The Way You Love Me. Donna Hill
Addison eased down the bar and took a seat that became vacant next to Justin.
“Justin Lawson, right?”
“Yes.” He offered her a heart-stopping smile. His eyes cinched as he stared at her. “You’re the caterer.”
She grinned. “Good memory, especially with all the people there that night.”
He chuckled. “I try to remember faces.”
She extended her hand. “Addison Matthews.”
“Pleasure.” He reached for his drink and took a sip. “So you’re Bailey’s friend.”
“Best friend.”
“Hmm. Best friend.” He glanced in Bailey’s direction, and she was trying hard not to look interested.
“She’s hard to get to know.”
“Not really. She’s cautious, that’s all.”
He nodded. “Any suggestions?”
“About?”
“About how to get past all of her caution signs.”
Addison rested her forearms on the counter. She faced him. “Be honest. Bailey is a wonderful woman who puts everyone and everything ahead of herself. She could use someone in her life that puts her first for a change.” She offered a tight smile and slid off the stool. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Lawson.”
“Justin.”
Addison glanced over her shoulder. “Justin.”
* * *
By the time Bailey returned with the rack of clean glasses, Addison was already in deep conversation with a guy who’d taken a seat next to her.
Bailey unloaded the glasses. Things were always so easy for Addison when it came to men. She was fearless. She didn’t care what anyone thought, and she went after who and what she wanted. There were times when she wished that she could be as cavalier about relationships; just get in them for the good times and move on. But she couldn’t. She wanted more than the momentary excitement. She wanted something that would last and someone that would make her a priority—for once. If there was one thing that Addy was right about, it was that she did need someone to take care of her for a change. Some days she simply wanted to get in her car and drive and keep on going. But she couldn’t. Her family depended on her. She finished stacking the glasses on the shelf and hanging them from the overhead rack, and when she turned around, Justin was standing in front of her.
“Wanted to say good night and pay my tab.”
A knot formed in her stomach. He was leaving. What if he didn’t come back? “Sure. I’ll put your bill together.” She swung toward the register. Her heart thumped, and her hands shook. The register spewed out his bill. She handed it to him.
Justin barely glanced at it. He reached in his jacket pocket and took out his wallet and handed her his black American Express card.
Bailey numbly processed the payment and returned his card. “Have a good evening,” she managed to say.
Justin stared at her for a moment. A slow smile moved his mouth. “Hope to see you again when I come back.”
She smiled in return. “I’d like that.”
Justin took a step back. “Night.”
“Night.”
He was coming back, and he wanted to see her. Bailey held on to that promise.
For the next two weeks, Justin, true to his word, showed up at the Mercury Lounge at least three nights a week. Bailey quietly looked forward to seeing him, although she never told him as much. When he walked through the doors and took what had become his usual seat, all the lights came on in her world, and she sailed through the night.
On the evenings that Justin didn’t show up, Bailey experienced an incredible emptiness, a malaise almost as if she was lifting her feet in and out of mud.
Tonight was one of those nights. Every time the door swung open, her heart leaped only to stutter in her chest when it wasn’t him.
Bailey wiped down the bar top and began putting away bottles and stacking glasses for washing. Tonight made two nights in a row that Justin had not made an appearance.
He had probably gone back to his fancy life, which was fine with her. She was crazy to think that he was really interested in her beyond some casual conversation to pass the time.
* * *
Justin was in the thick of preparing a case for one of the partners where he would serve as second chair, but his thoughts kept drifting back to the night of the party and seeing Bailey. He’d wanted to see her again, but the past couple of weeks had been grueling with him clocking in twelve-hour days. But he knew that when he saw her again, he had to come right. And coming right meant dealing with the futility of his relationship with Jasmine DuBois. As if he’d talked her up, his phone rang and it was Jasmine.
“Justin Lawson.”
“Hey, sweetie.”
Justin put down his pen. “Hey, Jasmine. I’m really busy right now—”
“I know. That’s why I’m calling. You’ve been working nonstop, and don’t think for a moment that Daddy hasn’t noticed.”
Justin’s jaw tightened.
“Anyway, sweetie, I made reservations for dinner tonight. You deserve it, and it will give us a chance to talk about us.”
Justin ran his hand across his face. “Jazz, I told you before, we can only be friends...a serious relationship won’t work for us.”
“If you’re worried about what Daddy is going to say, I can handle him,” she said, oblivious to what was really being said to her.
If he ever doubted for a minute before that this relationship with Jasmine was a disaster in the making, all of his doubts vanished. Jasmine’s selfish single-mindedness was impenetrable. All she saw and all she wanted was whatever it took to satisfy her desires. The needs and aspirations of others never entered her radar. In the beginning, he felt that her superficiality was all for show, and that once they got to know each other, she would allow him to see the real her—a woman with some substance. He was still waiting. He wouldn’t wait any longer.
“What time are the reservations and where?”
Jasmine giddily gave him the information.
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Sure. See you at seven...” She giggled.
“I’ve got to go, Jazz.”
“Sure, sweetie. See you tonight.”
* * *
Justin arrived home and was surprised to see his eldest sister, LeeAnn, tinkering around in the kitchen.
“Lee!” He dropped his briefcase at the entrance to the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
LeeAnn turned from peering into the fridge and beamed a smile of delight in seeing her brother. She shut the door and crossed the room. “Hi, baby bro.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. He held her hand.
“Long way from your new home in DC. Preston here, too?”
“He should be soon.”
Justin frowned. “Everything okay?”
“Actually, everything’s great. Desi and Dominique are going to come by also.”
“Desi and Dom? Okay, spill it. What’s really going on?” He leaned against the island counter.
LeeAnn