“Ugh,” I groaned, rolling over and covering my ears with a pillow. Not that it did much to hide the sound of his retching.
He deserved it after he’d had so much to drink that he’d passed out. I’d never seen him drink like that, and I hoped that I never saw it again. It was a new level of terrible.
The toilet flushed, and Julian came back into the room, flopping down on the bed. “Sorry,” he muttered, covering his eyes. “Might have had too much to drink last night.”
“Might?” I said with a laugh.
“I’m never drinking again.”
I shook my head. “Lies.”
“Yeah, but, not anytime soon. Or like that.”
“You wanted to forget.”
He gave me a thumbs-up. “Success.”
I chuckled and dropped out of bed. “I’ll find you some Tylenol.”
“You’re the best.”
I rolled my eyes at him as I headed out of the bedroom. I poured him a glass of water and knocked out two Tylenol from the bottle. I carried them back into the bedroom for him.
“Thank you,” he said, downing them and falling back.
“Eggs and toast?” I suggested.
He groaned and shook his head. “Food is a bad idea.”
“Don’t you have breakfast plans with Weston still?”
“Fuck,” he spat into the pillow. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Shower,” I said, pointing to the bathroom. “And then some toast.”
He grumbled but heaved his body off of the bed and into the shower. I made myself some toast, eating it as I buttered his toast. He came into the living room with downcast eyes, a hand still clutching his head.
I slid the plate across to him on the kitchen island.
“Thanks.”
He took a small bite of the toast, trying to calm his rumbling stomach and ease the hangover that was thick on him. He didn’t say anything, just ate each piece of toast in tiny little bites. I didn’t have any idea how he was going to meet Weston in the state he was in.
After he finished, he cleared his plate, washed it off, and deposited it into the dishwasher. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
“No problem,” I said easily.
“Last night was…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it.”
“It’s fine. You can have a bad night after what you went through.”
He smiled softly at me and then winced. “It seems I’m entitled to a bad morning as well.”
I laughed at him. “When’s your meeting? I left my car at home. Should I call someone to get me?”
“No, I’ll take you.”
“You should take a cab.”
He sighed. “Is it that bad?”
“Yeah,” I said with a smile.
He was still gorgeous to me, but he looked rough from the alcohol. Dark circles under his eyes, pale skin, and his hair was all mussed from the shower. He did not look like he was ready to tackle everything he needed to get through today.
“All right. If you say so. I’ll grab an Uber or something.”
I slid my phone out of my purse and texted Annie to see if she was free. She responded almost immediately, saying that she’d be there ASAP. That she had to get to the hospital and it was on her way.
“Annie is going to get me.”
He blew out a breath. “Well, that’s good at least. Now, if my headache would cease to exist, that’d be great, too.”
“Poor baby,” I said with a laugh, kissing his cheek.
I headed back into the bedroom to change back into my dress from last night, leaving Julian’s T-shirt on his bed. I picked up my purse, cursing myself for not taking my meds while Julian had showered. Now, I’d have to wait until I got home. I really preferred taking it first thing when I woke up. Oh well.
“Maybe we could pretend we haven’t woken up and go back to bed for the rest of the day,” Julian suggested.
I dropped my bag onto the side table and ran a hand back through my messy bob. “As much as I’d like that, you have things to do today.”
“Yeah. I don’t want to though.”
“Tough,” I teased.
He stepped forward, like he was going to draw me to him, but then the front door burst open. We stumbled apart in confusion as Ashleigh Sinclair strode in.
“Hey, baby,” she crooned. “I think I figured out our little distribution problem. Why are you not returning my calls?”
I gaped at her. She was in some white skirt suit with an actual silk scarf tied around her neck and four-inch nude high heels. Her hair and makeup were done up, as if for an event. She looked flawless as she carried a black leather folder before her.
“Ashleigh,” Julian said, his voice dipped with warning.
She smirked at him. “Don’t you look charming in this little…number?” She gestured up and down at him, still in basketball shorts and a worn-out T-shirt. “We’re going to need to get you cleaned up, so we can make the meeting with the distributors.”
I looked back and forth between them in confusion. “What is going on?”
Ashleigh sighed heavily and turned to me. “Oh, you’re still here?”
“Still here? I’m his girlfriend. What are you doing here?”
Ashleigh shot me a look of straight pity. “He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Ashleigh, this isn’t the time,” Julian said.
I whirled on him. “Tell me what?”
Julian held his aching head. “There was a…problem with the distributors. So, I asked Ashleigh for her help because she knows them.”
“When?” I snapped.
“Uh…Friday night.”
I saw red at those words. I stumbled back a step from him. The man I’d spent all night and morning taking care of. And now, he was telling me that the night that he’d refused to take my calls or answer my texts was the night he had been with his ex-girlfriend.
“And you never thought to mention that when I was trying to get ahold of you that night?”
“My phone is really broken,” he said hastily. “I don’t have it.”
“Is that why you aren’t answering my calls?” Ashleigh said.
“And the next day at the soccer game?” I accused. “Or the vineyard party?”
“There’s an easy explanation for why he didn’t tell you,” Ashleigh said with a viperous smile.
“Stay out of this,” Julian said, wincing all the time.
“Oh no, I think she’s right,” I said, glancing at Ashleigh. “For once, we’re actually in agreement. There’s clearly a reason you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” he said. “The distributors came back with some bullshit excuse for why they wouldn’t work with Wright Vineyard. I panicked and went to Ashleigh to try to figure out if we could fix it. It had nothing to do with her.”
“Didn’t it? Isn’t that why you didn’t tell me? Why you didn’t go to me?”
“Why would he go to you?” Ashleigh scoffed. “What do you know about business? What contacts do you have?”
My breath came out uneven as the first working of a panic attack clouded my vision and wobbled through my body. I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t want my body to take over for me, but I was helpless to stop it. And I’d forgotten to take my anxiety meds this morning. Oh fuck…