Indigo Nights (Nights #3)(43)

“I just needed to hear your voice.” I wanted to neutralize Alicia’s poison by talking to Beth. “Am I interrupting?”

“No. It’s always good to hear from you, and I’m just baking.”

“Of course you are.”

She laughed. “Yes, I suppose I do it a lot. How’s your day.”

“Good and bad. Weird.”

“That sounds intriguing.” The scrape of utensils against metal clattered down the phone. “Tell me.”

“Well, we got regulatory approval on Redux.”

“Congratulations. That’s the pharma company in England, right?”

“Yeah.” I grinned. Our worlds had begun to mix together as I got to hear about her day and I shared mine. I’d forgotten how comforting it could be. “And then my ex called, which was the bad and the weird.”

“Alicia? I didn’t realize you were in touch.”

“We’re not. I haven’t spoken to her since we split.”

The clattering at the other end of the phone went silent. “What did she want?”

“She suggested lunch. I hung up.”

“You hung up?”

“Yes, I don’t want to speak to her. I have nothing to say, and I’m sure she’s got nothing I want to hear.”

“Perhaps she wanted to apologize, set things right? Maybe she was offering you both closure.”

“I’m pretty sure whatever she was doing, it was entirely to benefit Alicia. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about her. I want to talk about you. What are you making?” Images of Beth naked except for high heels and an apron sprung to mind.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure I should say.”

“Hey, I thought we said no secrets.”

“Chocolate mousse. It’s a current favorite of mine,” she confessed.

“Is that right? I’m quite fond of that dessert myself.” I grinned. “What are you wearing?”

She laughed. “I always bake naked. Apart from my heels and a short, frilly apron, of course.”

I groaned and palmed my twitching cock through my pants. “I wish I was there.”

“I’m going to see you tomorrow; we can make up for some lost time. Unless you’re busy?”

“I’ll make time for you. Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay at my place?”

“I’m not saying never, Dylan, just not this time. We’ll see plenty of each other. I’m staying a week this time.”

“I hope to see all of you.”

She laughed. I was serious. If I thought she’d let me, I’d keep her naked for her entire trip.

“Perhaps I should cancel the gala,” I said. I didn’t want to share her.

“You can’t do that. You’re a patron. Unless . . .”

“Unless what?”

“Well, we’ve just started dating. Maybe it’s too early to—”

“It’s not too early to anything. I told Raf that you were coming with me.”

“You did?” I didn’t understand why she was surprised but she sounded happy, which made me happy.

“Sure, we’re exclusively dating; why wouldn’t I tell people?”

I ran my finger round the inside of my collar. “Okay, you’re not saying anything. What are you thinking?”

“Ummm, I’m thinking I’m glad we’re exclusively dating.”

I grinned. “Well I’m pleased that you are.”

She laughed. “Perhaps I should tell my brother.”

“You’ve not told him?” This conversation was long overdue. We needed to be on the same page with stuff like this.

“I’ve talked to Haven and Ash.”

Well, that was something. Her sister-in-law and her kinda sister-in-law seemed to be her closest girlfriends, so at least she’d told them.

“What’s stopping you from telling Jake?” She wasn’t dating anyone else and neither was I, but she hadn’t told her brother despite the fact that they were close. Was she having doubts?

“Nothing. He’s been telling me to date for a while now, so the general concept isn’t a problem. I guess I don’t want him to worry, and I think he’ll want to meet you when I tell him and I don’t know—”

“Okay, well, we can do that.”

“You think? I mean, the family thing, can’t we just skip it? If you ran into each other that would be one thing, but an introduction? It all seems a bit . . . over the top.”

“I want to meet your brother, Beth. Everyone who’s important to you. Don’t let this be a big deal. I’m not going to ask him if I can propose.” Though it was a big deal. I’d not met a girlfriend’s family since I’d asked Alicia’s father if I could marry her.

“Okay. I’ll tell him, but I’m warning you, he’ll want to meet you properly.” I could hear her smile, even from four thousand miles away. I wished she were closer.

“Good. I have plans for our weekend, so bring some outdoor clothes.”

“Outdoor clothes?”

“You know, stuff you can go outside in?”

“Yeah, thanks, genius. I understand what you’re saying, but why?”