He laughed, feeling it bounce off her body. She huffed as her head fell back to his chest. She was limp in his arms. “I don’t know why you picked me,” she whispered.
Josh’s arms tightened.
“Anyone can see that you’re out of my league. I have no idea how to behave in your world. I don’t know what I’d even do there.” She sighed. “You should have picked one of those socialite women—they know how to have parties and talk to people who are famous or rich. Half the time I don’t even know what to say to the domino boys.” She looked up at him. “I won’t blame you if you change your mind, Josh. There’s still time. You can marry someone better. I would understand.”
Josh clenched his jaw tight. How could she not see how special she was? He opened his mouth to tell her as she snuggled closer to him. Her breathing evened out, and Josh glanced down to find her fast asleep. He held her tightly against him as he opened the door to his bedroom. For a minute he just stood there. He didn’t want to let her go. Not even for a second. At last he bent over and put her where she was meant to be—in his bed.
He traced a finger down over her cheek. Beautiful, crazy girl. He pulled off his jeans and climbed into bed beside her. He wrapped her tightly to his chest and held her there.
Where she belonged.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Caroline’s head was inside out. Not only that, but someone had taken sandpaper to her brain. Her eyeballs were dry. Her eyelids didn’t work. The light was too bright. Her mouth was full of fur. And every single muscle in her body ached. It was hell. She was in hell. A place where her brain hurt and someone left all the bloody lights on.
She heard chuckling. It was too damn loud. She pressed her palms to her ears and groaned before burrowing her head under the pillow. She’d come out later. Maybe. If it was silent. And dark. And she could move without a limb falling off.
“Come on, baby.” Josh’s voice was muffled through the pillow. “I’ve got some water and pills for you. It’ll help.”
Caroline thought about telling him to go away, but it took too much effort. There was more chuckling. The man was a sadist. The pillow disappeared. The light was back. She wasn’t sure what to cover first—her eyes or her ears.
Strong hands lifted her, turned her and propped her against the headboard. She’d seen people do this with sheep—pose them for their own amusement. Caroline covered her eyes with her forearm. It kept out the light but did nothing for the thumping—someone was playing bongo drums behind her eyeballs. A cold glass hit her lips.
“Drink,” was the rumbled command.
She drank. It tripped over the fur in her mouth and soothed her throat.
“Pills,” he ordered. “Open up.”
She opened up. Two pills. More water. She kept her hand over her eyes as she heard Josh walk away. She heard curtains being pulled. Suddenly it was much darker.
“Better?”
She groaned in reply.
“Guess we’re not going to be touching this morning.” Josh sounded amused.
If she had any energy she would have thrown something at him. Instead she just toppled to the side and let her face hit the pillow beside her.
“Okay, I can see you’re no use at all. I’ll come back later.”
He gently traced his fingers over her cheek, then her neck, shoulder and hip before she felt them disappear. She heard his footsteps and a door close.
It took her another ten minutes at least to realise she was naked.
With a long, guttural groan, she pressed into the bed and hoped the whole thing was a nightmare.
Because she did not want to deal with reality.
“How’s Sleeping Beauty?” Mitch asked when Josh wandered into the kitchen.
“Suffering.”
Suffering and stunning. Her skin felt like satin. During the night Caroline had gotten out of bed, complained loudly about her clothes being too heavy, stripped out of her underwear and climbed back in with him. If she hadn’t been four sheets to the wind, he’d have been in heaven. As it was, he spent the night holding her naked body and trying not to let his hands wander—well, wander too much. He thought he deserved a medal.
“First hangover?” Mitch grinned.
“According to her it’s her first everything.” Josh reached for the coffee pot. “She says I’m corrupting her.”