Beauty Mark

Chapter 6

"When can I see you again?" Davis stared into my eyes, and that minty green softened and warmed.

I loved the way he held just the tips of my fingers to savor the moment as long as possible. "You see me every day." I knew what he meant, but I needed confirmation that he wanted more than just random sightings at Starbucks. Something about him made me insecure and undeserving, almost like he was better than me, but I didn't believe that, either.

"I want to get to know you, Callie. If that means I have to do it while watching you write at Starbucks then so be it, but I was hoping for a more one-on-one setting." He rubbed his thumb over the tops of my fingers as he spoke. The gentle touch was far more distracting than if he were to reach out and grab my breast. That simple gesture ignited warmth in my heart, not to mention what it did between my legs.

"Well, you pretty much know my schedule." Admitting I had no life beyond what he saw probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but if he spent any amount of time with me, he'd know soon enough. I was broke, and my life consisted of writing and reading.

"So you're free tomorrow after Starbucks?" A hopeful gleam shined in his eyes that I couldn't resist.

I closed my eyes slowly and nodded as a smile broke free on my lips. "Yes, I am."

"Fantastic." He leaned in and gently kissed my cheek. "I'll see you then."

I blushed at the gesture and squeezed his hand in response, grateful for the respect he offered by not groping me in the parking lot.

"Bye." I dropped his hand and watched him walk away.

When he turned to look back, I gave him a little wave before getting into my car. I couldn't pinpoint what it was about that man, but wow, he made my insides mush, my heart race, my panties wet...and he was intellectually stimulating. We'd spent all of dinner talking about writing and literature. I wasn't sure I'd ever been turned on by intelligence before, but he had my mind reeling with possibilities. I couldn't keep up with the growing list of things I wanted to discuss with him.

Davis intoxicated my thoughts the entire drive home. And then I dreamily climbed the stairs to our crappy apartment and let myself in, closing the door behind me with my back. Clutching my backpack to my chest, I leaned against the cool metal, lost in thoughts of Davis.

"Earth to Callie." Hayden waved her arms, trying to get my attention from the kitchen. "What's got you in la-la land?"

"Hayden! Oh, Hayden...." I stared at her, thinking somehow my thoughts might morph into her brain. When that didn't happen, I pushed myself from the door, set down my backpack, and threw myself onto the couch.

"Is it good? It sounds super juicy." She joined me in the living room, sitting on the cushion by my head. When I tilted my chin to see her face, she moved the hair obstructing my view and asked, "Where the hell have you been? It's late. You're normally back long before now."

My hand landed on my heart, covering it, effectively communicating to my best friend that that organ was involved in my evening, even if my gesture was a tad melodramatic. "It's good. Oh yeah. Really good."

"Spill it."

"Davis Inman."

"What's Davis Inman?"

"Not what, silly. Who. And he's the most amazing man I think I've ever met."

She rolled her eyes in a theatrical display. "Callie, you do not have time for a boyfriend right now. You need to get serious about a job."

Sitting up, I scrunched my face in displeasure before launching into my defense. "I have a job, and I go to work every day. Secondly, now is the perfect time to entertain the idea of a boyfriend. What romance writer doesn't need experience? And he's different from the boys we know."

"Aren't they all?" Her feigned annoyance was strangely off-putting.

"Aren't they all what?"

"Different." She let out a sigh. "They all seem different when we first meet them. Inevitably, they're all the same."

Hayden had a knack for picking assholes. She went for the athletic pretty boys who invariably treated her like crap. I wished she had better luck with men, but her record didn't speak for all mankind. I, on the other hand, didn't have a record at all. I'd never had a serious relationship and couldn't really say I had a lot of experience dating. That didn't mean I had no experience; it just meant I preferred to explore with close friends instead of douchebags who didn't give a s**t about me.

I poked her in the side, wondering what had her negative-Nancy persona in high gear. "What's got you down?"

She waved me off. "Nothing, tell me about your new beau." Hayden's pathetic smile made me feel guilty about wanting to share anything. "Come on, tell me about Davis."

I wished I could be the bigger person right now, but my heart was about to explode, and the only person I wanted to share it with was my best friend. "I see him every day at Starbucks. He's the guy I told you about." Her nod acknowledged me so I could continue without further explanation. "I've never paid a lot of attention to him. He was rather unassuming and bland...until he took off his glasses and stood up."

She studied me intently as she twirled a lock of her hair. I could tell she was anxious for me to get to the good part, and so far, I hadn't.

"The moment his eyes connected with mine, Hayden...it was magical, like seriously, that once-in-a-lifetime moment you only read about in books. They're the softest, palest green, and he has this dark, almost curly hair. I had always thought he was rather slight, but when he stood, he's amazingly proportioned." I didn't even try to hide my glow or the sigh I released. "He's just beautiful."

"Unlike you to go for someone based on looks." She didn't say it in judgment, more a statement of fact. "Actually, it's unlike you to fall for anyone." Another truism.

"It's deeper than his appearance. Don't get me wrong; obviously, there was an electric connection, but the conversation was just as magnetic."

"Sitting at Starbucks?"

I swatted her arm. "No, silly. He took me down the sidewalk to Phong's for dinner. The food was great, but the conversation-I just can't describe it. We talked for hours about everything and nothing. It was seamless, effortless."

I stared at Hayden, wondering what was going through her mind; it wasn't like her to be so passive. "Are you okay, Hayden?"

The sadness in her eyes was unsettling. "Yeah. I just had a s**t day at work, and that guy I've been crushing on in Purchasing was a total asshole to me. I don't mean to rain on your parade." There was something else in her voice. It was more than just a bad day at work and a guy being a jerk, but for whatever reason, she wasn't sharing.

"Seems like more than that."

She shook her head and wiggled her entire body as if she were ridding herself of whatever bothered her. "What about now? Better?" She donned a bright smile and genuine happiness. She was such a goofball. "So did it get hot and heavy?"

"No. I mean I don't have a ton of experience, but at the end, he didn't try to make out with me. He held my hand...more like the tips of my fingers"-I grabbed her to show her what I meant-"and stroked the tops of them with his thumb while he looked directly into my eyes and then kissed me on the cheek. It was the most erotic thing I've ever experienced." I let her go and tossed my body back onto the couch with an exasperated sigh. If this was what falling in love felt like, I never wanted to land.

"You sound like a giddy teenager. If that's what you deem erotic, we need to get you out more." She tossed a pillow at me, laughing.

"Hell, Hayden, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. Not when it comes to men, and this guy's almost eleven years older than me. Being with him isn't like being with the guys I'm friends with." I lost myself in the thoughts of Davis, barely aware Hayden was still in the room.

"Sounds like a great guy. What does he do for a living that he sits at Starbucks all day, and why is a forty-year-old man interested in you?"

I wanted to take offense at my friend's questions, but she only asked out of concern. "He's a freelance writer. And honestly, I have no idea why he's interested in me, but he is and asked me if he could see me again...like a date."

"Be careful, Cal. That's a significant age difference for someone who hasn't dated much."

"I know, but I think it makes more sense for me. I've never been interested in guys my age. I find them flighty and boring. This guy has depth, and it's not sports stats. He's well-read, well-traveled, smart-holy s**t he's smart." I shrugged. I didn't need to convince my best friend of how great he was. The moment she met him, she'd see exactly what I did. "Will you try to keep an open mind for me? Please?"

She smacked me on the knee as she got up. "I'm ecstatic for you. I really am. I just want you to be careful. You've never had your heart broken, and I don't want to ever see it happen."

Hayden didn't wait for a response before walking to her room. The bedroom door closed with a click, and I wondered what had happened to her at work. She was typically pretty resilient, but something had her shaken up. I dragged myself from my happy place-physically and emotionally-and trudged down the hall to press my bestie for the lowdown.

Reaching her door, I stopped to listen to the soft sounds of her crying on the other side. My heart dipped, and I knocked lightly. "Hayden? Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

The hinges creaked as I pushed inside, and when Hayden came into view, my heart broke to see my lifelong friend sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. She lifted her gaze, revealing tears streaming down her face. I didn't have the faintest clue what had happened between the living room and this moment.

She looked childlike perched on her mattress with her legs folded Indian style. I didn't remember a time I'd ever seen her so vulnerable, and I wondered if I was equipped to handle whatever she threw at me.

"I take it your day at work being s**t is more complicated than the guy in Purchasing?"

She nodded but didn't respond or elaborate. She'd talk when she was ready, and I'd sit with her until she reached that point because that's what we did. When we were kids and one of us would get upset, the other would always lean against the one hurting, put her head on her shoulder, and then hold her hand until she talked. So that was what I did for my friend tonight. Hayden laid her cheek on top of my hair, and when I found her hand in her lap, we laced our fingers. And I waited.

The tears got worse before they subsided, but I knew she was ready to talk when she picked up her head, retrieved her hand from mine, and grabbed a tissue from the nightstand.

"The guy in Purchasing..." She started but stopped to wipe and blow her nose. "His name is Tad."

Tad. What a stupid f*****g name. He sounded like a guy who wore seersucker shorts with yellow polo shirts and a pink sweater tied around his shoulders. I could see that guy standing in his deck shoes at his mama and daddy's country club, the same one he grew up in. She had a type, and Tad was it.

"I thought he was different, Callie. We went out a couple of times. He always took me to nice places and was respectful. He'd pick me up and walk me to the door after each date. He always paid the check. He was great in bed. I really thought I'd hit the jackpot."

My brow furrowed in disbelief. "How did I not know you've been seeing someone?" My head couldn't be that far up my ass.

"You weren't here when he picked me up and were in bed when he dropped me off. It's not like we were going out every night of the week, and we hadn't really hit the just hanging out phase. We were dating...and fucking." Tears streamed down her splotchy cheeks.

I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't here to pass judgment-not that I had enough information to form an opinion yet, anyhow. My friend was hurting, and that was all that mattered.

"Everything was going great. I didn't see him a lot at work and looked forward to seeing him when we got together. He has a house downtown, so we had time alone together. His family is old money."

Herein laid the problem with the guys Hayden dated. Not once had she told me how nice or funny Tad was, or that he was smart or a philanthropist. She'd told me he paid for their dates, had a house in an expensive part of town, and his family was "old money." None of which told me s**t about his character, but I had a feeling she was about to tell me more than I wanted to know regarding who he was as a person.

I adjusted my body on the bed to face her. "So, what happened?" I read more in her facial expressions than her words, and I saw it instantly. I didn't know the details, but this man had shattered my best friend.

"I'm pregnant, Callie." There were no tears following the words. She was as matter-of-fact as she could be while she blotted her cheeks dry with a tissue. "Say something," she pleaded.

I was flabbergasted. "When did you find out?" Not only did I not know my best friend was seeing someone named Tad, but I also didn't know she was sleeping with the pretentious prick, either, and to top it all off, she knew about the pregnancy, another memo I'd missed.

"Last week," she muttered, unwilling to make eye contact with me.

I contorted my body to put my eyes in direct sight of hers. "I wish you had told me."

"You were on a deadline, and I know you're stressed out with the whole book thing and no job. I didn't want to bother you."

"I have a job." I sounded like a broken record. "But, you're never a bother, Hayden. Ever. I don't care if the complex is burning down around us; you're always my priority." I let my words sink in for a minute so there was no doubt I was on her side. "So tell me what Tad had to say." I couldn't stop myself from sneering his name. If I had liked Tad prior to this conversation, there was no way in hell I'd like him after.

"I sent him a text last week telling him I needed to see him. I guess he knew something was up because I told him it was rather pressing. Ever since, he's avoided me. I cornered him at work today since he refused to have a conversation privately, and I told him." Her shoulders rose as she inhaled deeply, exhaling before she continued. "He pulled me into the bathroom and basically told me it was my problem. He asked me how much it costs to get rid of it and said he'd pay for it. I just stood there in shock. I couldn't believe there was no conversation. This is a child, not a bad meal we received at a restaurant. When I didn't say anything, he proceeded to tell me he had dealt with money-grubbing whores like me in the past, and if I thought I was going to saddle him with child support and a baby, I was dead wrong. Then he walked out."

I had to have heard her wrong.

"You told a man you were pregnant with his child and that was his response?" The heat began to rise in my cheeks, along with the familiar burn as the color of my skin changed. Catching a glimpse of my friend, teetering on the edge of sanity, I realized now was not the time to unleash the angry beast. "So what do you want to do?"

"I can't have an abortion, Callie. It's just not who I am. I'm not condemning anyone else who needs that option, but it doesn't work for me."

"Have you thought about adoption?"

"No. And I won't. I'm an adult. I have a good job. I have a place to live. I can provide a loving home for a baby. I know it won't be easy, but I'm not giving my child away."

That settled that. I didn't have any doubt that that would be her choice, but I needed to hear her verbalize it, cement it with words. "Okay, then. We're having a baby." I clapped my hands and painted my face with the happiest smile I could muster.

"You're not going to bail on me?"

I tackled her from my seat next to her, hugging her like she always did me. "f**k no. We'll figure it out."