Page 5 of Tour Wars
“I’d better get up to bed,” she said. “Big day tomorrow.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” A total lie. She was woozy as hell. If she let go of the stool, she’d go crashing to the ground.
“Let me help you.” He came over to her and put his arm around her waist.
Her first instinct was to pull away, but he felt so warm and solid. She leaned into him, masking her vulnerability with a growl. “I don’t need your help.”
“You really want to faceplant here?” He nodded toward the noisy bros seated beside her. “Those guys? Two of them are on the hiring committee for ASU. Don’t you have an interview with them tomorrow?”
She did. Acting like a drunken fool wouldn’t be a good look. “Fine. You can help me to the elevator.”
“I’ll do more than that. I’ll make sure you get to your room okay.”
“That’s not necessary.” She’d been traveling alone since she was eighteen. Ten years of working at archaeological sites in Mexico, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean meant she’d dealt with all kinds of shit. But she also didn’t want to make an ass of herself.
Rather than push TJ away, she leaned on him as they left the bar. They walked toward the bank of elevators located off the hotel lobby. When their elevator arrived, she pushed the button for the eleventh floor.
“Perfect,” TJ said. “That’s my floor, too.”
As the elevator made its ascent, her stomach pitched again. She wasn’t going to be sick now, was she? When had she turned into such a lightweight? During her summers in the field, she’d won more than a few drinking competitions with men twice her size. Then again, she’d been so anxious about today’s panel that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.
Once they reached her room, she broke away from TJ. With painful slowness, she inserted her key card and opened the door. “I’m good for now.”
He wasn’t listening. Instead, he followed her inside like he had every right to be there. She made her way over to the bed and sat on the edge. Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t get it. I usually handle my booze a lot better than this.”
“Maybe so, but you’re under a ton of stress right now. I’m going to grab you some water. You should take some ibuprofen, too.”
Why was he being so helpful? Did he have an agenda? “You’d better not try anything.”
He held up his hands and backed away. “As if I would? Even drunk, you could kick my ass.”
A hint of a smile crossed her lips. “True enough. My toiletries bag in the bathroom has a bottle of Advil.”
When he came back, she didn’t flinch as he sat on the bed next to her. For as much as he annoyed her, he didn’t seem like the type to take advantage. She shook out a couple of ibuprofen capsules and chased them down with a swig of water.
Even if he’d done nothing to deserve her anger, she couldn’t stop herself from lashing out. “Aren’t you going to mock me for almost humiliating myself in the bar? As a matter of fact, why didn’t you let me humiliate myself? You want that ASU job as much as I do.”
“Give me some credit. I’m not that underhanded.” He flashed her the cocky grin she was used to. “If I get that job—no,whenI get that job—it’ll be on my own merits, not because my rival passed out at the hotel bar.”
“Ugh.” She drained the rest of the water and set the empty glass on the nightstand. “Do you have any idea how infuriating you are?”
“Yeah, but you kind of like it, don’t you?”
No. Of course she didn’t.
Dusty’s earlier words echoed in her brain.Didshe like it? If she was being completely honest, she’d had a lot of fun sparring with him when they’d worked together at Troy. Every time she beat him at cards, shut him down with her exceptional language skills, or drank him under the table, she reveled in the thrill of victory.
But she’d never admit it.
“No,” she muttered.
“Really?”
He was sitting so close. Too close, but she couldn’t bring herself to push him away.
She caught a whiff of something delicious. His aftershave. Not too cloying but nice and citrusy. Behind his glasses, his inquisitive brown eyes were fixed on hers, like they could see right into the depths of her soul. Under normal circumstances, she would have denied her feelings and called him out on his arrogance. But she couldn’t do it tonight.
