Page 33 of Mr. February

“If you’re sure…”

“They’re taking good care of me. I’ll be fine over here while you do your computer magic.”

Wade returned to the table where Roger waited for him. They narrowed down the issue, but Roger would have to do some testing to figure out the next steps. Wade stretched and looked around the room, which was now only half full of reception attendees.

His gaze flew to the table where his friends had been, and only Jenny and a guy he didn’t know well were left. After a minute, Brian returned to the table, and distributed water bottles to the two who were deeply engaged in conversation.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said as he dropped a quick kiss on her cheek.

Jenny’s head swung towards his, and he took in her glassy expression and slow responses. Yeah, she had way too much to drink. He belatedly remembered her saying she rarely drank much in public, so this was his fault. She was probably uncomfortable when he abandoned her and overdid it on the wine.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on her,” he said in an undertone to Brian who nodded his understanding.

“Are you ready to head out?” Wade asked her.

She smiled at him again and allowed him to help her out of her chair.

“I’m sleepy now,” she said.

“How about we head back to our suite and order room service?”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful!”

Chapter 11: It’s Not Like We’re Really Dating Anyway

JENNY

Jenny groaned against the light streaming in through the curtains and burrowed her face into the warm, lumpy mattress. Then the mattress moved. She shrieked and jerked to a seated position. Her eyes flew around the room before she moaned against the shattering pain that ripped through her head.

Dizziness had her slump back against the couch, and strong arms held her loosely in an embrace. She made eye contact with Wade, who she’d been sleeping on and was now almost cuddling. God, this was a million times worse than any of the other horribly embarrassing things she’d done in the last few days.

It was official. If she didn’t melt into a puddle or get abducted by aliens in the next ten minutes, she’d need to move and find a new job. Maybe she could convince Gloria to come with her in her self-imposed exile.

Wade offered her a slow grin as she maintained eye contact, and a fierce blush overtook her skin. She squinted against the bright light. Her eyes closed in protest, and she took stock of her situation.

They were both still dressed, minus their shoes, so that was good news. While the couch hadn’t looked familiar, it must be the one from the living area of their suite. Her whole body ached, even her hair, but her head hurt most of all.

Since Wade didn’t appear annoyed by her leaning against him, and she wasn’t sure she could hold her own head up, she didn’t try to move away after that first miserable attempt. A million questions flooded her mind, which didn’t help with either her anxiety or the headache to end all headaches.

She settled on the most important question. “What happened?”

“What’s the last you remember?” Wade asked her instead of answering.

“Um, let me think. We were at the networking thingy—”

“The networking reception, yes. Drink some water. It’ll help.”

Wade handed her a bottle after he twisted the safety seal. Her eyes closed against that slight noise even though she appreciated that he opened the bottle for her. She didn’t have the strength to do it herself. Jenny carefully sat up and took a cautious sip. The water was amazing, and she was suddenly parched. With her eyes still closed, she drank.

She would have drunk the entire bottle, but Wade cautioned her to go slow. She cracked one eyelid and met his concerned gaze.

“How are you doing? Would you like to take some ibuprofen?”

“Yes, please,” she croaked.

After she took the pain reliever and drank the last of the water, she felt wrung out but also closer to being human.

“Thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this bad before. I guess I drank a lot more than I realized. Most of the time, I only have a glass or two of wine, but I must have drunk a lot more than that to feel like this.”

---