Chapter 32 Bailey
BAILEY
Groaning, I rolled over and blocked the sun shining in through the curtains of the motel room.
Motel.
I shot up in bed, then yanked the covers up to cover my breasts. “What the fuck?”
“Need some coffee?”
Spreading the hair from in front of my face, I peeked through the thick curtain of waves and winced at the sight of Archer sitting casually in the creaky chair next to the cheap round table.
Oh. My. God.
My eyes dropped back to the covers, to my naked breasts peeking out the top. What the hell had I done? And why couldn’t I remember anything?
“No, no, no,” I mumbled, burying my head in my hands as I tried desperately to remember even the slightest detail about my adventures last night.
“I take it that’s a no on the coffee?”
“Please tell me this is just a bad dream.”
“Oh, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Flopping back in bed, I tugged up the covers when they came loose and showed off my breasts to the man in front of me. God, I was so stupid. I hadn’t even had that much to drink at the bar. How had I ended up in this condition?
“We were playing pool,” I mumbled.
“Yep, and you’re not very good, by the way.”
“That’s it,” I muttered, staring up at the ceiling. “There’s nothing else. The night is just…” I waved my hand in front of me. “Blank.”
“Well, allow me to fill you in.”
I pressed my hands to my face, but that did nothing to block out the sound of his heavy footsteps moving across the room until he was right beside me. The bed sank from his weight and he tugged my hands from my face.
“You were absolutely stunning.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Honestly, I have never seen a woman quite the way I saw you last night. Every inch of you was absolutely stunning.”
Rolling over, I tried to bury my face in the pillows, but the covers came up from behind, leaving a cool breeze against my back, to which I promptly covered with a jerk of my hand.
“I can’t believe I did that! I don’t even remember it!”
“Well, that’s probably for the best.”
“Why?” Rolling back over, I stared at him with wide eyes. “Was it that bad?”
Grimacing, he brushed the hair back from my face, holding a strand out for me to see. The smell hit me instantly and I gagged, slapping a hand over my mouth.
“What is that?”
“That would be from number…three. No, I take that back. Number two landed on you. Number three was fine, but number four…” He laughed at that. “I have never seen a woman puke so delicately in all my life, yet still leave such a mess.”
Gaping at him, I tried to piece together what he was saying. “Wait, when exactly did you see all of me? Before or after I puked?”
“Somewhere between two and four.”
My jaw dropped open in shock. “I slept with you after I puked? That’s disgusting!”
Laughing, he got up and strode back over to the chair, taking his seat. “Please, there was little chance I was going to sleep with you anyway, but the deal was sealed when you tried to kiss me.”
“Why? What happened?”
“You flinched,” he answered, his face contorted in disgust. “And if I hadn’t moved away from you, vomit number one would have been in my mouth.”
Just the thought made me want to run for the bathroom, but frankly, my legs didn’t feel like they could take it at the moment.
“So…we didn’t…”
“No, I was a complete gentleman.”
“Why do I not believe that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Well, I never said I didn’t peek when I got you changed.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him, not believing a single line of his bullshit. “If you helped me change, why am I wearing nothing at all?”
“Can I help it if you tore your clothes off in the middle of the night?”
Narrowing my eyes at him, he finally smirked, easing the tension in the room.
“So, what really happened last night? How did I end up here?”
“You begged me to come home with you. I tried to be a gentleman and walk away, but you were so persistent.”
“Really,” I deadpanned.
“Okay, you asked me if I wanted to go home with you. I said yes, and then we came back here, where you cried into your Cheerios about how much you loved Liam. It was a sad and pathetic end to my evening in which I derived exactly zero pleasure.”
“I don’t eat Cheerios.”
“Maybe not, but you were sad and pathetic. And I wasn’t lying when I said I got zero pleasure from last night.”
Well, it could have been worse. A lot worse. At least I didn’t sleep with him. But there was something niggling at the back of my mind, telling me that wasn’t all there was to the story. But my mind was a blank slate. If something else did happen, I wasn’t going to remember it anytime soon.
“So, would you like breakfast?”
Just the thought made me want to run for the bathroom. “I think I’ll pass.”
“You should get something in your stomach, even if it’s not with me. Which is why I called Charlotte to pick you up.”
“Cheyenne,” I muttered.
“Huh?”
“Her name is Cheyenne, not Charlotte.”
He shrugged, turning away from me. “Whatever.”
“I hope you didn’t call her Charlotte when you talked to her.”
“Can’t remember. Anyway, she’s bringing you some clothes to change into.”
Cocking my head at him, I tried to figure him out. “Why did you bring me back here last night?”
“I already told you. I was hoping to get lucky.”
“And then you just took care of me?” I asked, already suspicious of his story.
Why was he looking out for me at all? This wasn’t the first time, and since when did a man just appear out of nowhere and start looking out for women he barely knew?
“Well, it was either that or drive you home, and I wasn’t very interested in cleaning vomit from my cloth seats.”
It just didn’t line up. I was certain now more than ever that Archer had zero interest in me. He didn’t look at me like he wanted to date me—not that he would after I spent the night puking—but it still didn’t line up.
So, why was he helping me at all?
“And that was all? Nothing else happened? I just…got drunk and puked all over the place?”
“More or less.”
That didn’t sound like much of an answer.
“Your friend should be here soon. I have some errands to run, so take as long as you need.”
I opened my mouth to say something—anything, but all that came out was a squeak as he shut the door behind him.
I knew there was something I was missing, but the last thing I remembered was playing pool.
“Bailes! Let me in! I have to pee!”
Wrapping the sheet around my body, I hurried to the door and flung it open just as she shoved two cups of coffee into my hands and rushed past me for the bathroom.
“Oh God! It smells like vomit in here!”
Rolling my eyes, I set the cups on the table and laid back down on the bed. My stomach was still roiling, and the last thing I wanted was to move anywhere, but I couldn’t stay here for the rest of the day.
The toilet flushed, followed by the sound of rushing water, before Cheyenne came out in a flurry.
“Imagine my surprise when I got a call from Archer this morning. I saw you take him home, but I wasn’t sure anything would happen.”
She quirked an eyebrow at my state of undress.
“And you would be right. Nothing happened besides me puking my guts up the whole night.”
Grimacing, she walked over to the door and snatched a bag off the ground. “I was hoping when he asked me to pack you a bag that it was for some kinky reason, like he tore off all your clothes in a frenzied state of passion.”
“Nothing of the sort. You know I don’t live that interesting a life.”
“One can only hope. Now, hurry up and get showered. I have fun things to do today, and none of them include holding back your hair.”
“I’ll try not to take too long,” I smirked, grabbing the bag from her, heading for the bathroom.
“And Bailey, while you’re in there, maybe you can try to remember what the hell you were doing out at Murky Falls Ranch last night.”
“What?”
Sipping her coffee, she nodded. “Yeah, Remi said he saw you driving out there with Archer while he was on patrol last night.” Grinning, she shooed me to the bathroom. “That’s got to be one hell of a story.”
That queasy churning in my stomach intensified right before I slammed the door, then leaned over the toilet and puked up bile as memories assaulted me from last night.
I shoved my sunglasses on my face, fighting the headache threatening to decapitate me. If I could, I would go back in time and tell Last Night Me to make better decisions.
But alas, I was doomed to relive the ill-conceived notions I had last night when I begged Archer to drive me out to Liam’s house.
“I can’t believe I went out there. Why weren’t you there to stop me?”
Cheyenne chuckled beside me as we headed toward the local diner for some much-needed grub. “Because you walked out of the bar with Archer. What was I supposed to do?”
Stopping, I lowered my sunglasses. “Can you forgive me?”
“For what?”
“For leaving with Archer when I knew you wanted him.”
“Oh, please. Do I look like the kind of girl that would be upset about something like that?”
“Yes,” I answered immediately.
“Well, maybe with someone else, but you’re my best friend. I can hardly stay mad at you forever. Besides, you didn’t sleep with him.”
“No, but I never should have left with him. It was wrong.”
“Maybe,” she shrugged, linking her arm through mine, “but I’ll get over it. I’m a big girl.”
“Still,” I sighed, “I’m a shitty friend, and I give you full rights to punish me until the end of the week for doing such a horrible thing.”
“Well, I’ll consider it, but let’s see what the fallout is first. The town might punish you enough.”
Snorting, I pushed the door open to the diner and strode in, only to stop in my tracks when every head turned to stare at me and the noise level went from bustling to as silent as opening night at the opera just as the show started.
“Move,” Cheyenne hissed.
“They’re all staring,” I murmured out of the side of my mouth.
“Yeah, and they’re going to stare even more if you don’t take your seat.”
Scurrying to the back of the diner, I snagged the last booth available and pulled my sunglasses from my head and shoved them back over my eyes.