THE PARTY WRAPPED UP AROUND MIDNIGHT. MIA WAS surprised that so many people had stayed that long, but then again they had the deejay and a dance floor and the bars, so of course everyone wanted to party. Nathan’s grandparents had stayed ’til the end, and had even been out on the floor dancing with everybody.

She was so happy about the turnout, and it seemed everyone had a great time.

The best part was, Tara had brought in a cleanup crew, so they didn’t have to stay to clean up this mess.

“You’re the best, Tara.” Mia hugged her.

Tara gave her a squeeze back. “You’re the one who took care of the invites. I was blown away by how many of Nathan’s friends and teammates showed up.”

“And you brought in the family in droves. He was so happy about that.”

Tara grinned. “Well, we’re just awesome, aren’t we?”

Mia laughed. “I guess we are.”

“Hey, anytime you want to leave sports management and come to work for me, you’d make an incredible event planner.”

“It’s good to have a backup plan. Thanks, Tara. Especially since my start-up is new. You just never know.”

“You know I’m joking, right?”

“I wasn’t. This party planning thing was fun. I could see myself doing it.”

Tara laughed. “Okay, mogul. Time for you to go.”

They walked to the door together. Nathan was chatting with Jamal, Wendy and Mick.

“Okay, we’ll see you later.”

“I’ll see you at the gym on Monday,” Jamal said.

“Nah. Probably at the gym tomorrow morning.”

Jamal grinned. “You got it. We’ll see which one of us shows up first.”

“It’ll be me.”

“I dunno, Nathan. You look pretty out of it. You’ve had too many beers. My guess is you sleep in.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who was downing shots of whiskey with the offensive linemen. So I’m pretty sure you’ll be the one sleeping in, asshole, while I’ll have already run three miles and put in a hard iron press for thirty minutes before you even drag your ass out of bed.”

Mia rolled her eyes and grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Yeah, and then you can both compare dick sizes. Tomorrow. Good night, everyone.”

“Hey, I wasn’t done insulting Jamal,” Nathan said as Mia took the keys from him and clicked the doors to unlock his SUV.

“Uh-huh. You can continue it in the morning.”

“Hey,” he said as he climbed in. “You driving?”

She got in the driver’s seat. “I am.”

He buckled his seat belt, then turned to her. “Are you okay to drive?”

“I’m fine. I only had a couple of glasses of wine the entire night.”

“Okay, then. Drive it like you stole it.”

She laughed. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that. But since we’re in your vehicle and mine’s at my town house, how do you feel about coming back to my place?”

He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. “I feel pretty great about it.”

Yes, Nathan was seriously inebriated. She was glad he’d had such a good time.

She drove to her town house and pulled Nathan’s SUV in front. By then he was lightly snoring, so she turned off the car.

“Nathan.”

No response.

“Nathan.”

Still nothing. She shoved at his shoulder. “Hey, beerhead, we’re here.”

He woke up and looked at her. “Great. Where’s here?”

“My place.”

“Okay. Let’s get this party started.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, let’s do that.”

Nathan slid out of the car. Mia got her keys and went to the front door. Nathan followed behind her. They went inside and she locked the door behind her, knowing Nathan wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

She laid her bag down and went into the kitchen. “How about some water?”

“A beer would be good.”

She laughed. “No more beer for you.”

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. “Did I ever tell you how good you smell?”

She leaned into him, enjoying the feel of his hard body against her. “You might have mentioned it.”

“Let’s go upstairs. I want to get you naked.”

“Sure. I’m going to grab a glass of water first. How about unzipping my dress?”

He drew the zipper down. “Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t.”

Nathan disappeared up the stairs and she filled her glass with water, deciding to get a glass of water for Nathan, too. She checked a couple of text messages on her phone, mainly thank-you messages from party attendees. She smiled at that, then made her way up the stairs.

When she got to her bedroom, she leaned against the doorway and sipped her water, then shook her head.

She knew Nathan well. He could handle his liquor up to a point, but she’d watched him do several shots of whiskey with his friends and teammates, and she knew for a fact he was shitfaced. He might seem normal, but she’d been through this with him on countless nights out. And as soon as he sat still or lay down, he was out.

Like now. He’d taken off his shoes and had propped himself into a sitting position on her bed, no doubt to wait for her to come up.

And he was sound asleep.

She smiled, slid out of her dress and went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she was done, she nudged him.

“Hey, let’s get you out of those clothes.”

He cooperated, so she got him undressed and under the covers. And when she turned out the light and climbed into bed, he turned and nestled against her.

She closed her eyes.