Page 68 of Rum & Coke

I had a feeling Leah was going to win the bet. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know when, but out of the two, Brad was for sure the one who’d get attached to a woman before Nick would. Or hell, Nick might surprise me and be the one to settle down first. Only a few months ago, I assumed I’d never settle down, and now I was thinking about cooking dinner every night at Tessa’s.

“Come on, sweets. I wanna show you something.” I took Tessa’s hand and led her toward the stairs that led to the roof. Before we could get there, I saw Seth walking with Joss’s childhood friend, Cat. Even from where I stood, I could tell he was a man on a mission and Paul must have been correct when he said something was going on. Then it hit me: Seth had said he’d only been in love once, and I’d bet my next paycheck that Cat was the one he loved. And from the looks of it, I’d say was still in love.

“Where are we going?” Tessa asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, well, I was going to take you up to the roof, but seems we’re too late.”

“The roof?”

“Mark’s wife turned it into a garden. She reads up there. It’s like an oasis.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll show you another time, but now, I want to be alone with you.”

“What time does the wedding end?”

“Not sure, but let’s go.”

“Go where?”

I looked toward the house and remembered the room where the guys and I had gotten dressed in, and then I remembered the bathroom. “I want to show you one of the reasons I’m still escorting.”

“Still?”

“Well, why I’m hesitant to leave S&R.”

“I don’t understand.”

I grabbed her hand, lacing our fingers together, and started for the house. The music was bumping, and I figured no one would know we slipped away. “Don’t worry. After tomorrow, I’m still taking a break, but maybe you’ll understand why it’s hard for me to walk away.”

“Okay …”

I stopped walking just before we got to the stairs. “I’m not saying I’m only going to take a break. If we work out, of course I’ll quit.”

“I understand.”

“I’m not sure you do. It’s not because I like fucking for a living, sweets.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” I chuckled. “I like the money.”

“Who doesn’t?”

I grinned. “Exactly.”

“So, you’re going to show me a pile of money or something?”

We started up the stairs, and I brought her into Mark’s bedroom. At least I assumed it was his bedroom. “Not exactly.” We walked down the hall and into the last door.

“Holy crap. This bedroom is bigger than my apartment,” Tessa stated in awe.

“I don’t think it’s that big, but wait until you see the bathroom.”

I led Tessa into the adjacent room that had what I assumed was marble floors, at least a six-person glass shower with multiple rain shower heads, a step up sunken tub perfect for two people with a fireplace to the side of it, and beige granite encasing the tub and counters.

“Holy crap,” Tessa breathed.