needed to take her son to the airport.

“Hey, honey,” she greeted when she opened the door. “Sorry. I overslept. Just give me five minutes. I can meet you in your room or in the lobby.”

“You know you don’t have to take me, right? The car is outside. I can go by myself.”

“No, I want to,” she replied. “I just need a minute.”

“Then, I’ll wait,” Aaron said, and before Monica could say anything, he walked in with his roller bag in his hand. “You never oversleep,” he noted.

“All the excitement of touring colleges, I suppose,” she said as she found a pair of jeans and a shirt in her bag.

“Mom?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Why are Bridgette’s clothes here?”

She turned around and followed Aaron’s finger, which was pointing at Bridgette’s jeans and sweater. She’d folded them and placed them on the desk the previous night.

“Those aren’t Bridgette’s. Those are mine.”

“She literally wore them to dinner,” Aaron said as he laughed. “Mom, do you have a girl hidden in your room?”

“No, I–”

Whatever next lie Monica had been about to tell was interrupted when the bathroom door opened, and Bridgette emerged, looking adorable in Monica’s clothes, with her hair mussed and no shoes on.

“Hey, Aaron.”

Aaron burst out laughing.

“Aaron!”

“I told you! I told you so,” he said.

“Stop that. Nothing happened.”

“She slept over,” he argued, pointing at Bridgette.

“And I behaved myself,” Bridgette replied.

“But you slept over. She said you were just friends. I knew it, though.”

“Aaron, we are just friends. Or, we were just friends; I don’t know. Look, we need to get you to the airport.”

“I’m good,” he said as his laughter quieted. “I can get there myself. You two stay here and do whatever it was you, apparently, weren’t doing.”

“Aaron!” Monica’s blush could probably be seen from Manhattan at this point.

“Mom, it’s cool. Really. I’m glad. I’m happy for you.” He turned to Bridgette. “You’ll treat her right?”

“Oh, my God, Aaron.”

“Yeah, I will,” Bridgette said seriously.

Monica watched as something seemed to be silently exchanged between her son and Bridgette. Then, Aaron walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.

“I’m good, Mom. I’ll take the car to the airport, go through security, and find my gate. I’ve got this. I’ll text you when I board, okay?”

“Are you sure?” she asked as she pulled him into her.

“Yes, I’m sure. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Aaron turned to Bridgette and offered her a handshake, which was pretty cute. Then, he was gone, and Monica was left standing there alone with Bridgette in her hotel room.

“So, that happened,” Bridgette said.

“I forgot to set my alarm last night. You showing up kind of distracted me.”

“Sorry?”

Bridgette held out her arms, and Monica walked into them, pulling Bridgette in tightly against her.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re here,” she said against Bridgette’s neck. “It just wasn’t how I wanted to wake up with you.”

“How did you want to wake up with me, exactly?”

“I don’t know. Slowly,” she replied. “All warm in bed, snuggled up next to you, kissing you good morning on your neck and face until you stir.”

Bridgette pulled back a bit and said, “You really thought a lot about this, didn’t you?”

“A little; not a lot.”

“Sounds like a lot. There were multiple steps there in your plan.”

“Will you shut up?” Monica chuckled.

Bridgette smiled and pressed her lips to Monica’s, giving her a chaste good morning kiss.

“Do you want to lie back down? We can try again.”

“I’m kind of hungry now,” she replied. “I think all that freaking out about my kid finding me in bed with another woman burned a whole lot of calories.”

“I like burning calories in other ways.” Bridgette wiggled her eyebrows at her.

“Buy me breakfast, and we can talk about those other ways.” Bridgette’s surprised face was perfect, and it caused Monica to laugh before she added, “But first, I’m going to the bathroom. Do you mind waiting a few minutes?”

“No. And we can go to a restaurant by my place so that I can change into something I didn’t wear yesterday,” Bridgette said.

“Okay.” Monica kissed her quickly before she disappeared into the bathroom, placed both hands on the sink, and took a deep breath.

She had not planned anything else happening between them, and she should’ve stood her ground, but Bridgette was just so… Well, she was special. She was smart and funny. She gave Monica a hard time, which usually drove her crazy but also turned her on, and when they kissed, it felt like Monica hadn’t ever been truly kissed before in her life; like she’d been waiting for kisses from Bridgette forever.

◆◆◆

“So, does that count as a date?”

“Breakfast?” Monica asked as they walked out of the restaurant.

“Yeah, breakfast. It was a meal. We shared it, and we talked. I paid.”

“I’ve never had a breakfast date.”

“Not even after a night–” Bridgette stopped herself. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Says the woman who hooked up with her ex not all that long ago. Did you two have a breakfast date the morning after?”

“Breakfast?” Bridgette laughed. “No. I didn’t stay over. I didn’t stay at all once we were…”

“Yeah, never mind. I don’t want to know, either,” Monica said, and she surprised herself when she reached over and took Bridgette’s hand as they walked. “We should have a real date.”

“Not a breakfast one?”

“No, a dinner one. Or something else. I don’t know.”

“So, we’re going on a date, then?” Bridgette asked.

“I think we have to now. I mean, Aaron saw you, and he’s going to get mad at me if I tell him I screwed it up by not going out with you.”

Bridgette laughed and said, “So, we’re only going out because of Aaron?”

Monica’s phone rang, and she recognized the ringtone she reserved only for her father.

“That’s my dad. He hasn’t called since I got here. I should get it,” she said and pulled her phone out of her purse, letting go of Bridgette’s hand in the process.

“Okay,” Bridgette said and looked around. “I can go in there and get us a coffee to-go. It’s better than where we had breakfast. Give you some space.”

“Thank you.” Monica leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Then, she watched as Bridgette crossed the street and went inside a café before she answered the phone.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hi, honey. How are you?”

“I’m good. I assumed Aaron called you.”

“He did when he was at the airport. It seems he’s sold on Tulane.”

“I think so,” she replied.

“That makes a grandfather very happy. I’ll make a call for him this afternoon.”

“Dad, let him apply and get in on his own.”

“And what if he doesn’t?”

“He has excellent grades, extracurriculars, and test scores. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“I’ll wait and see, then, but I can at least have them move his application to the top of the pile. It’s late in the process. He should have applied already.”

“You know Lily had something to do with that.”

“I do. I don’t understand it. I didn’t protest when you chose Yale and then Harvard.”

“What parent could protest that?” she teased.

He laughed and said, “So, how are things there?”

“Great. I really love it here. I just had amazing grits at breakfast, and I’ve gone out a few times. It’s really nice.”

“I told you.” Her father paused. “And I’m glad you’re taking time to enjoy yourself, but I was actually talking about Southern Hospitality Greetings.”

“Oh,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s going well. Still interviewing and collecting some data.”

“What are your thoughts on the acquisition?”

“Honestly, I don’t think we should buy it.”

“I know it’s not exactly the kind of company we usually buy.”

“No, not because of that.” Monica looked into the café through the window and saw Bridgette standing in the line to order. “I think they’ve just mismanaged it.”

“The Musgraves?”

“Yes. If they make a few key changes, they’d be okay.”

“How haven’t they figured this out? They made it sound like full desperation mode.”

“They’re there, yes.” Monica nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “But they’ve just made some interesting business choices that I think I can help them fix.”

“Help them fix? You’re helping them fix things? You don’t really do that.”

“I don’t normally travel to New Orleans to buy a small business for the company, either.”

He laughed and said, “True. True. So, you’ll be staying there a while longer, then?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I can help, but I’m missing a lot at the office.”

“That’s what you have employees for.”

“It doesn’t bother you that I’m down here and might stay for a bit?”

“No. I miss you as your father, and your mother does, too, but you deserve some time off.”

“What if we don’t end up buying the company?”

“Not a big loss. I think the amount we would pay for it wouldn’t be much, anyway, but we were looking forward to having the card lines. We’d have to figure something out there at Good Day Greetings.”

“But it would be okay?”

“Have they asked us to invest?”

“ I brought that up, actually.”

“And?”

“I don’t know that there’s much interest there,” she lied.

Monica had brought that up, yes, but only with Bridgette so far, who hadn’t exactly been thrilled with the idea. It was still a good option, though. Arnette would essentially loan them the money and give them time for Bridgette’s ideas to net out. If they didn’t work, Arnette would take over the company, and she guessed that was what scared Bridgette the most.

“No? That doesn’t sound like them.”

“I’ll try again,” she said.

“Okay. Well, I have the lawyers ready when you are, so let me know how to proceed and when.”

“I will,” she replied.

“And I’m glad you like it down there.”

“Me too.”

“I love you,” her dad said.

“I love you, too,” she replied and hung up the phone.

Then, Monica walked across the street and pulled open the door just as Bridgette was walking out of it.

“Thanks,” Bridgette said when Monica held it for her. She handed Monica a coffee and asked, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, he was just checking on me. Aaron called him before he took off this morning, and my dad is just excited that he wants to go to Tulane.”

“So, nothing at all about the whole reason you’re here?” Bridgette asked as they started walking again.

“He wanted an update, yes.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I wanted to stay here a little longer and help you figure this out.”

“You told him about me?”

“Not like that.” Monica chuckled and took Bridgette’s hand again. “But I think we should go out tonight.”

“We’re already out,” Bridgette suggested.

“I mean on a real date. I’ll pick you up in a–”

“Limo?”

Monica laughed and said, “Town car. We’ll have a nice dinner and do something after. Maybe just walk around like this, and you can show me more of the city at night.”

“Then?”

“Then, we can go back to your place or to my hotel for a drink. Not that wine, though. I’ll pick something out for us.”

Bridgette laughed and replied, “That was pretty awful. Maybe it went bad or something.”

“Wine ages. It should not go bad.”

“Well, grocery store wine might not even be real wine.”

“What do you say? Date?”

“What do we do for the rest of today, then?”

“I’m thinking we walk around, sit by the water like we did the other day, talk, get lunch, and then say our temporary goodbyes so that we can get ready. I can make a reservation.”

“No reservation. Nothing fancy.”

“No?”

“Let’s go to a dive place.”

“A dive? For a first date?”

“Yes. I know a place you’ll like, but you have to trust me when I tell you what’s spicy this time.”

“I’m not great in dive places.”

“You’ll be fine. And wear something comfortable, okay? Don’t even think about dressing up or bringing that massive bag of yours. I’ll pick you up. No town car. We’ll just be two non-rich people tonight, okay?”

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” Bridgette said.

“Okay. Sounds like fun,” she replied.

“Monica?”

“Yeah?” She looked over at Bridgette.

“About the business…”

“I told my dad that I don’t think we should buy it. At least, not yet, okay? We’ll figure this out. We can make a plan of attack, and I can help you tell your parents whatever we come up with.”

“I’m scared they’ll say no.”

“I know, babe. But we’ll figure it out, okay?” She rested her head on Bridgette’s shoulder when they stopped at the light.

“Does this mean you’re staying at least a little longer?”

“I don’t have a flight booked, Bridge.”

“Good,” Bridgette replied, kissing the top of Monica’s head. “I’m scared about that, too.”

Monica didn’t say it out loud, but she was scared about the same thing. She squeezed Bridgette’s hand when the light changed, and they made their way across the street.