Page 59 of First Chance

Suddenly, the air is too thick to breathe, and I have to dash onto the porch to gasp for breath.

What the hell am I going to do with this woman?

Chapter Twenty

Jo

I’ve never been desperate for water like I am as soon as my eyes split apart and I stare directly into the stream of sunlight coming through the window.

Why didn’t I close the curtain?

Wait.

The morning sun doesn’t come in my window…

I shoot up, gasping as my brain pounds against my skull, and realize way too slowly that I’m in Lochlan’s living room. On his couch.

A chill skates over my skin, and I glance down at my naked breasts, fully exposed. “Oh my God!” I gasp, covering myself with the blanket.

My dress from last night is folded neatly on the coffee table, beside it is a black T-shirt with the SCS logo on it.

I’m in Lochlan’s house, but a part of me hoped he didn’t know I was here. Beside the T-shirt is a bottle of water and a pink sticky note.

Drink the whole bottle. You’ll need it.

I have made a mockery of myself more in the past twelve hours than I have in the past twenty-four years of my life.

Drunk on my boss’s couch after sitting on his lap in a public setting. And, admitting to him that I’ve never been with a man. Ughhh.

Maybe I only dreamed it.

I hope I don’t have to face him today. I can’t handle it.

I sling the T-shirt over my head, thankful that it drapes to my mid-thigh, and I snag my dress and the water bottle. I have no clue where my shoes went, but it’s only a few steps to the guesthouse. I’ve done it barefoot many times already.

Lochlan is probably hours into his day, but I tiptoe to the front door anyway, nervous to be caught. I just want to sneak home and ignore him the rest of the weekend.

The door creaks as it opens, and I watch the stairs expectantly, like he might come down them at any moment, holding my breath until my feet are on the porch and I can pull the door shut.

I exhale roughly as I spin around, and gasp from deep within.

All of them. They’re all standing twenty feet away, having some sort of pow wow, staring at me in nothing but my boss’s T-shirt. My back slams against the door as Lochlan’s gaze catches mine and doesn’t let go.

My hand struggles frantically for the door knob, twisting at the same time my body shoves the door back open so I can flee to safety inside.

Fuck my life.

He comes in a moment later while I’m sitting on the stairs with my head in my hands.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble.

“For what?”

“For being a disaster.”

“You’re not a disaster. You’re hungover, it happens.”

“I look like a train wreck who just had a one-night stand,” I speak directly into my hands, muffling my voice.

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