“I may have panicked,” I admitted softly.
“You think?” he asked with a laugh.
“How long were you awake?”
“From the first, ‘Oh God,’” Reardon replied. “You seemed to need some time to adjust, so I decided to pretend to be asleep. Plus, I really wanted to see what you’d do.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, totally embarrassed. “It’s not that I regret anything, or that you weren’t … that it wasn’t…” I sighed, unable to put my thoughts into words. “I just don’t remember everything. I had a lot to drink.”
“That makes two of us,” Reardon admitted. “But what I do remember was amazing, and I don’t regret anything, except maybe to wish that I hadn’t had a drop to drink, so I could remember every detail.”
I melted a little at his words, but needing to be honest I said, “I’m not sure what to do now.”
“I can see that,” he said, then his eyes heated and he added, “That’s the only reason I’m not taking you back to bed so that we can have a do-over.”
That made my pulse pick up, but I was too hungover, and too worried about what this big step meant for us, to take him up on the offer.
“I just need a little time, to figure things out for myself. You mean a lot to me, Reardon, and I don’t want to mess this up.”
“Promise to come to me when you’re ready to talk?”
“I will,” I promised.
He nodded and said, “Then I’ll get out of your hair and leave you to it.”
Reardon walked back to my bedroom, presumable to get his things, as I grabbed my cup of coffee and added cream. I was still in the same place, sipping gingerly when he came back in, wearing his tuxedo jacket, his naked chest, abs, and tattoos on display.
“Jesus,” I said without thinking. “You’re about to make the neighborhood women really happy.”
Reardon grinned at that, then stepped closer to kiss me sweetly on the corner of my mouth, before pulling back slightly, eyes on mine.
“Looks like slow is out the window.”
I made a hum of agreement, then unabashedly watched his ass as he walked away.
My teeth sunk into his taunt ass, causing him to laugh as he flipped over and took control. “You’re going to pay for that,” he’d said, as his head lowered between my knees.
“I need a cold shower,” I whispered as I heard my front door close, then padded down the hall to my bathroom, coffee mug in hand.
Chapter Twenty-Five ~ Reardon
“Looking lovely today, Mrs. Dingle,” I said, pausing to smile at the older woman as I made my way down Main Street, heading to the diner for lunch.
“Hello, Reardon, lovely wedding this weekend,” she replied easily as she lifted her hand to fuss with her so-white-it-was-almost-lavender-hair.
“It was, wasn’t it,” I responded with a smile.
“Hopef
ully you’re next.”
Rather than reply to that, I just kept smiling and said, “Have a great day,” then moved past her.
I knew that Chloe shouldn’t be the first thing that popped in my head at the mention of my turn down the aisle, but she was. She’d been taking up permanent residence in my mind since I walked out of her house yesterday morning.
Leaving her had been the hardest thing for me to do, but I could tell she was freaked. Her jumping out of bed and fleeing as if she were in the middle of a crime scene being my first indication. I knew in that moment that I’d do more harm by staying than by giving her space, so I’d curbed my instincts and left.
I still hadn’t heard from her, but the knowledge that I’d see her tomorrow when we left for Comic Con kept me from worrying too much. We’d have the whole trip to talk about what happened and figure out what came next.