by Janice Lynn
Why had she done that? Why had she let him steal so much from her? Why was she still letting him steal so much of her life? For goodness’ sake, she had moved to a beach town because she’d assumed the locals wouldn’t put so much emphasis on a holiday associated with snow. Pathetic.
“Fine, I’ll sing with you, but just to warn you, I’m an even better singer than I am dancer and we both know how I excel at that.” She stepped on his toes, hard, to prove her point.
“My ears can hardly wait.” He grinned down at her. “Like I said, fun girl.”
CHAPTER THREE
TRINITY’S HEAD HURT. Not just a little. Her mouth felt as if something had crawled inside and died. Her stomach warned she might just upchuck.
She rarely ever got full-blown, miserable sick, but this morning she just felt bleh. Thank goodness she wasn’t scheduled to go into work today, just to take call. Maybe she’d get lucky and her phone wouldn’t ring.
Digging deeper beneath her covers, she groaned and snuggled up next to the warm body beside her.
Warm body? Hello. There wasn’t supposed to be a warm body in her bed!
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” an unexpected voice broke into her haze.
An unexpected and very male voice.
A voice she immediately recognized, even though she’d only met him the night before. Why was he rambling on about sleeping beauty being a princess and her looking like one? Right. Because, like all fairy princesses, her hair and make-up remained perfect while she slept. Not.
She twisted to look at him. “Riley.”
“You were expecting someone else?” A lazy brow rose beneath sleep-tousled hair and he looked way too sexy for first thing in the morning. Apparently fairy princes really did remain perfect while sleeping.
She was in bed. Her bed. Between the covers. With Riley. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. Not good. She scooted away from his warmth until she reached a cold spot on the sheet. Too bad half her butt was now hanging off the edge of the bed.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Her words came out half-croak, half-cry.
Pulling the covers tighter around her, she tried to register the fact that she was in bed with Dr. Riley Williams. Even more confusing, she tried to remember how she’d gotten there. How he’d gotten there.
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”
He shouldn’t. She barely knew him. She didn’t do one-nighters. Not ever. She didn’t do anything. Not before or after Chase.
At her accusing tone, Riley’s grin slipped. “You asked me to stay.”
That threw her. “I did?”
“You did.” His confident tone and coolly assessing blue gaze brooked no denial.
She’d asked him to stay. They were in her bed. Although her black dress was gone, as were her hose, she still wore her panties. But no bra.
In bed with a sexy cardiologist with nothing on but her granny panties. Awesome.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and asked the twenty-million dollar question that kept echoing through her throbbing head.
“What did we do?” She sounded accusatory again, but she wasn’t able to control the rising panic within her.
What had she done? She’d finally broken away from the chains that had bound her to Memphis, had moved to Pensacola to make a fresh start, and she’d ended up in bed with the first man she’d stood under mistletoe with? How could she?
Christmas.
It was the blasted holiday that wreaked havoc in her life. Always had. Always would. She really should go to some remote location every December and not come home until well after New Year. If only.
Riley had the nerve to look offended. “You don’t remember last night? Our coming here? What we did after we got here?”
“If I remembered, would I be asking?” Really, she’d thought him smarter than that. Or maybe she was just cranky because a thousand things were running through her mind and not one of them good. “Did we have sex?” she demanded, while her throat still worked because, seriously, the tissue threatened to swell shut any moment.
From where Riley lay next to her, he stared, not saying anything at first, just watching, making her wish she could pull the covers over her head, making her wish her stomach didn’t churn.
“I can assure you—” confidence and perhaps annoyance oozed from his words “—that had we had sex, you’d not only remember, you’d have woken up with a smile on your face and not that look of horror.”
Face aflame, relief flooded her, as did curiosity because sex up to that point in her life hadn’t been that memorable. There had just been Chase but, still, she had been practically engaged to the man. Sadly, she had never woken up with a smile on her face. Quite the opposite. So maybe Riley thought she’d remember if they’d had sex, but maybe she wouldn’t have remembered. Maybe she just hadn’t been impressed and had blocked the experience from her mind.
“You’re saying we didn’t, um, you know?”
Cool amusement at her lack of ability to say the actual words shone in his eyes. “We didn’t have sexual intercourse last night, if that’s what you are attempting to ask.”
No sexual intercourse. His tone mocked her question but, come on, they were in bed and she was only in her skivvies. Which meant that they had done something, right? The way he was looking at her said they’d done something. But what?
Letting her gaze run over his face, his lips, the strong line of his jaw, his throat, his bare shoulders, his chest, his…She gulped. Had she touched him? Kissed him? Run her fingers over those broad shoulders? Those washboard abs? Had she seen him naked? Face afire, she glanced back up, met his gaze, and winced. He so knew what she was thinking and he liked it.
An inferno burned her cheeks.
“Riley, I…” She pulled the covers even tighter around her, holding on in case the material got a sudden urge to slip below her neck and put her chest and abs on display for his inspection. No washboard anywhere in sight at her midsection. More like a laundry basket. Taking a deep breath, she tried to pull her thoughts together and away from their bodies. “I don’t do this.”
“This?” His face was unreadable, his eyes dark. She didn’t like the look and found herself wishing things were different. That she was different. That she could have woken up in bed with him and not freaked out but reveled in a night full of passion. That she really had woken up with a smile. That she could have been good enough that he could have woken up with a smile. That instead of lashing out at him with accusatory questions she could have teased him awake with kisses and had a morning full of passion.
A morning she’d remember always.
A morning he’d always remember.
A morning that would leave them both exhausted and smiling.
But that wasn’t her. She was a woman who disliked Christmas, disliked men, was terrible at sex, and although she’d come to Pensacola to forget her past, she could only handle confronting one hang-up at a time. She seriously had her work cut out for her even with that.
“What is it that you don’t do?” Riley prompted when she failed to elaborate.
Everything. She sighed, took a deep breath and went for broke.
“Wake up in bed with a man and not remember how I got here and what we did while here.” She grimaced. She sounded horrible. Waking up next to him was horrible. He probably thought she was horrible—in bed and out of it. “I don’t do that. Ever.”
“I just told you, we didn’t do anything, not really. We ended up here because I drove you home from the Christmas party and you invited me in. And, although there’s another bedroom, there is no bed.”
Which meant he must have at least considered sleeping elsewhere.
“I wasn’t doing the floor,” he said matter-of-factly, “and I’m too tall to comfortably sleep on your girly sofa.”
She did have a girly sofa. A plush Victorian piece that she loved because it had been the first piece of furniture she’d ever bought for herself, but it r
eally wasn’t that comfy. Not that comfort mattered so much, because she never had company or spent much time there.
Trying to recall the previous night’s events, she closed her eyes, thought back. The Christmas party. She’d danced with Riley, sung one silly reindeer song with him, celebrated that he’d won one of the door prizes when random names had been drawn from a stocking, then they’d left. He’d driven her home. They’d walked into her house and then he’d kissed her. No mistletoe required. Just a simple good-night kiss that had somehow morphed into something more, something hotter, something that hadn’t been simple at all.
Wow, if his kiss had been that amazing she might have really woken up with a smile had they had sex. Then again, had they had sex he’d know how lame her lovemaking actually was.
Her panties weren’t the only thing she was wearing.
She reached up, touched the door prize he’d won and given to her. “You won this.”
He shrugged, causing the covers to slip a little lower at his waist. “I gave it to you.”
He’d taken the pearl necklace out of the velvet box and fastened it around her neck. There had been something mesmerizing about him putting the necklace on her. Something erotic and gentle and totally captivating.
Kind of like his abs.
No wonder she’d asked him to stay. He’d been the perfect date.
Only they hadn’t been on a date.
“You can have it back if you want it,” she offered, in case he regretted having given her the piece. Maybe he’d expected bodily payment for the beads. Ha, had they been out of a gumball machine he might have gotten his money’s worth, but that’s about it if Chase’s claims about her skills could be believed.
Riley’s brows formed a V. “Why would I want them back? Don’t you like the necklace?”
“It’s lovely.”
“Not nearly as lovely as you are.”
He was smooth with the lines. Too smooth perhaps. She swallowed.
“You told me I was beautiful last night.”
Actually, he’d repeated the compliment several times.
“You were.” His eyes bored into hers. She didn’t have to be looking directly at him to feel his stare. He stirred beneath the covers, but he didn’t reach for her. Somehow she knew he wanted to.
“You are,” he continued. “Very beautiful.”
Last night, in her haze, he’d made her feel beautiful. Like the most beautiful woman in the world. This morning she felt like a woman who’d gone to bed without washing her face or brushing her teeth. She was rank and knew it.
“Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
The sincerity in his voice told her that he was either the world’s greatest liar or he believed what he said. Maybe he really did have fantastic blue contact lenses and they were blurred with sleep, leaving him blinded to the truth.
Making sure to keep the covers pulled over her almost bare body, she rolled over to face him directly. She could feel his body heat, could feel the magnetic pull of him. She wanted to touch. Really really wanted to touch. His sheer physical perfection robbed her of thought. Or maybe it was his bare chest that made her brain waves frazzle. He was the one who was beautiful. Eye-poppingly, mouth-wateringly, finger-itchingly, body-twitchingly beautiful.
It occurred to her that the happy trail leading beneath the covers didn’t appear to have anything material impeding its path. At least she was wearing underwear.
No sexual intercourse, he’d said. That left a lot of possibilities. Oh, my.
“What happened to your clothes?” she choked out, more and more flustered that he was naked in her bed.
Although she recalled the removal of her clothes, she didn’t recall how he’d gone from fully dressed to whatever he still wore beneath her covers.
He was wearing something. Wasn’t he? Just because she couldn’t see any outlines, it didn’t mean boxers or cotton briefs weren’t there, right?
His eyes glittered. “You don’t recall ripping them off me with your teeth, princess?”
She’d taken them off him? With her teeth? Her jaw dropped then clamped shut in case her teeth got any fresh ideas.
“Okay, it was bad of me to tease you.” His grin turned devilish. “You didn’t use your teeth.”
She’d…She closed her eyes and tried to recall the events of the night before. “We had sex, didn’t we?”
“I already told you that we didn’t have sex.” He sounded annoyed that she’d asked again, that she hadn’t taken him at his word.
Unable to resist a moment longer, she reached out beneath the covers to touch his chest. His bare chest. To see if the feel of his skin was familiar, to see if touching him would cause a rush of memories.
“Then why are we naked in my bed?”
“I wasn’t planning to spend the night anywhere so I hadn’t packed any pajamas…not that I normally wear anything to bed. But I’m not naked. I’m wearing boxers and would be happy to show you if you’d like proof.” He covered her hand with his, brushed his thumb across her skin. “Besides, you looked as if you needed me to stay. My guess is that you don’t drink often.”
Still reeling from his offer to show her his underwear and just how tempted she was to take him up on that offer, she focused on the other part of what he’d said. “I don’t drink at all and I didn’t drink anything last night except fruit punch.”
“That was rum punch you were drinking, Trinity. It had alcohol in it.”
“The punch was…but…” Hadn’t she felt funny? Hadn’t she noticed that the more she’d drunk the less nervous she’d been? Dear Lord. “I was punch drunk.”
Looking as if he wanted to laugh, he just grinned. “You were a bit inebriated but no worries, you were a cute drunk.”
A cute drunk. As if such a creature existed. No one was a cute drunk. At least no one Trinity had ever had the misfortune of seeing drunk. Her mother had certainly never been cute. Chase had not been cute.
“I didn’t know there was alcohol in the punch.”
“It’s okay, princess.” His thumb paused and he gave her a sympathetic smile. “I figured out that you weren’t at a hundred percent. That’s why nothing happened.”
She tried again to remember the events of the night before, but only bits and pieces came back to her. “You wanted something to happen?”
He gave her a look that questioned if she had really asked that. “Of course I wanted something to happen.”
“Why?”
He laughed but the sound came out a little stilted. “That’s a question with a very obvious answer.”
“Because you’re a guy?”
“Despite what the female population may believe, not every guy wants sex to the point of doing so with any willing woman.”
Which meant she’d been willing but he hadn’t been. Urgh. What was she thinking? Of course she’d been willing. The man was hot and got under her skin to probe places she’d rather keep locked away. She’d been under the influence to where her fears wouldn’t have come into play to remind her of yet another reason why she should keep her legs closed.
“I’m confused. You wanted something to happen, but even though I was willing, nothing happened?” Even as she said the words, the reality that they were almost naked, lying in her bed, hit her. That he could have taken advantage of her and he hadn’t. She liked that. A lot. Possibly because most of the men in her life had taken advantage at every opportunity presented. Not sexually, necessarily, but in any other way they could.
Riley made a sound that she wasn’t sure was a low laugh or a growl. “Yes, princess, I wanted something to happen. A lot of somethings. Had you been sober, this morning would have been very different.”
She didn’t doubt that the morning would have been different. Had they had sex, he probably would have snuck out at some point during the night. Or perhaps he wouldn’t have bothered to sneak, he’d have just gone, and left her to her non-sexual self. She knew her strengths and
weaknesses and if she hadn’t, Chase had done a really bang-up job of pointing them out to her and anyone else who had cared to listen. Sexual prowess wasn’t in her bag of tricks.
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry,” he surprised her by saying. “What I want is to see you smile.”
She bared her teeth in a semblance of a smile because, really, he deserved a smile. He was unlike any man she’d ever known and that made her want to know more…and terrified her, too.
“Not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s a start.” He smiled so warmly at her that the nausea within her actually eased. “Now, the most pressing question is whether you have any food in this joint so I can cook us something or would you like to go out for breakfast? I’m starved.”
In reality they did neither. Not long after she’d draped the comforter around her shoulders and rushed into her bathroom to clean up her mess of a face, he tapped on the door.
She cracked the door open to peer at him. He was fully dressed in his clothes from the night before.
“I’ve got to head to the hospital. I’m on call today, and they’ve had several chest pains come into the emergency room. Apparently the cath lab is a madhouse. Dr. Stanley is going to be tied up there for some time and there are two more chest pains on their way by ambulance.”
Trying not to look too disappointed that whatever their morning had been going to bring had been interrupted, she nodded. “I understand.”
Apparently she didn’t do such a good job at hiding her doubts.
He tilted her chin toward him so he could fully see her face. “For whatever it’s worth, I don’t want to go.”
His fingers on her face were so warm, so tender that she sucked in her breath. “What is it you want?”
“To spend the day with you. Maybe help you drag out your Christmas decorations because your apartment is sadly lacking in Christmas spirit. Or, for that matter, we could decorate my tree. It’s been delivered, but I haven’t had a chance to trim and decorate it.”