Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)(62)

“Get a room. Bye.”

Suddenly, exhaustion bested me. Bo and Rachel were still up in the watch talking, so I crossed over to the bed. As I lay back, on top of the blankets, the emotional ups and downs of the week caught up with me and I gave in to the warm embrace of sleep.

*

“Ember. Hey,” soft whispers pulled me from a deep sleep. “Babe, wake up.” Bo kissed from my forehead to my collarbone.

I peeled my eyes open. According to the alarm clock it was 6:00pm; I’d been asleep for a few hours.

“Shit, sorry, I was exhausted.” I sat up slowly and tilted my head side to side. “Did I miss Rachel leaving? Did she go back to school yet?” I yawned.

“No, actually she likes you so much she wanted to stay and have dinner with us. She’s meeting some friends right now and we’ll catch up with her at the pub in an hour. Wanna shower?” Bo grinned ear to ear.

“Mmm. You bet I do.”

I sat up on my knees and rapped my arms around his neck; pressing my mouth to his. He responded by forcing my hips back down to the bed. Without wasting time, I pulled his shirt up and tossed it on the floor. He did the same with mine, before reaching for my pants.

“I love you, November.” He kept his hands on my face as he pulled away. Every single time he’d said that, he’d looked right in my eyes. This time was no different.

“I love you,” I replied, gripping the back of his neck.

Whatever spell he had me under, I didn’t want the cure. I could live the rest of my life bewitched by the likes of Bo Cavanaugh.

We showered and got ready to go meet his sister for dinner. I was glad that we didn’t have sex before we left the house, neither of us would have been able to remove the grin from our faces.

“Hey, by the way, if you ever need to get into the gate at the end of the driveway, 7325 is the code,” he said nonchalantly as we pulled off his property on to the road.

“How mighty trusting of you.” I winked.

“Come on, Ember, you have my heart and soul, what’s a gate code?”

“Are you serious? How do you come up with that stuff?! I mean, it makes me swoon, seriously swoon. But, come on.” I stared at him with an open mouth.

“What? It’s true. Look, I learned the hard way the lesson of telling people exactly how you feel because you don’t know if it could be your last moments together.” He stared straight ahead, driving down the road.

“Oh, true . . . Sorry.” I turned back to the road.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Rachel was outside talking with some friends who were smoking. She beamed when she saw us.

“Guys! Over here!” She waved frantically.

“Hey Rae, do we have a table?” Bo asked.

“Yeah. Guys,” she gestured to her friends, “this is Bo’s girlfriend November. Hot name, right?” She bragged while I shook hands with her friends outside.

Girlfriend. The word made me blush as soon as it left her lips and it didn’t go unnoticed that Bo reddened, too.

When we were seated inside, Bo asked if I wanted a drink. I shot a cautionary glance toward Rachel.

“Oh, please, go ahead. I’m fine. You’re sweet.” She touched my hand and narrowed her eyes playfully at Bo. “Don’t f*ck it up with her please, she’s awesome.”

Bo shook his head and wandered up to the bar.

“You’re great, Rachel,” I turned toward her while Bo got my drink.

“Please, call me Rae. And, you’re great. Bo’s been infinitely happier since he started spending time with you.”

“What, is he typically depressed or something?” It dawned on me I had no idea how Bo was day-to-day.

“No, it’s not really anything like that. It’s just . . . since he started getting DROP off the ground again, he’s been all business. He doesn’t spend a ton of time with his friends - which is OK, because most of them are staunch dickwads anyway - but I sometimes feel he’s missing out.” She shrugged as she played with her straw.

A rather excessive giggle caught my attention across the restaurant.

“Who’s that?” I nodded toward a slender strawberry-blonde woman talking to Bo. Her head was cocked to the side like a puppy.

“God, that’s Bowan’s ex-girlfriend. Can we say ‘Stepford Wife’? This is a pub, lady, ditch the pearls already.” Rachel barely looked in her direction, which I took to be a good sign.

“Hm. She’s pretty, what’s her name?” I asked, trying to be indifferent.

“Ainsley Worthington.”

“Of course it is.” It slid out before I could stop it.

“Ha!” Rachel spit some of her water back in her glass.

“What?” I cracked a smile.

“What do you mean, of course it is?”

“Seriously? Worthington? Could there be a wealthier name in all of New Hampshire?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yep, Cavanaugh, which is why Ainsley’s panties are all in a bunch over there,” Rachel panned. “She and Bo were already broken up, but after our parents died she tried using his grief to get back in his pants because she’s a complete tramp. Bo hasn’t given her the time of day in four years, but bless her heart she keeps trying. It only got worse after he started playing here. You should see the spectacle she makes of herself.” Rachel rolled her eyes.