“What?” My hand rubs my right thigh, fingering the scar just beneath the denim. “I thought …”So, no one-night stand?
He stands, coming to the side of the table. He leans down, his lips hovering over mine. They don’t quite touch, but they’re close enough to taste the beer on his breath. The mixture of his hot breath with the piney alcohol makes me moan.
“My way,” he whispers, his lips brushing mine.
I exhale, depleting my lungs of oxygen as he pulls away and wades through the crowd to find Jasper.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Audrey
“What. The. Heck?” I groan, rolling over in bed.
The sound comes again, echoing through the cabin. I thought I dreamed it. Apparently not.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Ugh.” My stomach gurgles as I roll the other way, laying one palm flat against it. “What time is it?” I bat around on the nightstand until I feel my phone. It takes more coordination than necessary to click the button on the side. “It’s noon?”
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Oh, for the love of goodness,” I grumble, sliding my feet to the hardwood. The floor is cold beneath my toes, and I consider saying,“Forget it”and climbing back into bed. But the knocking is relentless.
I grab a robe off the chair by the door and throw it on. Wishing I had time to brush my teeth before seeing another human, I pop by the full-length mirror leaning against the wall.
Short lavender sleep shorts, a plain white T-shirt, and bedhead.Nice.
The knock comes again, so I hurry toward the foyer. The sound is either louder, or it’s louder because I’m closer. I haven’t been awake long enough to think that clearly, and calculating distance has always felt like math, which I avoid like the plague.
I squint into the bright sunlight flooding the house. “Who is it?” I call out, running my fingers through my hair in a vain attempt at presentability.
My voice echoes around me as I reach the entryway, and I can’t deny the annoyance thick in my tone. But considering I got virtually no sleep, it’s afternoon and I’m not caffeinated, and I came home alone last nightyet againdespite putting myself out there like I’ve never done before—whoever is on the other side of the door better be happy that I haven’t checked off the self-defense lessons part of my list yet.
“It’s me.” Brooks’s voice is clear and crisp … like he slept like a baby.
I replayed our conversation a million times throughout the night, trying to determine how this was going to work. He said I’m his for the next week, which—dreams do come true. But we have to do ithis way, whatever that means, and if doing it his way means me coming home alone, he’s missing the point.
Most of it, anyway.
I wrinkle my nose. “I’m sorry. Can you be more specific?”
“Why? Do you not recognize my voice?”
“Not really. You vaguely sound like a guy I saw in a bar last night.”
“Was he good-looking?”
“Terribly,” I say, fighting a grin.
“Charming?”
“At first. But he wound up being a jerk so it kind of negated his looks.”
“Did he promise to make you come?”
Oof.I grab the door handle for a bit of stability. “Actually, no. He didn’t. He made ambiguous statements to that effect and then sent me home with his friend which, under the circumstances, felt very …”
