Parker raised his hands. “Nope.” He clasped my shoulder. “You got it. Remember what I said, though.”
I nodded. Once they left, I knocked on the bathroom door.
“Is Brooklyn out there?” Ronnie shouted.
“No.”
“You can’t come in,” she said.
“Ronnie, come on. It can’t be that bad.”
The door flung open. Ronnie stood there, eyes wild, clothes disheveled, face… “Ooh.”
Her eyes widened. “See!” She tried to slam the door again, but I stopped it with my toe. “I look a hot mess, Juke.” Closing her eyes, she sighed. “Not very sexy.”
I pushed my way in and stood before her. Squeezing her shoulders, I told Ronnie, “You look beautiful.”
She covered her mouth and averted her gaze. “Don’t lie.”
I cradled her face in my palms, forcing her to look at me. “Not lying. It’s just a little swollen.”
“A little? My lips look like punching bags.”
Handing her the pills, I said, “It’s nothing that a dose of Benadryl can’t fix.” I untwisted the cap off the bottle and gave it to her once she’d plopped the pills in her mouth.
“Thanks.” She finished the water after a few minutes and sighed. “My night is officially done. I’ll be sleep within an hour.”
“I’ll drive you home,” I offered.
An hour later, after I basically snuck her out of the house, I pulled into her driveway. Turning to her, I smiled. She was asleep. I took a moment to catalog her face. Even with swollen lips and puffy cheeks, she was stunning. The more she let me into her world, the more I wanted to immerse myself into her. I hated to wake her, but I shook her gently. “Ronnie, wake up.”
She jolted awake. “Huh?”
I squeezed her wrist. “We’re here.”
A wisp of a smile crossed her lips before she sagged back into the seat. “Okay.” She closed her eyes.
Chuckling, I got out of my truck and jogged around to the passenger side. I opened the door and nudged her again. “Ronnie. Let’s go.”
Her eyes popped open and she grinned. “Are you real?”
“Very,” I told her. “Come on.”
It took several minutes for me to get her to the door because she kept stopping and patting her pockets for her keys—which I had because Brooklyn had given them to me before we left. After I ushered her inside, I unzipped her coat, took off her hat, and led her to the couch.
Ronnie grimaced as she scratched her legs. Mumbling something about itching and no clothes, she unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them off.Damn. Next, she took off her socks and threw them behind my head. She muttered something else, but I couldn’t concentrate on her words when her painted toes, her bare legs and those white cotton panties had all of my attention.Does she have on a matching bra?
Before she could pull her shirt off, I stopped her. “Ronnie, you have company.”
She glanced around. “Who is it?”
“Me?”
Waving a dismissive hand my way, she said, “You’re not company. You’ve been here before.”
True. I’d come to many group dinners and fight parties. I’d even helped her with her Christmas lights a few weeks ago. She’d always been fully dressed, though. And definitely not doped up on Benadryl.
She fell back on the cushions and curled up. I grabbed the blanket off of her recliner and spread it over her. Running a finger over her forehead, I asked, “Do you need anything?”
