“Haven’t been called that in a long time.”
“Which tells me you made the right choice. Any man at your side should remind you how beautiful you are every day,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh.
“For what?”
“For whatever embarrassing thing I did last night.”
“Nothin’ embarrassin’ for you to be apologizin’ about,” I said.
“I’m sure there was something. When I wake up like this, it’s always something.”
“I promise, you did nothin’ wrong. I haven’t seen you have fun like that in a long time. I’m glad you got to have some finally.”
“Any reason your voice dropped a whole octave there?” she asked.
There was, but I wasn’t sure I should be talking about it with a woman recuperating from one heartache already. Even if I tip-toed around it, I’d be walking a fine line. Risking ruining my friendship with her over some fantasy I had one time at a fucking bonfire. But ever since I’d held her close in my arms that night, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. My attraction to her had always been strong, but she was “little Katie,” and that was that. I wasn’t no pervert, and I wasn’t fixing to start then.
But last night, in the hot tub, things got intense. The flirting got real, and her body started pressing into everyone, and she stayed in my arms longer than most. She curled into me with her soft curves and her string bikini, and I could feel her pressing deeper into my chest. My arms fell around her, cloaking her and trying to soak up as much of her as I could before she pushed away.
Then she moved on, making her rounds and talking to everyone like nothing had ever happened. Like we hadn’t shared that moment together a few seconds ago.
“Andrew?”
I shook my head, pulling myself from my trance.
“What was t
hat?” I asked.
“I said, ‘thank you for breakfast.’ It was very kind of you to come in here and cook for us.”
“Well, I don’t cook like Dylan can, but your friends ate it so it must’ve not been bad.”
“I’ll get to eating it once my headache goes away.”
“Take another Tylenol. You only took two,” I said. “You can take a third one. Won’t kill ya.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“Not a problem. I’d love to stay and chat, but I figured I’d leave y’all to recuperate. I’m off today, but if you need anythin’, Dylan’s got the front desk again downstairs.”
“Got any plans for your day?”
“I’m plannin’ the family reunion.”
“The Lee Family Bash is coming up soon?” she asked.
“Next week, actually. Gonna be a good one.”
“They always are,” she said.
“You know you can come if ya want.”
She raised her head from her hands and chanced a look at me. I could see her squinting her eyes in pain, and it killed my heart. But it was odd to me that she was experiencing a hangover this bad. Even with the wine she had with the girls, she only had two beers.
How long had it been since she really let loose like that?