Chapter Twelve
Meredith awoke at midnight, groggy and disoriented.
She wasn’t in her bedroom.
She sat up with a start. Her heart raced inside her chest as she studied her surroundings.
Her head felt fuzzy, as if she’d been drinking.
During her bar-hopping days, she’d slept in some strange places, but she hadn’t been drunk in years.
Meredith touched her hair, which was still braided into a crown around her head.
Wynona had braided it. As Meredith remembered that detail, others fell into place. She’d gone into the Crazy Horse to find Wynona. She’d taken one of Wynona’s pain pills. It had been extremely effective. The car ride home was a total blur.
Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she realized she was on the living room couch.
Apparently, she’d slept next to Wade Hendricks last night.
He was on the floor beside her, close enough to touch.
Chico was curled up against him. She had no idea how she’d ended up here, but she knew nothing untoward had happened.
Every stitch of her clothing was in place, and Wade wasn’t the kind of man who took advantage of inebriated women.
Memories swirled at the edge of her consciousness.
She had a faint suspicion that she’d made a pass at him. Which he’d rebuffed.
Ugh. How embarrassing.
She rose from the couch on unsteady legs.
It wasn’t easy to find her footing in the dark, with a tiny dog and a large man sprawled before her.
She tiptoed around Wade and almost stepped on Chico.
The dog leaped across Wade’s midsection, claws scrabbling for purchase.
Wade made a sound of protest and reached for the offending creature.
He grasped Meredith’s ankle instead. Even half-asleep, he was quick as lightning.
So much for a smooth escape.
“Mary?” he mumbled.
“Yes?”
His hand slid up her calf before traveling back down again. “I thought I was dreaming,” he said huskily.
She didn’t try to tug free, because she didn’t trust her balance.
Also, she didn’t want to. Her skin tingled at his touch, and the deep timbre of his voice sent shivers down her spine.
She felt the wild urge to sink to the floor with him.
She closed her eyes and tried to suppress it. “Did you carry me inside?”
His fingers flexed around her ankle. “I did.”
She was still drowsy from the medication, but not too numb to experience a second wave of embarrassment.
He already believed the worst of her, and her actions last night had reinforced his opinion.
She’d gone out with his mother and returned insensible.
He’d had to take care of her. Meredith moistened her lips, unsure what to say in her defense.
The heat of his palm seared her skin. She got the impression he wanted to let go but couldn’t make himself.
Just as she couldn’t force herself to pull away.
His thumb stroked along her instep, which scrambled her thoughts further. Though she wasn’t ticklish, he’d found a sensitive place. His hand was warm and rough and long fingered. She remembered those hands on her back, caressing her bare skin.
The sound of an approaching vehicle startled them both into stillness. A truck pulled to a stop in front of the house. The living room window was open, curtains drawn back to reveal the scene outside. Wynona had arrived with her friend, Patty.
Meredith glanced at Wade, wide-eyed. He was shirtless, with a light sheet tangled around his waist. His erection tented the plain white cotton like a Halloween ghost. He released her ankle so abruptly she stumbled backward.
“Go,” he mouthed.
She didn’t have to be asked twice. She made a mad dash for the hallway, but she wasn’t at her best. She bumped into an end table and almost sent a lamp crashing to the floor.
While she steadied the lamp, Chico caught sight of the tented sheet.
The dog raced toward Wade and barked at the strange protrusion, his tail wagging.
Meredith couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter. Chico thought she’d hidden a toy under the blanket; it was a game they played often. She tried to hush the dog, to no avail. Wade rolled onto his stomach, groaning.
The truck outside drove away, and Wynona entered the house. She turned on the kitchen lights, attempted to hang her purse on a hook, and missed. Meredith clapped a hand over her mouth to suppress her giggles. She hoped Wynona was too buzzed to notice the chaos in the living room.
No such luck.
The woman frowned blearily in their direction. “What’s going on in there?”
Chico put his paws on Wade’s backside and barked again.
He really wanted that toy. When Wade didn’t cooperate, Chico bit the seat of his sweatpants and tugged.
Meredith scrambled forward to help him, still giggling.
She lifted the Chihuahua into her arms. Wade’s shoulders shook with laughter, but he didn’t roll over. He couldn’t.
“What in the world’s got into you two?” Wynona asked.
Meredith held Chico against her chest and fled the room.
Her legs were a bit wobbly, but she didn’t pause.
Stifling her laughter was a more difficult task.
A trip to the bathroom confirmed that she was a mess, her hair tangled and cheeks flushed.
She washed her face, changed into pajamas, and went back to bed.
In the morning, she woke with a slight headache.
She rose at her usual hour to make coffee, only to find that Wade had already done it.
He’d made scrambled eggs and bacon, too.
He sat at the table with a full plate and a steaming mug.
Chico was parked at his feet with a hopeful expression, as if waiting for a scrap to fall.
She mumbled a greeting and poured herself a cup of coffee.
Avoiding him would be cowardly, so she took a seat at the table.
She sipped her coffee in awkward silence.
He scraped his plate without making eye contact.
The humor they’d shared last night had evaporated.
Now they were both stone-cold sober, and she was still embarrassed.
“I’m sorry about last night,” she said. “I was really out of it.”
With a shrug, he got up and went to the sink. He always washed his own dishes. Today he washed them with extra vigor.
“I took one of your mother’s pills,” she said.
He turned off the faucet. “What?”
“I took one of your mother’s pills.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It was too strong.”
“Did you check the dosage?”
“No. I should have.”
He nodded an agreement.
“You’re angry,” she surmised.
“I’m not.”
“You look angry.”
He hung his head over the sink. “I shouldn’t have touched you.”
She blinked in surprise. “You touched me?”
“I touched your ankle.”
“Oh,” she said. “That.”
“Yes. That.”
“It was nothing.”
“Was it?”
She didn’t answer. It might have become something had they not been interrupted, but she wasn’t going to admit to getting weak-kneed over an ankle grope.
He set the plate in the dishrack. “You were wasted.”
“Not at that moment.”
He dried his hands on a towel before turning toward her. “Let’s talk about the condition you were in when you arrived.”
“Okay.”
“You went to a bar with my mother.”
“I went to dinner with your mother,” she corrected him. “She ditched me to go to the bar, and I followed her to take her home.”
“That’s funny, because she drove you home. You couldn’t even walk. She wasn’t sober, but she was in better shape than you.”
Meredith took a calming breath. She understood the reasons for his concern.
It was her job to transport his mother safely, and she hadn’t performed that duty.
Even so, his attitude rankled. “We weren’t partying together, if that’s what you think.
I had stomach cramps, and I was in too much pain to drive. ”
“You could’ve called me.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Chico, who’d left the kitchen, returned with a sausage-shaped chew toy. He settled underneath the table and gnawed at the toy. Although he didn’t have many teeth left, he could still make it squeak. She felt a wild urge to giggle.
“I’m sorry about Chico, too,” she said, clearing her throat. “That was my fault.”
Wade narrowed his eyes. “You trained him to attack erections?”
She laughed, despite the tension between them. “No. I play a game with him. Hide the squeaker.”
“Hide the squeaker.”
“He thought you were playing it.”
Wade dragged a hand down his face, but not before she saw his lips twitch with amusement. “Take my advice and don’t pop any more of my mother’s pills. They aren’t for lightweights.”
“Fair enough,” she said.
“Do you want breakfast or should I put it away?”
“I’ll do it.”
He exited the kitchen without another word.
She finished her coffee, ate breakfast, and cleaned up.
She tried not to think about him as she did her morning chores.
He was annoyed with himself for wanting her against his better judgment.
He probably considered her beneath him. He was an educated law officer, and she was a hick from the sticks.
Her mind flashed back to Chico biting him on the ass. She laughed, shaking her head.
She felt stronger, and more clear-minded, as she worked. When she returned from the goat pen, she found Wade struggling with a mattress on the front porch. The item had just been delivered, and it was still wrapped in plastic.
“Let me help,” she said, grabbing an end.
He scowled at the offer. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
She gave him a puzzled look.
“Yesterday you were in so much pain, you couldn’t drive.”
“It passed.”
“Maybe overexerting yourself exacerbates it.”
She wasn’t sure what exacerbate meant, but she didn’t appreciate his tone. “I’m not overexerting myself.”
“You work like a farmhand.”