RANSOM HAD ONCE BROKEN his arm while playing street hockey with his buddies from grade school. That was painful, but not as painful as the throbbing in his skull or the cramping in his stomach he was greeted with now.
Jesus. Christ. He’d forgotten what it was like to have a hangover. Rolling over was a feat in itself, one that produced a rolling wave of nausea. Moaning, Ransom tossed his arm over his eyes as much to stem the tide as to block the offensive morning sunlight pouring through the bedroom window.
“Here you are.”
Jolting at the sound of the female voice, Ransom shot upright, then crashed right back down, releasing another pained groan. At that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to be concerned with the stranger in his apartment or the black hole in his memory. Last thing he remembered was sucking down a glass of whiskey, determined to forget certain parts of his life.
It seemed he’d accomplished his task.
It didn’t take much to know that somewhere in there, he’d gotten himself wasted enough to bring the woman home.
Soft movement on his right side put him on alert. “I brought you some aspirin and a glass of water.” Her voice was sweet, familiar. When the bed dipped, he pried his dry eyes open and found a fresh-faced brunette with kind eyes staring back at him.
Taking in her tousled hair, clean face, and one of his dress shirts buttoned just enough to hide the good parts, Ransom found himself wishing he could remember something of the night before.
“How do you feel?”
Taking the pills she offered, he sat up and tossed them into his mouth then accepted the glass, downing every last drop of water without taking a single breath. Regrettably, it wasn’t a quick fix by any means, so when he forced himself to remain upright, it was torture at its finest.
How did he feel? “Like I’ve been run over by a truck…and someone shit in my mouth.” Running his tongue over his teeth, he wondered how much energy it would take to get to the bathroom to brush them and decided it was more than he could afford.
“I bet,” the woman chuckled in amusement as she drew up a leg and got comfortable.
Ransom’s eyes narrowed on her. “What’s your name again?”
She studied him, tilted her head, then smiled. “Dani.” When he didn’t say anything, she said, “You really don’t remember me, do you?”
This could go one of two ways. Either she’d be reasonable and understand the confusion, or she’d grow a second head and flip out. Ransom was hoping for the former because he simply didn’t have it in him to deal with the latter. Cautiously, he shook his head no, and immediately regretted it. His head pounded in revolt.
“We met last night, had a few drinks. You called a cab and it brought us back here.”
Christ. His car. Ransom squeezed his eyes shut tight, thinking of having to call someone to take him to pick it up and all the questions that would result in. And there would be questions. Almost as many as he had now.
Hanging his head, he closed his eyes and asked, “Did we have sex?”
Dani’s indelicate snort was almost cute. “Not hardly.” When he raised his head and gave her a questioning look, she explained. “We messed around in the cab a bit,” she admitted, a fine blush creeping up her neck as she fiddled with the buttons on her shirt—his shirt. “I honestly didn’t think you’d had that much to drink. You seemed fine, but as soon as we got back here…” She shook her head and the expression she wore spoke for itself.
Ransom didn’t even know the details, but he was already feeling the sting of embarrassment. Swallowing the foul remnants of bile clinging to his tongue, he made peace with the fact that he was a glutton for punishment. Frankly, the black hole in his head, once he could think clearly again, would drive him back to the very bar that put him in the position he was in now, so there was nothing to be done but face the ugly truth.
“Go on,” he croaked, swallowing again to suppress the lump attempting to climb his throat.
She grimaced. “How to put this nicely…Well,” she sighed, “good news is the walk hosed down just fine and the carpet in the living room didn’t stain, but I couldn’t quite get all the chunks picked out of the artificial tree by the door. Oh, and I’m fairly certain my clothes are trashed.”
“Jesus. Christ.” How fucking humiliating. Why, the one time he lost control, did he have to do it in front of someone like her? This must be rock bottom, because he wasn’t sure he could handle any more falls. “I’ll pay for new clothes,” he assured her.
“No need. They weren’t my favorite, and anyway, I have too much clothing already. Or at least that’s what my mother keeps telling me.” The playful roll of her eyes made Ransom’s heart flutter.
Flutter.
What kind of man had a heart that fluttered? No wonder Joe chose his brother over him. He’d bet money Rebel’s heart had never done any fluttering. He probably would have ripped it from his chest and given it a hearty slap for even considering it.
“Your color is coming back,” Dani observed. Reaching out, she placed her hand against his forehead just like his mother used to do when he was sick. It was the only time anyone had ever touched him that way—caring, attentive. Concerned. It felt amazing. Just the heat of her skin against his was a soothing balm to his fragile state of mind.
Their gazes connected and, call him crazy, but Ransom felt something pass between them. Something familiar maybe. A connection.
Slowly, her hand slipped lower, lightly tracing down one side of his face, her fingertips grazing his temple where his pulse raced, down to his cheek where her palm cupped him gently. When her thumb skimmed over stubble, making a muffled scratching sound, he knew for certain there was something between them.
He may not have a memory of the previous night, but some part of him felt her inside him. She claimed they hadn’t slept together—at least not sexually—but she’d already left a mark.
His eyes dropped to her full, provocative lips, and the stirring of desire he felt inside was something he couldn’t ignore. He needed to taste those lips, needed to feel her mouth moving against his, needed more of that heat. Everywhere.
Leaning in, he was prepared to take what his body demanded, when he became acutely aware of his current state.
Just before their mouths collided, he jerked back, earning a look of confusion from Dani.
“I’m sorry. I—it’s not you.” Shit, that was the wrong thing to say.
Moving away from him so fast he hardly had time to process it, Dani barked a sharp, humorless laugh. “Let me guess, it’s you. Like I haven’t heard that before,” she muttered angrily.
Grabbing her purse from a chair in the corner where he sat to put on his shoes each morning, he watched her reach inside and retrieve a pair of shapeless, wholly unattractive slippers that, apparently, passed as shoes.
“Where are you going?” She didn’t even have a way home.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving.”
“Wait, Dani. I didn’t mean that how it sounded. It is me.”
“You’re right, it is,” she said with a defiant lift of her chin that caused his heart to ache for no damn good reason at all. He didn’t even know her.
She stood to leave and, he didn’t understand why, but something shouted at him not to let her go. The last time he’d ignored that voice, his world crumbled apart around him. He’d be damned if he let it happen again.
Jumping out of bed, Ransom ignored his brain’s feeble protest and rushed to meet her at the threshold, cutting her off before she could leave the bedroom and his life.
A thought that terrified him, but he outright refused to acknowledge.
Grasping her wrist, he pulled her back. Too hard, as it turned out. Instead of merely stopping her, Ransom sent her flying backward…and straight into his arms.
“Oh!”
“Umph!”
“I’m sorry,” they said in unison.
Then Dani came to her senses. “Wait, I’m not sorry. What the hell!” With both hands flat against his chest, she attempted to shove him back, but Ransom had just enough presence of mind to dig in and hold on.
She didn’t get anywhere.
“I’m sorry for being rough,” he said amidst her continued struggles. “I just couldn’t let you leave without explaining myself first.” Dani jerked and yanked against his hold, and if he held onto her any tighter, he was afraid he might hurt her. “Please stop fighting and listen. Dani!”
The boom of his voice grabbed her attention, and her face shot up, her expression filled with shock. Well hell, now he’d scared her.
Figuring she was a few seconds away from screaming bloody murder, he spoke fast. “I’m sorry for yelling. I just wanted you to know that when I said it was me, I meant it. I want to kiss you, so much, but I can’t.”
“Why?” she snapped, her eyes shooting daggers and her body language warning him that if she didn’t like his answer, he was likely to get a knee to the balls.
“Because I’d prefer to brush my teeth first.”
There was a long pause in which Ransom stared and Dani blinked. Then, with little warning, she burst into laughter.
At first, all Ransom could do was stare at her, but then, as the bubbly sound filled the room, a niggling of memory crawled back into his headspace. That laugh.
No amount of booze could erase such a spectacular sound.
Covering her mouth, Dani’s eyes continued to smile as she tried to gain control of herself. “I feel like such a dope.”
“Please don’t.”
“How can I not? You spent the night puking your guts out and I get offended because you don’t want to kiss me? Gah, can you imagine?” Her face screwed up, the sour pinch of her lips and wrinkling of her nose renewing Ransom’s discomfort.
“So…” Ransom started, the question lingering between them.
“Oh yeah,” Dani agreed, waving her hand through the air, “go do your thing. Absolutely. I’ll just be…over there?”
He followed the direction of her hitched thumb to the bed and smirked. “Meet you there.”
As he turned, so did she, and Ransom couldn’t help laughing to himself as he watched her fairly skip her way across the room and leap headlong into the pile of blankets.
He’d never been one for taking women home before, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to regret this one. Dani was something else entirely from what he was used to. Sexy, curvy, charming, sweet, and vivacious. And all that in just the last twenty minutes.
He was looking forward to finding out what other qualities she possessed.
Soon.