“What do you need?”
Darian tipped his head toward where Larkin stood. “I want you to send her to me.”
Monica looked around and then back at Darian. “You have to be careful with her. She’s a very sweet person.”
“I would never hurt her,” he promised.
Monica bit her lip, seeming uncertain. “I have to tell you … she’s unique.”
Darian’s brows snapped together. “How?”
“She’s one of the smartest people I know. She’s always reading about boring stuff, but when it comes to life, she’s … clueless.”
“I understand. She doesn’t have a lot of street smarts.”
Monica snorted. “What I’m saying is she has none. The girls have been trying to get her to go out with us so we can teach her about life, but she rarely does. She spends most of her time with her friend Brylee, and she’s a lot like her.”
“Just know she will be taken care of.”
“I hope so. She really is a special person.”
Darian watched Monica walk to Larkin and say something in her ear. Larkin headed his way with her head down, oblivious to where she was going.
****
Larkin stopped at the table. Monica told her to get the order. She stopped writing a list for the drink order she’d received and then looked up. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest, and tears burned under her eyelids.
Unable to say anything, she just stood and stared at the man she never thought she’d see again.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
“What are you doing here?” she whispered in shock.
“I came to find the woman who ran from me this morning.”
A tide of red stained her cheeks. “I … I didn’t know what to do. I was embarrassed that I didn’t remember you and …what happened last night. I don’t know the protocol for one-night stands.”
Darian narrowed his eyes. “You think we had sex?”
She flinched at the hard tone of his voice even though he whispered it. “Um, yes. I remember talking about it with you, and then I was practically naked this morning.”
He scowled at her. “We did not have sex…”
“Why not?” she burst out and frowned.
“Because I refuse to have our first time together be when your drunk and wouldn’t remember it.”
She looked down in disappointment. “So, you’re saying I’m still a…?”
“Virgin,” he said and nodded. “Yes.”
“I told my friend, Brylee, I was finally a woman. We celebrated with hot chocolate and cookies.”
His lips twitched. “Why are you so disappointed?”
“Because I’ve wanted to be like girls my age, and now, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen.”
“What if I told you that you didn’t have to be like everyone else? That I wanted you to stay the way you are because I think you’re perfect?”