“Did you drive home?”
“Ooo, I love him. He’s soft, and my face is in love with him.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ. Maci, it’s a pillow.” I sat her up and gripped her chin with my hand. “Did. You. Drive. Home. Tell me now.”
She started giggling until she was laughing loudly and leaning into my bare chest. “Of course not, Detective Green.”
“Thank God. Who drove you home? Was it Amber?”
Maci sat up so fast I was afraid she was about to throw up, but she just looked around and pointed at random things in my apartment. “No, Amber . . . where’d Amber . . . oh, Amber’s boyfriend came.”
“He drove you home?”
“No, no. This guy I met at the bar we went to, he was so sweet! I think his name was John, or Josh . . . or . . . where’d my pillow go?”
I had to let go of her so my hands wouldn’t hurt her as they clenched into fists. I wanted to yell at her for letting some random guy drive her home. I wanted to tell her about how many times I’d had calls where girl’s bodies Maci’s age and younger were found dumped on the side of the road. But she was so gone right now, it wouldn’t even matter. Then something else occurred to me.
“Maci, Maci wake up!” I pulled her up from the pillow and made her look at me again. “Did he walk you upstairs? Did you tell him which apartment was yours?”
“No, no . . . he just dropped me off.”
I let go of her and ran my hands over my face. Thank God Maci had some kind of sense when she was wasted. But I sure as shit wasn’t letting her go back to her apartment tonight. I still didn’t trust the guy who brought her home, or what she might have told him.
“I love you.”
My hands froze and I dropped them slowly as I turned to look at her, but she was cuddling the damn pillow again—oh dear God she just kissed it.
“All right, I think you’ve had enough time with this pillow. Come on, let’s get you to bed.” I pulled her up and she struggled against me as I tried to take the pillow away from her.
“No, he’s so soft! My face loves him!”
“I know, you’ve professed your love for my pillow a few times now, but I’m gonna get you taken care of and in bed now. Okay?”
“No”—she whined—“pillow!”
I stood with her in my arms and laughed when she reached toward the couch. “I have softer pillows on my bed,” I whispered into her ear.
She froze for all of two seconds before throwing her arm out and pointing in the direction of my bedroom. “Pillows!”
“Christ, you are so f**king drunk,” I mumbled to myself. “How about this: you help me take care of you, and I’ll give you all the pillows you want. Deal?”
When she turned to look up at me, our faces were so close that everything in me halted for a few seconds as I fought with the dreams and fantasies I’d been having.
Maci’s face scrunched in concentration before nodding. “Deal.”
I swallowed hard and nodded to get my mind working again. “Right. Okay, kitchen first.”
I walked her in there and placed her on the countertop, making sure she was stable enough to keep herself sitting straight up without falling off. Grabbing a few aspirin and a Gatorade out of the fridge, I walked back to where she was sitting and handed her the pills.
“Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?”
“Nope, nope, nope!”
Smiling, I handed her the bottle and made sure she had a firm grip on it. “Take the pills and drink that entire bottle.”
She frowned after she took the pills. “But I’m not thirsty.”
“Take as long as you need, but drink the whole bottle, or no pillows.”
Her bloodshot eyes narrowed at me as she brought the bottle back to her mouth and continued drinking. Once the bottle was empty, I helped her off the counter and walked her into my bathroom before turning on the shower.
“I don’t wanna,” she whined, and stamped her feet like a child.
“You smell like a bar. You’re not getting in my bed smelling like this. Would it make you feel better if I went to your apartment and got your shampoo?”
Maci swatted at me and moved toward the shower as her hands went to her shirt again. I grabbed at them and kept them down. “Wait until I’m out of the bathroom please.” For the love of God, please wait until I’m out of here. “Are you going to be okay alone in here?”
She pushed at me and waited until I released her. “I’m fine,” she drew out the word. “Go . . . go, wherever you go.”
My eyes roamed over her face as I judged just how drunk she was. “Okay,” I said softly. “I’m going to bring you clothes to wear when you get out, okay?” When she just nodded and turned back toward the shower, I grabbed under her chin again and made her look at me again. “Please don’t fall asleep or pass out in there. Yell for me if you need anything, okay?”
“Yeah, ’kay.”
With a sigh, I walked out and shut the door behind me, letting my head fall back against it as I fought with myself. If it was any other girl, I wouldn’t let her take a shower without me making sure she was okay the entire time. Hell, if it was any other girl, I’d usually just be leaving her place, or I’d make her leave mine. She wouldn’t be about to go sleep in my bed after this. But this was Maci, and I wanted her too much and didn’t trust myself enough to let myself stay in there. Groaning, I pushed off the door and went to my bedroom to grab a shirt and pair of gym shorts for her, and went back to the bathroom.