CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tyler had a smile on his face the entire drive back to his home. It had been a great evening of beer and pool, although he’d lost about a thousand bucks to Sam. They’d both agreed to double or nothing next time they got together.
The SUV pulled into Tyler’s driveway and stopped at the closed gate, the driver looking over his shoulder to his passenger in the backseat. “You’ll need to open the gate, Mr. Gaylord.”
Easier said than done.
It shouldn’t be this difficult.
Fumbling with his phone, it took Tyler several tries before his fingers finally took direction from his brain and typed out the code. The gates swung open and the vehicle pulled to the front of the house.
I might be more drunk than I thought.
“Safely home, Mr. Gaylord. I hope the ride home was satisfactory.”
Kevin was Tyler’s regular driver whenever he used this car service and the older man always took good care of him, no matter where they were or what time of night it was. Other drivers had sold Tyler out, talking to tabloids, but Kevin never had.
“Smooth and uneventful,” Tyler said, pushing the car door open before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a hundred-dollar bill. The smell of morning dew and fresh earth assailed his nostrils. “Just like I like it.”
He handed Kevin the tip and stepped out of the car but his legs didn’t cooperate. Stumbling into a bush, he felt Kevin’s arms catch him before he fell onto the ground. For an older guy, he moved fast.
“Easy there, Mr. Gaylord. Let me help you to the door.”
“Thanks, Kevin. I seem to be having some trouble walking.”
It was all because the earth was undulating under his feet, making it difficult to stay steady. When they arrived at his front door, it took another few minutes for him to find his key and slide it into the lock.
I am definitely more drunk than I thought. I need to sleep this off.
The front door finally opened to Tyler’s relief and he stepped inside before thanking Kevin. The older man wished Tyler a pleasant evening although it was already four in the morning. Knowing Billie, she’d be up at the crack of dawn just to fuck with him when he had a hangover.
Jesus, I need to get to bed.
Walking carefully through the house so he didn’t knock anything over, Tyler hugged the walls so he could stay upright. The stairs proved trickier but with time and determination he navigated his way to the top and down the hall to his room, stripping his clothes off along the way. By the time he stood naked at the end of his mattress he didn’t bother to brush his teeth. They could stay furry for a few hours.
Crawling into bed, his head fell onto the pillow and he haphazardly pulled the comforter over his legs. He might regret this tomorrow but he’d had a good time tonight. A thought ran through his head that he ought to drink some water or take a few ibuprofen for the headache he would surely have but he was too relaxed to move, his limbs like lead.
Time to sleep it off.
* * *
The light from the window filtered through Billie’s eyelids and she groaned softly. She’d never be a morning person. What time was it, anyway? The sun wasn’t too high so it couldn’t be all that late.
Shifting on the mattress to stretch, she found herself trapped under something heavy and her fingers reached out to brush it away but instead came in contact with something warm.
Very warm.
It didn’t take much exploring to realize she was being weighed down by a heavily muscled arm around her waist. The real shock was that she hadn’t noticed the face that was buried in her hair at the curve of her neck, the breath smelling faintly of beer and whiskey. There was also something hard and masculine poking into her backside.
That was when she realized her bed partner was quite naked. Unfortunately, so was she.
Choking on her own spit, her heart seemed to cease beating for a long minute and she struggled to suck oxygen into her lungs. What in the ever-loving fuck?
A glance over her shoulder told her the worst. Tyler laid next to her snoring as if she hadn’t just silently screamed in horror. This wasn’t the first time they’d slept in the same bed, far from it, but it was the first time either of them had been naked. And engaged. The sheet had slid down sometime during the night and his impressively muscled chest with just a smattering of dark hair was on display. Only a scrap of thousand thread count cotton kept his modesty. Not that Tyler had much shame to begin with.
It must have been quite a night for him if he’d been so drunk he didn’t remember that he was sleeping down the hall. Shit. How was she going to get out of this predicament without waking him? A better question was how she’d slept through his return last night. She was a heavy sleeper but she would have woken if he’d turned on a light or brushed his teeth. That hot bath must have put her out like a light.
No more hot baths before bed. Ever again.
Slowly, a millimeter at a time, she carefully twisted out from under him, terrified the entire time that Tyler might wake. As long as he stayed asleep she could pretend this embarrassing scene never happened, but it was taking forever to move away from him. At one point she was almost free, but he’d groaned in his sleep and shifted, trapping her in his arms again. At six feet tall, he had the wing span of a pterodactyl and that made it impossible to escape his reach.
After several minutes of sliding around the bed with Tyler, Billie was covered with sweat and exhausted. If anything she was in a worse situation than when she’d started this whole thing. His arm was like a band of steel around her waist, his palm cupping her breast. His erection was poking insistently into her bottom and he was beginning to rub it against her in his sleep. It had been a long time since she’d shared a bed with an amorous male and her body clearly liked the idea. Her pulse had sped up and she was feeling something she hadn’t felt in over a year…arousal.
It didn’t help that the rough hair on his thighs was brushing her skin and sending tingles to unmentionable places, or that asleep he looked almost angelic when she knew very well that he was actually the devil. His touch was warm and it felt so good to be held. Physical affection wasn’t something she’d received much of in her youth and even in her adulthood so she was greedy for it when in a relationship.
Except this engagement is fake. Fake, fake, fake. As in not real.
Her weakness didn’t set well with her and it made her all the more determined to get the hell out of this bedroom with at least some of her dignity intact. Instead of inching along and moving carefully, it might simply be better to make one fast move. With any luck he’d turn over and fall asleep, oblivious that she wasn’t his latest hookup.
One…two…three…
It was on three that she made her big break, grasping his wrist to keep his arm still as she slid out from under it. She was just about to celebrate her victory when she realized that a pair of blue eyes were staring at her. Puzzled but not alarmed. Not yet, anyway. She, on the other hand, was frantic.
Because while moving out from his hold, she’d dislodged the sheet covering her naked body. Right now she was sitting up on the mattress, bare to his gaze. Billie wasn’t a prude, but having her best friend see her naked wasn’t an everyday occurrence for her and she could feel a blush crawling up her body all the way to the roots of her hair.
Why doesn’t he move or say something? Is he just going to lie there and look?
Just as she thought it Tyler did move, levering up on the bed, his hair sticking out in several directions and a shadow of whiskers on his too perfect face. It wasn’t fair that men could look so amazing in the morning.
His gaze ran down to her toes and then back up to her breasts before eventually ending up somewhere in the vicinity of her eyebrows. He was frowning now and she could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. Frozen and mortified at first, Billie managed to drag a blanket up over her naked form, shielding herself from his intense scrutiny. She ought to be chilled but instead she felt quite warm. Too warm, really.
Someday they were going to laugh about this. Today was not that day.
“How much did I drink last night?”
Tomorrow wasn’t looking good either. How far away was Christmas?