Page 100 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Perry, I’m offering you a place to stay. For as long as you need one.”

He wasn’t just saying that night, but for however long. Wow. Pretty sure it wasn’t in his job description to take in homeless employees. And how did that not break policy?

“Wouldn’t the company frown upon me being here?”

“There’s no problem with helping out a friend when she needs it, and it’s only a matter of time before I’m back to my old position.”

“It’s completely innocent?” I asked. He already said it was, but I just had to put it out there again, probably more for his benefit than mine. It seemed more likely that I would cross a line before he would, and I didn’t want that to happen. But God… actually living in his house? Just how long could someone go without sleep?

“Completely innocent. You have nothing to worry about. I want you to feel perfectly comfortable here. At the risk of sounding like an asshole, I tend to lose interest in women after sleeping with them. That won’t happen with us.”

All right then. I was kissing my sixty bucks goodbye, and I was okay with that. I had nothing to worry about. Stephen made it clear.That won’t happen with us. I guess we were on the same page.

I feltsomuch better.

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod.

I ripped off the sheets. I was going to die. I was going to fucking die.

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod.

I stared in horror. A few spots had soaked through to the mattress. I dug my fingers into my scalp.Someone please kill me now.

I tried dabbing it up with a shirt. That didn’t do shit. Club soda? Would that work? Did he have some? Argh. Why couldn’t I fucking remember if that was one of the things in his fridge?

“Oh. My. God.”

“Perry?” he said in a groggy voice.

Ohmigod, had I said that out loud? Was I making too much noise?

“Perry, are you hurt?”

He sounded more awake now, and I glanced at the door. He wascoming towards me. My breath hitched, and I momentarily forgot about what I’d done to his bed. Closer, closer. I didn’t know where to look. My eyes were ping-pongingeverywhere. Legs. Abs. Chest. Tattoo? Bulge. Abs. Legs. Chest.Bulge.I could see the outline of his cock through his boxers. Holy mother of God, it looked beautiful.

I forced my leering back up to his chest, but by then he wasright there. Yes, it was a tattoo, and no, I didn’t have time to sit around and ponder what it was of. Did I think this was a leisurely Sunday brunch? I had to get my priorities straight. Holy shit. The mattress.

“Perry, what happened?”

I think it took him exactly two seconds after asking to figure it out for himself. I was absolutely sure the mortified expression on my face helped give it away more quickly.

“Please, Stephen. I’ll take care of it. Just go back to sleep.”

“You can take my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“What? No. Just go.Please.”

He nodded and turned away, thankfully respecting the fact that I was way too embarrassed to have any more words with him before anything was cleaned up. I just wanted him gone so I could deal with the mess on my own. I didn’t even check out his ass on the way out; that’s how much I resumed focus on the mattress.

I waited until he went back to his room, and then I darted into the bathroom and found some soap and a dark towel I planned to replace. I spent the next fifteen minutes making sure every speck was out before changing my clothes and taking everything down to the washing machine. I was so glad to have noticed the little laundry room set off the kitchen when I was snooping around. The last thing I wanted to do was ask.

After starting a load, I gave myself a second to breathe. I still couldn’t believe this had happened. I’d finally fallen asleep when I thought it’d be impossible, only to wake up a short time later with the damn period I’d somehow forgotten would be arriving soon.I’d stuffed a pad in my underwear right away when I woke up, but apparently that only worked if I did itbeforeI bled all over the frickin’ bed.

What a nightmare.

God, I wished. I went to the couch and curled up into a ball. I sat on the end where Stephen had been, and if I buried my nose into the cushions, I could detect his scent. It was comforting.

“Hi.”

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