“Then what?”
I sip my coffee slowly, knowing Tilly makes it as hot as the surface of the sun. “You don’t remember?”
She shakes her head, slowly pulling at the edge of the cupcake wrapper. “No, but now I’m not sure I want to know.”
I chuckle softly. “You came into the living room.”
Iris’s big brown eyes grow giant. “I what?”
“You came into the living room.”
She sets the cupcake down next to her coffee cup, and I can see the panic on her face. “And what?”
“You laid on the couch.”
Her head drops forward, and she covers her face with her hands. “And what else?”
Do I tell her? We didn’t do anything embarrassing. We both fell back to sleep. No touches were exchanged. No kisses given. “We slept.”
“Together?” she gasps.
“We only slept. You crawled next to me and went to sleep.”
“Oh my God,” she says into her palms, shaking her head. “How embarrassing.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It was nice to have the added warmth.”
“Did I do anything else?”
“No, Iris. You basically told me to be quiet and that you were sleepy. I chalked it up to the alcohol.”
“Damn it,” she says as she finally lifts her head to look at me. “I must’ve been sleepwalking. I do it sometimes, and drinking usually makes it happen more often. It’s why I rarely have hard liquor. This is so, so, so embarrassing.”
“Nothing happened, Iris. Don’t be embarrassed. I’ve done crazier things when I’ve had too much to drink. Snuggling up to someone doesn’t even scratch the surface of bad alcohol behavior in my past.”
She cracks a small smile, but it vanishes as quickly as it comes. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I’m mortified and so, so sorry.”
I grab her hands gently, not wanting her to feel weird. “I was confused, but in all honesty, it was some of the best sleep I’ve ever had. Don’t waste another moment thinking about it.”
“I woke up in the bed,” she admits, her lips turned down. “I had no idea.”
“Well, I’m glad I was here, because who knows what would’ve happened if you would’ve sleepwalked without me to snuggle with. Have you ever wandered out of the house?”
“No,” she says with a sigh. “That would be awful. It’s been years since it’s happened to me. Thank you for being so nice about this.”
“If someone is a jerk because a beautiful womansnuggles up to them, then it’s time to run because they’re an asshole.”
Iris giggles as her face finally softens. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to run into you, but I’m thankful for you making a very stressful twelve hours into something better.”
“It was my pleasure.” And it was. Being around Iris is easy, and whoever her ex was who left her at the altar is the biggest idiot on the planet. I hope he has perpetual limp dick for doing her so dirty.
“The tow will be here in an hour.”
“The perfect amount of time to finish our coffee.”
“Tilly sent you a pastry too.” Iris reaches into a white paper bag and pulls out another of my favorites.
“You’re making my day,” I tell Iris as I take the chocolate-filled croissant from her hand. “Maybe the best morning ever.”
