Page 14 of Four Dates and A Forever
“Why are you dressed like that?” she asked, holding the sheets tighter. “Where are your other clothes from last night?”
“I could ask you the same, except I know exactly where they are.”
“Where’s that?”
“Your dress is on the floor. Your bra is right here.” He held it up and it dangled by his fingers. Elsie reached for it, but Littleshit snatched it and she found herself on the losing end of a game of tug-of-war with a travel-sized puffball.
“Let go!”
Arf! Arf! Grrr …
Jaw locked, eyes narrowed, the dog leaned into it, his little toothpick legs anchoring into the mattress for stability. The harder Elsie pulled, the deeper his teeth sank into the fabric until she heard a little rip and immediately let go.
“Will you help?’ she asked.
“Only if you ask nicely.”
“Will you retrieve my bra from your evil dog’s clutches?”
“Since you asked so sweetly.” Rhett snapped his fingers, and the dog dropped the bra.
With an irritated growl, Littleshit turned around, his tail standing up as if flipping her the bird. Then he jumped off the bed.
“As for your thong, it’s—”
“Still firmly in place,” she said primly, struggling to put her bra on under the covers. It took some talent and effort, but she managed to snap it closed.
“Not your red one. You swapped it out for pink, which looks great with your complexion by the way.”
“I did not.” She glanced under the sheets and squeaked. “What happened last night?”
“Don’t worry. You sang your heart out to the porcelain god, then did a little dancing, which ended with you stripping off your clothes before collapsing into bed.”
She swallowed past the embarrassment. “Andyourclothes?”
“In the wash. They got a little dirty while I was holding your hair back.” His gaze softened. “Nothing happened, Red.”
Sheets to chin, she collapsed back against the headboard. “Thank god!”
“You did try to kiss me but, for the record, I don’t jump into bed with someone who’s wasted.”
“Good rule.”
“To clarify, I sacked out here to make sure you were okay. Plus, I stayed on my side of the bed, on top of the sheets.”
“How gentlemanly of you.”
“As for jumping into things head on, I like to think I learned from my mistakes,” he said softly, and it brought her right back to that night. How perfectly everything had gone. It was still the best sexual experience of her life. It was a lot of other things too, but then he’d ghosted her.
“I’m sure you have.” She rolled her eyes, then groaned when her retinas nearly detached.
In her experience, people might learn from their mistakes, but they can’t change their spots. And Rhett was a playboy through and through—exactly like Axel.
Back in the day, she’d found Rhett irresistible, so much so that she’d forgone her one rule: never sleep with musicians—AKA magicians, for their innate ability to magically disappear and reappear without warning. Then she’d gone ahead and married one and look where that landed her.
Searching the floor with her foot, she located her dress, snagged it with her toes, and dragged it under the covers. Then she disappeared to shimmy back into her skintight dress. “I never took you for a tiny dog sort of guy.”
“Littleshit and I have been through a lot,” he said, and there was something in his tone that spoke to her on some level. Disillusionment. “Steph and I share custody, which means she drops by every now and then to give him a few pets, then she’s on a plane to Milan or Paris or New York. Thank god we didn’t have kids.”
