I offered to go with Kacie to walk everyone out, but she said she needed a minute with her mom, so I took the opportunity to get myself a beer. Derek walked up behind me and clapped his hands on my shoulders.
“Make that two, please,” he said to the server, leaning against the wood bar with me. “What a night, huh?”
“Absolutely.” I nodded toward Tommy and Lauren who were kissing on the dance floor. “Those two seem pretty damn happy.”
“Yeah, they do. So does Kacie.” Derek eyed me curiously.
“Does she? Good.” I sighed. “We’ve had a weird week or so, I thought I’d done something wrong, but all she says is she’s fine.”
Derek cringed. “Fine is never good.”
“I know!” I handed Derek his beer and we started back to the table together.
“Kacie had a rough time after Zach ditched her; she’s been a little skeptical ever since. Like she’s waiting for a bomb to drop or whatever.” He shook his head, staring off at the dance floor. “I don’t know, women are weird.”
“I’ll drink to that,” I said, clinking my beer with his.
“What are you two toasting?” Alexa stood behind us with her hip cocked to the side, arms folded defensively across her chest. Kacie was just behind her with one raised eyebrow, and her lips puckered as she chewed the inside of her cheek. She looked sexy and confident … and sexy.
Derek spun around and scooped Alexa up in his arms, kissing her neck. “How fucking hot our women are.”
“True story.” I pulled Kacie into my arms and started dancing at the table with her.
“No way.” She pulled back, shaking her head. “If I’m gonna dance, I need to have a whole lot of liquor.”
“Coming right up.” I grinned, dragging her to the bar.
“These are so gooooood,” Kacie slurred after her fourth green apple Martini. Her eyes were relaxed and happy, her movements were as loose as I’d ever seen.
“How are you feeling? Think you should slow down?” I asked cautiously.
“Hell no!” She tossed her arms around my neck and slithered herself up and down my body in a way that men usually pay for. “I’m just getting started, baby.”
“Baby?” I laughed.
“Yeah, baby.” She licked her lips and grinned up at me, wobbling from side to side. “You’re my baby.”
I grabbed her hips to keep her from falling over. “You got that right … baby.” I reached down and covered her mouth with mine. Her cold, sweet tasting tongue darted into my mouth, kissing me deep.
“You ready to go? I’m worried you’re gonna be sick tomorrow.”
“I’m fine,” she said in a garbled tone.
“You are?”
“Sharp as a tack!” She giggled.
“Alexa and Derek are taking off, most of the other people have left too. You sure you don’t want to go?”
Kacie straightened up with a surprised look on her face. “That Alexa is one smart bitch, huh?”
“Um … okay?”
“No, Brody. Really, think about it. She helped design all this.” She threw her hands up in the air as she spun in a drunken circle. “And, she knows when I’m bullshitting her. She’s really good at that.”
“Bullshitting her?” I asked, reaching out every so often to reel her back in.
“Yeah, she said I loved you. I said no. She was right.”
I stood, frozen on the dance floor in shock while she wiggled her way around me.
“You love me?” I asked after the shock wore off.
“Holy shit, yes.” She giggled, opening her arms wide. “A lot!”
No words came out of my mouth, oxygen barely made its way to my brain. I didn’t know how to react. No woman had ever told me they loved me before, and definitely not one I was certain I loved back like Kacie.
“Okay, I think maybe it’s time to go, huh?”
“You want to get me home and take advantage of me, don’t you?” she whispered in my ear. “I accept.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tight as I led us out to my car, waving at a beaming Lauren and Tommy as we left.
I gently set Kacie down in the passenger seat and before I could scoot around to my side, she grabbed my face and pulled it down to hers, kissing me again.
I tore myself away from her before I lost all control and peeled her dress off right there in the parking lot. Odds are, there were security cameras and there was no doubt in my mind that footage would be in the news by morning.
“You’re so hot, Brody.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her a little. I’d never seen her like this and oddly enough, it was adorable, just like everything else she did. This woman normally controlled every aspect of her life, it was nice to see her let loose for once.
She reached over and grazed her fingernails along the back of my neck while I drove us home. It was driving me crazy and making me hard.
“I meant what I said tonight … I love you, Brody.” Her head lay against the back of the seat angled toward me; her shimmering green eyes barely cracked open.
“I love you, Kacie.” I reached over and brushed her cheek with the back of my hand.
I sat at the stoplight long after it’d already turned green, just so I could watch her fall asleep.
I tried to roll over but I couldn’t move, it felt like someone had replaced my limbs with sandbags. And my head … holy crap, my head. Every time I moved it, I thought it was going to break free and roll right off the end of my bed.
How the hell did I get into my bed?
The harder I tried to remember last night, the louder the blood rushed in my ears. My head felt like it was being squeezed in a lion’s mouth, a very angry lion who was being stabbed with a scalding hot fireplace poker.
Groaning as I rolled over, I peeked one eye open to see the clock, but a piece of paper covered it. I lifted my 700 pound arm and snatched the piece of paper off my nightstand, blinking rapidly until the words came into focus.
As painful as it was, I lifted my head and saw two aspirin and a glass of water next to my clock. I sat up in bed and concentrated on nothing but breathing for a few minutes.
In and out. In and out.
The waves of nausea finally calmed into ripples, allowing me to reach over and scoop up the pills. I popped them into my mouth and took a sip of water. The sip turned into a giant gulp as I chugged mouthful after mouthful of the cold, refreshing liquid. I set the empty glass down and looked at my outfit. Brody must have put pajamas on me too.
I wanted nothing more than to burrow myself deep into my bed for the next twelve hours, but my bladder wasn’t having it. Dragging myself upright, I silently wondered if I was still drunk. Everything hurt. Holy crap, did I drink too much last night or run a marathon?
I limbered to the bathroom and then made my way out to the family room to see what my girls were up to, praying someone was watching them.
I turned the corner to the family room and stopped dead in my tracks.
“What the…” I mumbled, trying to force my brain to process what I was seeing.
Lucy and Piper had a salon set up in the living room. Brody was propped up on the couch with cotton balls stuffed in between his toes, a mess of pink polish on his nails and his hair was pulled up into ten different short ponytails and dotted with barrettes.