Passing His Guard

“Well, that makes two of us, cuz I never thought I’d hear the word no come out of yours.”

His smile morphed into a scowl that suggested she might have dealt him an unintentional low blow. To which he responded, “Guess I’m full of surprises then, aren’t I, baby girl?”

Yep, she’d offended him. If she couldn’t tell by his cutting tone, then the use of that hated pet name left no doubt in her mind. She might be drunk, but she wasn’t drunk enough not to care if she pissed him off and ruined their night. They’d had an amazing evening together, the last thing she wanted to do was be the spark that sent it up in flames.

“Look, Aiden, I’m sorry . . .”

He turned his attention back to the road, shifted the Escape into drive, and mumbled, “It’s fine, Rya

Excuse me? What the hell did he mean by that? She sat up in her seat and grabbed Aiden’s wrist before he could move his hand off the shifter. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He looked at her, but his expression belayed none of his emotion. “It means I had a really great evening with you, Rya

Rya

“Of course I want you.”

Shit, did she just say that out loud? Oh, man . . . she really was drunk.

“I mean, look at you, you’re hotter than hell. But I’m not doing this if there’s a chance you’re going to wake up in the morning with regrets. And to tell you the truth, I had just as much fun talking to you.”

“Hey . . .” She pulled his hand into her lap and laced their fingers together. Struggling to push back her guilt, she forced herself to meet his eyes and said. “I had a really great time with you, too. This night has been perfect, Aiden, and I don’t have a single regret.”

“No regrets, eh, champ?”

Aiden trapped his lips between his teeth to bite back a grin as Rya

“Shut up,” she moaned before hurling into the toilet.

With one hand fisted into her hair, holding it up, Aiden used his free hand to grab a washrag off the rack and run it under the sink of cold water. Squeezing out the excess, he draped it over the back of her neck.

“Uhhh . . .” she moaned after her stomach finished rebelling. “Just let me die.” She flopped a dramatic arm over the seat and rested her cheek on her forearm.

“Not a chance. You’re going to be all right,” he reassured her, bringing the cool rag around to her forehead. “Though I suspect you’re going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning.”

“What time is it?” she mumbled, not bothering to lift her head or open her eyes.

“It’s about three.”

Rya

After hanging up with him, Aiden had taken a quick shower and then hit the sack himself, sleeping the sleep of the dead. At least until Rya

“Why are you in here?” she groaned. “To gloat over my shame?”

She was pathetic, and still cute as hell. How that was even possible, he had no idea. “Nah . . . I can’t tell you how many times someone’s held my head out of a toilet after partying too much. Shit, sweetheart, I’m just paying it forward.” He let go of the rag and tucked a few errant strands of sweat-dampened hair behind her ear. “I didn’t realize how much you were drinking.”

“Neither did I,” she moaned. “I don’t usually drink.”

“You don’t say . . .”

She popped open an eye to give him a miserable glower, but her top lip twitched into the faintest hint of a smile.

“I couldn’t tell,” he teased. “You hold your liquor so well.”

“I think you’re enjoying this far too much,” she grumbled.

“No way.” He rinsed the rag with cold water and handed it back to her so she could wash her face while he kept his hold on her hair. Just in case.

She sat back on her knees and ran the cloth over her face. “God, how horribly unattractive is this,” she complained into the washrag.

“Yeah, you’d think so, wouldn’t ya?” Taking the rag from her, he tossed it into the sink and handed her a cup of water to swish her mouth out. As she spit into the toilet, he said, “Yet, somehow you’re still doing it for me.”

She gave a pitiful laugh and elbowed him in the thigh. He chuckled and let go of her hair so she could stand, then swept her up into his arms. His shoulder bitched about the movement, but he ignored the burn in his rotator cuff. When she wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her face into his shoulder, his body stirred at the sheer nearness of her—at having her slight weight in his arms, her fragile frame tucked tight against his bare chest.

Yep, hard as a rock. How fucking pathetic was that?

Now that he was wide awake, he was restless and edgy. It’d been days since he’d trained, and when a guy was used to spending eight-plus hours a day at the gym, that left a lot of bottled up energy with no good outlet. Being trapped in here with Rya

Aiden tucked her back into bed and pulled the covers over her shoulder. “How ya feeling, sweetheart?”

“Oh, splendid. If I could just manage not to hurl, I should be good to go. ”

“What a trooper,” he teased, smiling as he brushed her hair back from her face. When he turned and grabbed his shirt off the chair, Rya

“Wait, where are you going?”

“To the store for some ginger ale and Gatorade. If we don’t get you hydrated, you’re going to feel pretty rough come morning.”

Her bravado fell and that grip on his wrist tightened. “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded miserably.

Fuck, how could three little words shred him like that? Exhaling a defeated sigh, he dropped his shirt back into the chair and lifted the covers. “Scoot over.”

She inched into the middle of the bed. As soon as he sat down, reclining against the headboard, she snuggled into his side and wrapped a slender arm around his waist, hugging him close. He tensed at the contact, his heart clenching inside his chest, his lungs refusing to breathe.

Having her this close to him, drawing comfort from him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, made something inside his chest shift. It was as if one of the key puzzle pieces in his life had finally fit into place—and it scared the ever-loving hell out of him. Had he really thought the risk laid in having sex with her? Fucking her probably would have been the safest thing he could have done, because this—the visiting with her, laughing with her, holding her—was far more dangerous than anything else he could have done.