Chapter Eighteen
The doorbell was ringing.
Delonna groaned. Dammit. She should really get up and get it. But that meant getting out of bed and throwing on a bathrobe.
Unless, wait a minute. He was here!
She flung herself out of bed, ignoring the pounding in her head as she searched for her robe. It wasn’t anywhere in sight, and dammit if she wanted to keep listening to that doorbell ring.
Besides, boy-short panties and a tank top were hardly scandalous when your boyfriend had seen you naked on multiple occasions. James was a few days overdue for showing up, but she’d known he’d come eventually.
Delonna glanced through the peephole, saw the male chest, and opened the door, a seductive smile on her face. Well, as seductive as anyone recovering from a disgusting head wound could be.
Her smile faded and she blinked in dismay.
“Hello, luv.”
Not James, but her boss. Aleck was on her doorstep, while she stood there embarrassingly underdressed, with a stupid look on her face.
“Heeeey, boss boy.” And didn’t she feel like an idiot. “Kenzie isn’t here right now. She’s over at Brett’s.”
His eyes widened for a moment as he took in her appearance, before his gaze snapped back up to eye level.
“Aye. Figured as much. I came to see you, actually.” His smile seemed a little strained now. “Can I come in?”
“Umm, sure.”
She needed to find some pants. And like five minutes ago. “Sorry about the lack of clothes, I totally didn’t realize it was you on that side of the door.”
“Clearly.”
Six foot five of pure male sexiness stepped past her and into her house, carrying what looked like a box of chocolates. She closed the door behind him, trying to figure out why her pulse was going a little bananas.
Why was he here?
“Let me, um, find some shorts or something.” She averted her gaze and dashed past him to her bedroom.
When she came back out a few minutes later, denim shorts now covering at least half of her thighs, he was looking at the pictures on the wall.
“You gals have done wonders with this place.”
“Kenzie’s hardly here. I’m pretty sure she’ll be moving out soon anyway. They’re beyond serious.”
“Aye, they are.” He turned to face her. “And you and your bloke. Are you two serious?”
She blinked, taken aback by the left-field question. He stared at her, concern and something else in those vividly green eyes. It became almost hard to breathe, and she definitely couldn’t look away.
“I…I don’t know.” She’d been home from the hospital for two days. James hadn’t called. Hadn’t visited. Just a text to make sure she was okay.
“Sorry, that was a bit out of line.” His gaze darkened.
She blinked. “Why are you here, Aleck?”
“I came to check up on you and see how you’re doing.” He took a step toward her.
When he reached out to touch her chin to tilt her head, her breath caught and it wasn’t from the pain.
“That looks bloody awful. What is that? Six staples?”
“Eight,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “So damn sorry that bastart hurt you too while trying to get to Kenzie.”
“I’m all right. We both are.”
“Aye, thank God. I came to thank you too.”
“Thank me?” Why was he still lightly holding her chin?
“For texting me. If you hadn’t, things could’ve ended quite a bit for the worse.”
She lifted her gaze and knew it was a bad idea. Her gaze locked on his and something shifted inside her. Grew warm.
“I knew you’d come,” she finally said softly.
He traced the edge of her jaw with his thumb, moved in slightly toward her mouth.
Her heart sped up and without intending to, she leaned forward, lifting herself up onto her tiptoes. Her lips brushed his.
He went completely still, before he cursed against her mouth and moved his lips against hers. His tongue delved deep, teasing and stroking. Tasting her as much as she did him.
And just as quickly as it started, it was over. He pulled away, his gaze wide with disbelief.
“Shit, I’m so sorry,” she muttered, her body starting to shake with shock. “It’s the pain meds—they’re pretty strong and make me a little loopy. Can we forget that just happened?”
What had she done? What had she done?
“It’s forgotten already.” He turned to stride toward the door. “See you on Friday, and not a day earlier.”
“But I work tomorrow.”
“If you come in, I’ll simply send you home. Get yourself healed, Delonna. I’ll make sure you still get paid.”
He disappeared a moment later, and she leaned back against the wall with a ragged sigh.
So, yeah, that had just happened. She’d kissed her boss.
Fuck.
Walking into the kitchen, she glanced down at the bottle of prescription pain pills she had yet to touch.
What in the everlasting hell had she been thinking?
The End