Page 45 of Stick to the Deal
I meet her in the entryway. She stumbles into my side, but doesn’t resist my steadying arm. In fact, she flashes a drunken smile. “You’re proper drunk, aren’t you?”
“Pssh.” She tries to wave her hand but loses her balance. “It was only two wines.”
My eyebrows pinch in confusion. I’ve seen Nic drink, but never drunk. “Two glasses of wine got you this drunk?”
“It was bottles.” David shakes his head. “If you got this one, I’ll get back to that one.” He jerks his thumb to where Anna is leaning against the hall, mumbling to a sconce.
“Is girls’ night always like this?”
“Nope,” Nic answers, “they were being douchecocks. It was the damn Spanish Inquisition, and I needed ammo.”
David and I share a look and a shrug, before he lifts his fiancée up and throws her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. It sounds like she’s muttering about ghost peppers as they disappear to the elevator.
“Come on, Princess. Off to bed you go.”
She doesn’t fight me as I lead her to the bedroom. She sits on the edge of the mattress and flops back, arms spread wide.
“Don’t fall asleep yet. You still need to get undressed.” I kneel as Nic groans, tossing around. I reach for her foot and smile when I see she’s wearing the socks I got her.
A scrap of cloth hits me in the head. I peel it off my face, holding it out. It’s Nic’s bra. My eyes dart to her and she’s still fully covered in her T-shirt. How the hell did she wriggle out of that contraption while laying on the bed?
Tossing the garment aside, I return my attention to her feet. As the first fuzzy length clears her heel, she sits up. Eyes wide. “No, not my socks. I like my socks.”
I hold in a chuckle. “You don’t need the socks in bed, Princess.”
“Sure I do! Sometimes my toes touch my other leg and wake me up. They’re fucking icicles, Reginald!”
“Well, when I’m here, you can thaw the icicles on my legs.”
“Mmmm, ‘kay.” She still looks unconvinced, but slips under the sheets that I pull back for her.
I turn off the lights and climb into the massive bed next to her. Only debating for a minute, I scoot my pillow closer and reach my foot out to check her temperature.
She’s already mostly asleep, but with a stuttering breath, she rolls towards me. “This is nice,” she murmurs.
It certainly is.
I slide my arm under her head in invitation, and she immediately burrows closer to my warm body. Before Nic, I wouldn’t have imagined I was a cuddler, but with each night of her in my arms, that dark hole in my chest closes bit by bit. Maybe someday, it can fully heal.
The toaster bings as the bedroom door opens. Nic stumbles out, looking adorably mussed in last night’s shirt and her short hair standing up. I poura cup of coffee and add her almond creamer exactly the way she likes. It joins the plated toast on the kitchen island. Nic is a bit of a beast on typical mornings, even without two bottles of wine.
Nic grunts as she sits on the stool. Her fingers grip the mug like it’s a magic elixir to cure her hangover. Eh, maybe it is.
“Morning.” Another grunt. “I wasn’t sure where the aspirin was. Shower should help, then we better head over to Pop.”
A deep V appears between her brows. “What? Why are we doing that?”
“The walls aren’t going to paint themselves.”
“How do you even know about that?”
“David mentioned it last night.”
“Oh.” She hunches over her drink. A determined pout crosses her face. She throws back the rest of her coffee and then sets the mug down with a clatter. “Fine, I’ll go hop in the shower. But Anna better have a hangover breakfast ready at the restaurant!”
I chuckle as she stomps off to her bedroom.
With nothing better to do, I eat the toast and tidy up the neat kitchen. Last night was fun, but Nic’s girlfriends won’t have as warm a welcome. If Colin and David’s stories are to be believed, the girls are fiercely protective of each other. We may already be married, but this feels like the ‘meet the family’ moment.
