He had decisions to make, but first he needed sleep. He crawled into bed. His head hit the cool sheets, his back eased into the mattress, and his body came into contact with warm, soft flesh.
“Holy shit.” Roman jerked back and bolted upright in the bed. “Who the hell’s there?”
He jumped out of bed and started for the door, intending to hit the switch on the wall so he could shed light on the intruder.
“That’s not the reaction I expected, but I suppose a girl has to start somewhere. Now get back into bed and I’ll show you what I brought for you.” The voice sounded more feline than female.
Considering Roman definitely felt like trapped prey, the analogy made perfect sense. The sound of a hand patting the mattress echoed around him.
He flicked on the light and was greeted by the grotesque sight of Alice Magregor, her body stuffed into Charlotte’s infamous panties. It was a body Roman wouldn’t touch in drunken stupor, and he was stone cold sober now.
“Oh, you don’t sleep naked.”
She pouted in a way that turned his stomach.
“Never mind. I’ll take care of that. Now turn out the light and get back into bed.” She arched and preened, stretching her hand across his pillow.
Damn, he’d have to change the sheets before getting some sleep. He clenched his jaw, her invasion of his privacy unwanted and unwelcome. “I’m going to turn around and let you get decent. Then I’m going to pretend this never happened and you’re going to do the same.”
She didn’t flinch, and before he could turn, she said, “Don’t tell me you aren’t interested. I flashed you a sign the other day and you smiled at me.”
“You’ve got your facts out of order. I smiled before you flashed your panties.”
“You journalists and your facts. It all means the same thing. You smiled. You showed interest. Now come to bed.”
Whether she was being deliberately dense or pitifully stupid, he couldn’t say. “We live in a small town, Alice. I was being neighborly. Now get dressed.” He crossed his arms and turned away. He leaned against the doorframe, unable to believe Alice Magregor was naked in his bed.
Being cruel wasn’t his style, but damned if he was going to humor her or give her any indication he wanted something like this to happen again. If the house had been locked, it couldn’t have happened in the first place. His mother was in for one hell of a lecture on safety. She couldn’t be so damned trusting any longer. Thanks to her false sense of security, she’d left the house open, her panties in danger of being stolen, and his body in danger of being violated, if Alice had her way.
He couldn’t imagine how she’d known his mother wasn’t home so she could come in and make herself comfortable. Not that he cared, as long as she got the hell out now. He glanced over his shoulder, but she hadn’t made a move.
“I love a man who plays hard to get.”
The distinct sound of laughter traveled up from the front hall. His mother’s laughter and a man’s rumbling chuckle. At the sound of other people in the house, Alice’s eyes had opened wide.
Just what he needed, Roman thought, an audience. He motioned for Alice to move, but she sat up in shock.
“… see a light on upstairs. Roman, is that you?” Raina’s voice grew louder and accomplished what Roman couldn’t.
Alice flew out of bed. “Oh, my God.” She dove for her clothes. Scrambling to pull on her pants, she danced around on one foot, attempting to get one leg inside jeans that had been turned inside out.
“Roman? If it’s you, answer me.”
“Don’t you dare,” Alice hissed.
“I thought they taught you the basics back in kindergarten,” Roman commented. “If you sat down and put only one leg at a time in there, it might make things easier.”
Raina’s footsteps sounded louder than his pounding heart and, now that he stopped to think about it, sweeter than anything he’d heard in a long while. There was nothing like being caught to kill off interest, and if Alice’s beet-red face was any indication, she wouldn’t be returning here or facing him anywhere, anytime soon.
He waited until Alice had calmed down enough to get her leg into half of her jeans before calling down to his mother. “I hear you, Mom. I got back a little while ago.”
A male voice spoke with Raina—Eric, probably—which explained why she hadn’t made her way up the stairs. She only walked the steps once in the morning and again at night. Roman had been considering speaking to Chase about turning one of the rooms downstairs into a bedroom to accommodate Raina’s health.
“I want to hear all about your weekend,” Raina called and he heard her footsteps on the stairs at a quick pace that surprised him.