“Why don’t you come out with us?” Anna suggests with excitement. “It’s just some friends I went to high school with, but we’ve all kept in really close contact. They’re all nice and fun without being too annoying. Except Pauline. She’s pretty annoying, but she’s also rich and she’ll buy drinks for us all night.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “No thanks. It’s just not my thing.”
“Going out and having fun isn’t your thing?” she quips with a smirk.
I raise my head realizing… I’m not sure if it’s my thing or not. I’ve not been “out with the girls” since long before I went to prison. I was a serious student at MIT, so all I did was study and hook up for casual sex to blow off steam. Then I got pregnant and had Aaron, so I didn’t have time to go out. Then I began working for Bogachev… and my life started on its downward spiral.
“Oh my God,” I say with a sudden realization. “I don’t think I’ve been on a girls’ night out since I was in high school.”
Anna blinks in surprise. “Wow.”
“No kidding,” I reply slowly, actual awe over my lameness filling me.
“Now, you have to come,” Anna urges. “It’s not that it’s not your thing, it’s just you’re way out of practice.”
I consider her speculatively. Is it just that I need to get back into the swing of life again much in the same way Anna is trying to do since Jimmy died? Have I simply come out of prison to become a lazy human being who’s just existing rather than enjoying everything life has to offer?
Maybe I should go out with her and her fun friends—except for the annoying Pauline who will spring for drinks.
I open my mouth, determined to do something different, but movement behind Anna catches my eye. Coming up the floating staircase is Griff.
As he trudges up the steps, his classic biker regalia of jeans, black t-shirt, and shit-kicker boots is revealed. His hair is pulled away from his face in a half-crown ponytail with the rest of his locks loose to his shoulders.
Anna spins to see what’s behind her, and she murmurs, “Oh my.”
I slowly stand from the couch, feeling a bit in a daze to see him so suddenly before me when I’ve been worrying so much for three days. Griff takes me in, his eyes roaming from my head to my toes, then settle on Avery. The corners of his lips curl upward, and his eyes go warm.
“Hello,” Anna says brightly as she rises from her chair, taking a step toward Griff with her hand held out. “I’m Anna Tate, Kynan’s personal assistant, and you must be Griffin Moore.”
See… told you Anna knew everything that goes on around here.
Griff shakes her hand, giving her a charming smile. “Nice to meet you.”
Then his fern-green eyes come my way, dropping to Avery for a moment before lifting again. “Cute baby.”
“She’s Anna’s.” I immediately grimace. Of course she’s Anna’s. Who else’s baby would she be? But I find myself with a thick tongue and wanting to ogle him way too much, my relief he’s safe is just that great.
There’s a protracted silence as Griff stares. I can’t stand his beauty, so I smile at Avery while Anna glances back and forth between us.
“Well,” Anna drawls with exaggeration, taking the baby out of my arms. “I think my mom’s here to pick up Avery.”
Total lie. Her mom was going to call when she pulled up, but I get what she’s doing. She wants to give us some privacy.
“You sure you don’t want to come out tonight, Bebe?” Anna asks, her gaze cutting to Griff with an amused twinkle to her eyes. “You’d have so much fun you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself.”
Griff swings his attention my way, but his expression remains bland.
Smiling at Anna, I shake my head. “I think I’m going to stay in for the night.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she responds. She’s conveying so much in that tone that my cheeks heat.
Grinning, Griff ducks his head.
“I just meant Griff and I have work to go over,” I hasten to assure her. “I need to get updated on his… um…”
My words falter. What do I need to get updated on?
“Mission?” Griff supplies, then flashes a mischievous grin.
“Yeah,” I exclaim with my finger pointed upward. “Mission.”
Anna shakes her head with amusement. “Okay, I’m out of here. See you tomorrow, Bebe, and nice meeting you, Griff.”
He lifts his chin with a smile. “Yeah.”
We both watch as Anna grabs her bag. With baby in tow, she steps onto the freight elevator.
When it rumbles out of sight, I turn back to Griff and give a long sigh of relief. “Thank God you’re okay.”
“I am,” he confirms. “How have you been doing?”
There’s warm concern in his tone, so I know exactly what he’s asking. I give a tiny shrug. “I miss Aaron a lot. My mom, too, but I missed so much of Aaron’s life that every day is just so precious.”