Betting on Bailey

She smiles at that and she hugs me again. “What’s that for?” I ask, surprised. “Not that that wasn’t very nice, because it was.”

She shakes her head. “Piper said something to me,” she says mysteriously, taking off her coat and tossing it on the back of a couch. She looks around the spacious living room, takes in the three doors leading off it. “Two bedrooms and a bathroom?” she guesses. “You guys don’t know how to do low-key, do you?” Where’s our resident billionaire?”

Her voice is fond, not mocking. “He’s on the phone with Stone Bradley,” I answer. “He’s the investigator.”

She sits on the couch, and pulls me down with her, resting her head on my shoulder again. “Are you okay?” she asks softly. “I know how much that place meant to you.”

“Yeah…” I hold her hand and it feels like home, sitting next to her, talking about our day. “We were lucky. No one except Ben was around.”

“Ben, your problem sous-chef?”

I nod. “I don’t know what he was doing there,” I say. “When I was starting out, I would go in on the days I didn’t have to work and try to teach myself new techniques. Maybe he was experimenting with a new recipe…” I swallow, thinking of Ben’s frail body in the hospital. “He’s been badly burned,” I tell her. “He was in a forced coma when we visited, but the doctors think he’s going to make it.” I close my eyes and tighten my grip on her hand. “Had it been any other day of the week…”

Her hand, the one that isn’t tight in mine, strokes my back. “You’re a good person, Sebastian,” she says softly. “What about the restaurant itself?”

“Closed for a minimum of six weeks.” I exhale. “We’ll work through it. We always do.” I bring her hand up to my mouth and touch the soft skin with my lips. “I love you.”

Her eyes twinkle. “I know. Piper told me.”

I’m confused by her words, but not interested enough to sort it out. It’s enough that she knows how I feel. “Clever woman, Piper. I hear she’s driving Lawless and Lamb crazy.”

“Is she? She won’t give me any of the good gossip.” She strokes my cheek. “I love you too, you know.”

The tightness eases in my chest. “That’s good,” I tell her. “That’s really good.”

* * *

There are days when the sex between the three of us is heated and explosive and raw. Today’s not that day. The sex is sweet and sensual, slow and tender. When I part her thighs and taste her, her breath catches. “Sebastian,” she whimpers. “Oh god yes.”

Daniel lowers his mouth over her lush breasts. I see a flash of his teeth as he nibbles at that erect nub, and her reaction makes my dick ache. She pushes her hips against me. “More…” she begs. “Don’t stop.”

“I’m not planning on it,” Daniel replies.

Me, I’m enjoying the taste of her too much to break away. She tastes sweet and salty and right. Her body quivers when I peel back her hood and trace a tiny circle over her clitoris. “I’m going to come,” she gasps as I repeat that stroke, over and over. I can feel her tense, her muscles tightening as she nears her climax. Her hands grip tightly at my hair, and she pushes my mouth deeper into her pussy.

Her face distorts with pleasure as she comes, but I don’t let up. “Once more,” I tell her, my voice muffled by her pussy.

“I’m good with that,” she exhales, and both Daniel and I chuckle. That statement is pure Bailey. She likes her orgasms, my fiery redhead, and she’s not afraid to ask for them.

“Switch with me,” Daniel tells me. “I want a taste too.”

We trade places. I move up the bed and kiss Bailey deeply. I’ve never told a woman that I love her. Work has kept me busy, and my restaurants have been everything to me. Today, on a day when Seb New York has almost been destroyed, I feel the warmth of Bailey’s body next to mine, and the fire doesn’t seem to matter as much. Those three simple words - I love you - seem to bind us closer, deepening the intimacy between us.