“I don’t like that nickname.” She stumbled to her feet, but I caught her elbow and held her upright, tucking her under my arm to keep her from falling as we headed for the door. “Why didn’t you tell me you were such a lightweight? I wouldn’t have suggested shots if I’d known.”
She pouted up at me. “I’m not a lightweight. I can hold my own. I won a beer-drinking contest once. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“You did, but was it light beer?”
Her cheeks suddenly flushed, and she bit her lip before she nodded. “It was. I think the organizers took pity on me and the one other girl competing.”
“One other girl?” I laughed. “You didn’t tell me it was just you and one other person in the contest.”
“I still won,” she insisted, slumping against me as we got into the elevator. She kept babbling on our way down and as we made our way to the sidewalk.
Resorting to trickery once I hailed a cab, I finally got her to tell me her address. “It’s 123 Mickey Mouse Lane, right?”
She frowned. “What is this, Disneyworld? It’s 1452 West Eleventh.”
“That’s not a bad neighborhood,” I said after making sure the cabbie knew where to take us.
“I rent from one of my first clients,” she said. “He’s an older guy. Owns a bunch of apartments. He offered it to me at an unbeatable rate.”
For some fucking reason, it was comforting to know that she had at least one person who cared about her. Since she hadn’t said a word about any family or friends, I’d started to wonder if she had anyone in her life other than the people she worked with. This older man might’ve been a client of hers, but he obviously cared enough to have offered her the apartment.
We talked a little more, but she fell asleep about halfway home. When we pulled up in front of her apartment building, I paid the cabdriver and managed to wake her up to get us into the building. She glanced at me when I went to follow her in.
“You don’t have to walk me up,” she said, her words slightly slurred. “I’ll be fine from here. Thanks for getting me home.”
“No can do,” I replied, holding the door open and motioning for her to precede me. “I wouldn’t be able to stop worrying unless I know you’re safe in your apartment. Since it’s not likely that you’ll text me to let me know when you get up there, I’m going with you.”
She huffed out a breath but didn’t argue. A little steadier on her feet now, she led me up five flights of stairs before stopping at a door near the landing. After rummaging around in her purse for her keys, she unlocked the door and left it open behind her when she headed inside.
Following her, I came to an abrupt stop when I realized how meticulously organized her place was. It didn’t come as much of a surprise, but holy hell, I’d never seen a home so neat. Even the throw pillows on her sofas looked like they’d been laid down only after she’d measured the precise distances at which to place them. The blankets looked like they’d been folded with a ruler, and there wasn’t a single thing out of place.
“Do you alphabetize your socks?” I teased, amazed at how anyone even lived here.
“You’re a moron.” She rolled her eyes and reached out to try to push me away from the bookshelf I’d been studying.
Instead of moving me, however, she lost her balance and stumbled again. My arm slid around her waist when I reached out to catch her at the same time as she overcorrected and slammed into my chest instead of falling backward.
As I glanced down to check on her, she tilted her head back to look up at me. Since there wasn’t such a massive difference in our heights, especially while she was wearing heels like she was right now, our faces were closer together than they’d ever been before.
I felt her breath on my skin when it quickened. Her lips parted as her eyes glazed over with what most definitely looked like lust. Our gazes caught. Sparks flew as her tongue popped out to wet her lips.
Although I wanted to do nothing more than kiss her, I knew I couldn’t. She was drunk and I was a gentleman. Mostly, anyway.
Reluctantly stepping back once I was sure she was steady on her feet again, I flashed her a tight smile. “Get some sleep, Isabella. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It looked like she wanted to say something, but I turned and strode to the door before she could, and I shut it firmly behind me. Once I was back on the landing, I released a long, slow breath. Maybe she’d been right when she’d said we shouldn’t drink together. That had been a close call. A few more shots of tequila for me, and I might just have kissed her.
I wanted to. I couldn’t deny it. In fact, the thought of what she might’ve tasted like was probably going to keep me up tonight—in more ways than one. But if I ever found out, it wouldn’t be while she was drunk.
It would be because shewantedto kiss me even when she had her wits about her. There was definite chemistry between us, but for tonight, the best thing I could do was to walk away. And so I walked away, got another cab, and headed home. But I didn’t stop thinking about her. Not for one fucking minute.