There wasn’t a drop of makeup on her face, and judging from her messy hair, she’d been nursing her hangover all day. She may have just woken up a few minutes ago. She was in a tiny pair of silk shorts and a t-shirt without a bra.
I stared at her in silence, finding her beautiful even at her worst.
She sauntered into the living room, running her fingers through her hair to pull it from her face. “Mind if I join you?”
“Never.”
Instead of moving to the other couch, she took the seat directly beside me. Her arm grazed mine. Her thigh touched mine. The ends of her strands subtly brushed across my skin before they slipped away.
I froze in place, not having touched her skin in so long.
She tucked her feet behind her ass and leaned into me, her arm hooking through mine so she could rest her head on my shoulder.
The touch was innocent, but it made the low-burning fire inside me leap to life with sky-high flames. The booze lost all effect on my system, and my heart started to beat faster. Her scent entered my nose, a mixture of roses and pure woman. My hands ached to grab her, to turn her face to me so I could kiss her with an embrace so strong that it bruised her mouth.
She sighed in comfort as she relaxed into me.
I stared down at her, feeling more alive in that moment than I had in forever.
“I feel terrible…” Her quiet voice escaped into the air, loud enough to be audible over the flames in the fireplace.
My arm pulled free of her grasp, and I wrapped it around her, pulling her close so she could rest her cheek against my chest. My hand slid into her hair, reuniting with my favorite feature she possessed. My fingers lightly touched her, pulling the strands away from her face but also massaging her scalp at the same time.
She sighed quietly, as if that was exactly what she needed.
Me.
She leaned farther into me and wrapped her arm around my waist.
Now, I watched her instead of the screen—and I paid attention to every subtle move, every breath she took, and I felt such a wave of peace, as if I could do this forever…until the sun set for the last time.
We sat together that way for thirty minutes. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the way I touched her, comfortable against my hard body even though I probably felt like a tree trunk. As long as she enjoyed it, I continued to touch her, to caress her like a precious doll.
She raised her head and looked at me, her eyes possessing a sleepy gaze. “I drank way too much last night…”
“I heard.”
“I haven’t drunk like that since…” Her eyes glazed over as she tried to think. “I can’t even remember.”
“Probably because you never have. My sister is a bad influence.”
“She likes to have fun. Doesn’t make her a bad influence.”
“I disagree.” My fingers never left her hair, continuing to glide through her softness. “Have you had dinner?”
She shook her head. “The last thing I want is food. I puked out all my intestines earlier today.”
“Want a drink?”
She turned to give me an incredulous look.
“It helps, I swear.” I smiled at her confusion because she somehow made that expression cute.
“Maybe it helps for you.”
“Just take a sip.” I grabbed my scotch off the table and handed it to her.
She hesitated before she took a small sip. Then she stuck out her tongue like she was disgusted. “Yuck. God, I’ll never drink again.”
“I hope that’s not true. Drinking is one of the best things in the world.” I’d been in a bad mood for weeks, but once I had her affection, my negativity slipped away. I felt better…a lot better.
She stuck out her tongue again. “I couldn’t disagree more.” She righted herself on the couch and pulled away so she could look at me better. Her knees still touched my thigh, and her scent still surrounded me.
My hand slid from her hair and rested on the back of the couch, but I was desperate to touch her once again, to feel the warmth of her neck, the pulse that trembled at my touch.
She stared at me for a while, her eyes filling with that silent intensity we shared. She felt the chemistry between us, the magnetic pull that wanted us to slam together with a noticeable bang. “I hope I didn’t make an idiot out of myself yesterday.”
“Only my sister did.”
She chuckled. “She’s a funny girl.”
“Funny to look at, maybe.”
She smiled slightly, like she knew I was teasing. “How are you?”
I miss you like crazy. “Fine. You?”
“Right now, I feel like shit. But otherwise…fine.”
My fingers couldn’t fight the urge, and they slid across the back of her neck, coming into contact with that heat. They touched the fall of her hair, slid up as they grazed across her beautiful brown hair.