Chapter 15
ASPEN
I rolled over. Groaned. God, what time was it? I opened my eyes. Winced. It was too bright.
“Morning, tiger. The night we met, when you said you shouldn’t have more than one glass of wine, you weren’t kidding.”
A face loomed over the bed. I blinked.
Luke.
I groaned again, covering my face with my hand because I could have sworn he was smiling.
“Here. Take these.”
When I didn’t move, he tried again. “Be a good girl and take the pills.”
I frowned, then pushed myself up to sitting, then realized I was naked when the blankets slipped to my waist. I tugged them up and my eyes opened. Why was I naked?
Luke winked. Grinned.
“I don’t like you right now.”
He took my hand, dropped the pills in it and waited for me to toss them back, then handed me a glass of water. “After these,” he began, then reached for a Steaming Hotties to-go cup he’d set on the bedside table. “And this, and a shower, you’ll feel human again. Trust me, I play a doctor on TV.”
I traded the water for the cup, not wanting to tell him I didn’t drink coffee.
It was really sweet of him to go to Steaming Hotties and get it.
Wait, had he spent the night? Had he gone back to his hotel and then returned?
He must’ve because he was in a green t-shirt and tan shorts, his perfect hair neat as if it had been combed recently.
Unlike mine which probably looked like it’d been snagged in a combine.
I sniffed.
“This isn’t coffee,” I said, confused.
He smiled. “I know. I didn’t see a coffee machine on your counter and this body needs caffeine. I went to Steaming Hotties. I assumed since Mav wore the t-shirt last night that it was a decent place. I met Eve and she told me you drink tea. This one, specifically.”
“How does Eve know you were with me last night?”
He arched his brow. “Exactly my question. This is an interesting small town, and the gossip here rivals any online site.”
“Ah. Right. Eve is married to Silas. The fourth James brother.”
“And I thought the guys didn’t gossip,” he commented.
I laughed. “They’re worse than the girls. Although I’m sure it was Mallory who called her after we left last night and filled her in.”
He tipped his head toward the bathroom. “Take that into the shower. When you get out, I’ve got a proposition for you.”
My eyes widened at his words, then I remembered everything from the night before like my brain was a computer and it finally stopped processing.
My eyes fell closed in mortification. “Oh my God. I was all over you last night. I even felt you up in the car, didn’t I?
And my little strip tease must’ve been really sexy. ”
He grunted. “You have no idea.”
“God, you must think I’m the biggest ho–”
“No,” he said with enough emphasis to shut me up. I met his gaze and all I saw was sincerity and… heat. He wasn’t unaffected. “I don’t. Not at all. Now that you’re sober, tiger, you can put your hand on my dick anytime you want. Like after your shower. But I’ve got a different kind of proposition.”
Kill me now. “Why, Luke? Why?”
He cocked his head. “Why, what?”
“I’m a mess. Obviously. Why are you even here with me?”
“Because I want you to be my girlfriend.”