"Oh my God, you stink of alcohol."
He picks up the bottle on the nightstand and sees that it's almost empty.
"Did you start the party before I got here? What is all this, Marci?"
"Liquid courage." I try to take the bottle from him, but he just moves it out of my reach.
"You need to get dressed and leave my room right now."
I'm pretty sure I only had three glasses of cider. How can I be this drunk? And I had a plan, and he's ruining it!
"Don't you want to open your surprise?"
Damn it, my words are still slurred. He's never going to take me seriously if he thinks I'm drunk. Yeah, I'm drunk. My plan is ruined, and I'm humiliated. His face tells me he's definitely not interested, and why would he be with me in this state?
"Marci, sit back down. Give me a minute."
I plop back onto the comfy bed and close my eyes again. This has turned into a nightmare. I need to sober up and leave. I open my eyes suddenly, remembering the snowstorm outside. I search the window, and see the snow is coming down heavily.
I'm not going to be able to leave. Wasn't this what I wanted, though? To be snowed in with Jacob?
He comes back with a mug of something for me. I'm guessing it's coffee. I think he wants to sober me up as well.
He hands me the mug, and I hold it close to me. I take a sip and am glad he put some sugar in it. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but when I do indulge, I make sure it's very sweet.
"Things are crazy outside,” he says. “I'm going to go to the front desk and see if they have any rooms available for you."
"You don't need to do that. I can sleep on the couch."
I grab one of the pillows from his bed and my throw blanket and get up. I'm a little dizzy, but it soon passes, so I walk past him and go to the couch. I make myself comfortable there and look up at his surprised face.
"What?"
"You can't stay here."
"Why not?"
"You can't stay here."
"Again, why not?"
"People will talk. You know how town gossip spreads. Your reputation will be ruined."
"Don't you mean your reputation?"
"I don't care what people think of me, Marci."
"Then neither do I."
"You have your whole life ahead of you."
He comes forward and offers me the coffee I'd abandoned in the bedroom. I accept the mug and take another sip.
"Fine, go see if there's anything available. Just so you know, you ruined everything."
He doesn't seem to understand what I'm saying. It's better this way because I don't understand half of what I'm saying right now. I decide I need to sober up as soon as possible, so I take more sips of the dark liquid in the mug.
I watch him walk to the back of the suite, where a door leads out to other areas of the Inn. This place is cozy, but I'm not looking forward to spending Christmas Eve alone. I had hoped to gift my virginity to this gruff man, but things are not looking good for me.
