Page 26 of Dopplebanger

Were date-for-hire males called escorts? Or did that only apply to females?

Focus, Gwen. Focus.“I’m fine. I just had an allergy attack, so I took two Benadryl…” I lifted my fingers, confirmed that I was holding up two and then turned them to her. Not really sure why I felt the need to do that, and the harder I tried to show how fine I was, the harder it became. “He’s my boyfriend, so it’s not like he’s drugged me and dragged me here to take advantage of me. And look at him…” I poked his cheek, taking in his handsome face with a longing sigh. “Really it’s me taking advantage of the chance to be with a guy this ridiculously hot.”

Evan grabbed my hand and folded it into his. “I, uh, think that’s enough helping, babe.”

The exasperation in his voice sent a twinge through me—hello, I was just trying to help! But then he smiled down at me, dropped a quick kiss on my forehead, and tucked me closer, soothing my momentary hurt feelings.

“She’ll be fine as soon as she gets some sleep,” he said. “I’m going to watch her closely, and if she doesn’t improve, I’m taking her to a hospital, I swear.”

“It’s true. He’s been a pain in the ass about trying to get me to a hospital for the entire drive here. However long it was.”

Evidently she believed us or decided it was above her pay grade, because she began typing away on her computer, inputting the information Evan gave her. My attention drifted, my thoughts going hazy, and my damn eyelids tried to close again.

Okay, they succeeded.

The jostling of Evan reaching for the hotel keycards jerked me back to semi-consciousness.

“You’re all set, Ethan,” the desk clerk said, her voice way too perky. “The elevator is right around the corner, and breakfast is from six to ten-thirty.”

“Evan,” I automatically corrected, even though where to get breakfast tomorrow was obviously the most important part of her spiel.

“Enjoy your stay.”

I patted Evan’s firm chest. “Oh, I plan to.”

THIRTEEN

My blood pressure was still way too high as I pushed inside the hotel room. I thought I was busted when the receptionist called me Ethan. Didn’t they usually address people by their last name?

Not that it washerfault I wasn’t being totally honest with my “girlfriend.” When she looked at Gwen, half-asleep and clearly drugged-up on something, I’d been sure that I was about to take a trip down to the police station. It spoke to how far gone I was over this girl that my biggest worry in that scenario was that I wouldn’t be able to monitor her with my own eyes so I could know for myself if she was truly all right.

“Okay, here’s the bed.” I lowered Gwen into a sitting position. With her all but passed out, I was tempted to carry her back to the Camaro and take her to the hospital, just to be sure she was as fine as she claimed. Her breathing had evened out, replacing that awful, rattling wheezing she’d been doing, and I didn’t see any hives. She didn’t look puffy, either, just super tired.

She reached down and fumbled with her shoes, and when her lips stuck out in a pout and she added a grunt, I dropped down to get them for her. Who knew it could be so hard to get sandals off?

Too tired to remove shoes, but her innuendo generator is working just fine.I bit back a smile when I recalled the “Oh, I plan to,” response to enjoying her stay. My already pounding heart had hammered even harder at all the ways I wanted to take her statement—pretty soon,I’dbe the one who would need a trip to the ER.

As I started to stand, Gwen caught a fistful of my shirt, tugged me toward her, and touched her lips to mine. I cut the kiss short and earned another pout.

I swept her hair off her face and cupped her cheek. “Babe, you need sleep.”

“I can sleep later.”

“You can’t even fully open your eyes.”

She worked on it, her eyes going wide for a couple of seconds before she lost the battle. “That’s probably for the best. I can’t stop worrying you’ll be disappointed. And that’s when I’m infull possessionof my faculties.”

Only Gwen would use a phrase like “full possession of my faculties” while under the influence.

There would be no disappointment on my end, I already knew that. And if it was up to me, I wouldn’t let her walk away until she was satisfied in every sense of the word.

My gaze dipped to her cleavage. Then I was thinking of stripping her clothes off and getting my hands and mouth on those amazing curves, and every ounce of my blood rushed south.And I need to shut down the dirty image reel or I’m going to have a permanent case of blue balls.

I couldn’t go there. I hated that I couldn’t. Not only because sex was awesome and it’d undoubtedly be extra amazing with Gwen, but also because I’d never be as close to her as I wanted to be. And while I wanted to blame my brother, I had no one to blame but myself. I could’ve walked away that morning at the coffee shop. In theory, anyway. But once I’d met her, I wanted tospend more time with her, my main reason for coming along for the ride shifting to entirely selfish reasons.

My ethical line was way past where it should be, but I hadn’t abandoned it completely, and that was at least something. I hoped, anyway.

I peeled back the covers and sheet and helped her into bed. Her red hair splayed out on the pillow, a stark contrast to the white. Man, she was pretty. Considering she’d told the hotel clerk that she was taking advantage of me, she was also slightly delusional.

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